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Know What It Takes to Become a Mental Health Professional

Mental Health Professional

Do you want to find out how differently people behave when placed in different situations? Do you really want to help people struggling with ailments but not exactly as a medical doctor? A mental illness-afflicted person cannot care for themselves or may harm themselves or potentially even others. Do you wish to dive into the depths of the human mind to discover the problems? Are you a strong communicator and a good storyteller? You will have to approach a patient, stabilize their emotions and serve their needs. Do you think you are compassionate enough to do this? Let’s take a peek into who Mental Health Professionals are, what they do, how they do it, and how to become one.

A Mental Health Professional works with individuals and groups of people to improve their mental well-being or to treat mental disorders or illnesses such as chronic depression, anxiety disorders, paranoia, panic attacks, etc. Mental health can be defined as the absence of any such mental disorder. “Mental healthcare” includes analysis and diagnosis of a person’s mental condition, treatment of the mental condition as well as care & rehabilitation of such a person for his mental illness or suspected mental illness. Mental Healthcare professionals can be engaged in providing multiple types of services depending on their discipline of education and work experience. This field includes the services offered by psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric/ mental health nurses, therapists, behavior analysts, professional counselors, rehabilitation advisors, and so forth.

Why become a mental health professional?

A Mental Health Professional works with individuals and groups of people to improve their mental well-being or to treat mental disorders or illnesses such as chronic depression, anxiety disorders, paranoia, panic attacks, etc.

Mental health can be defined as the absence of any such mental disorder. Mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Evidence suggests that nearly half of the world’s population is affected by mental illness with an impact on their self-esteem, relationships, emotional abilities, and capability to function in everyday life. An individual’s emotional health can impact their physical health too.

What is a mental illness?

“Mental illness” means substantial difficulty associated with the thinking, mood, perception, orientation, or memory of a person. It majorly affects the capability of human judgment, behavior, and capacity to recognize reality or even the ability to meet the ordinary demands of life.

Severity of mental illnesses that may need attention of a Mental Health Professional

The severity of a person’s mental illness is variable, depending on if the person:

  1. has recently shown or is showing an inability to care for herself to a degree that places the individual at risk of harm to herself or
  2. has recently threatened or attempted or is threatening or attempting to cause bodily harm to herself or
  3. has recently behaved or is behaving violently towards another person or has caused or is causing another person to fear bodily harm from her

What is mental healthcare and how do Mental Health Professionals provide it?

“Mental healthcare” includes analysis and diagnosis of a person’s mental condition, treatment of the mental condition as well as care & rehabilitation of such a person for his mental illness or suspected mental illness.

Mental Healthcare professionals can be engaged in providing multiple types of services depending on their discipline of education and work experience. This field includes the services offered by psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric/ mental health nurses, therapists, behavior analysts, professional counselors, rehabilitation advisors, and so forth.

Mental healthcare is provided either by primary care or secondary care

Primary care

Primary mental healthcare providers treat most common mild to moderate mental health problems. Mild mental health problems can be treated by a regular registered medical doctor/ physician or community health workers. However, in case the situation aggravates or is beyond their understanding, patients are referred for secondary care as is specific to a case.

Primary treatment may consist of:

  • Counseling from a psychologist, psychotherapist, or psychiatrist
  • Some form of online mental health support (e-health)
  • A combination of counseling and online support. For instance, you may have a number of sessions with a psychologist or psychotherapist in addition to following an e-health program.

Secondary care

Secondary mental health care is intended for patients with serious and complex psychiatric disorders, like ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), anxiety disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), etc. Such services include psychiatric inpatient wards, psychiatric beds in general wards & emergency departments of hospitals, and outpatient clinics. (Inpatient treatment is for patients who are occupying a bed in a hospital setting and outpatient is for those who consult a healthcare professional in a hospital setting but are not admitted).

Treatment is provided by, for instance, a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist working in a mental health institution, or hospital. There may also be some specialist services, e.g. for children, adolescents, and the elderly.

Treatment of serious & complex psychiatric disorders requires a patient to be admitted to a mental health institution. This usually takes place voluntarily in close consultation with everyone concerned. A person who is a danger to himself or those around him may have to be admitted involuntarily too.

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  1. Clinical Psychologist: Clinical Psychologists practice psychological assessment, clinical formulation (theoretically-based explanation of the information obtained from a clinical assessment), and psychotherapy for the purpose of understanding, preventing, & relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction in a patient and promoting their mental well-being & personal development.

They are licensed professionals and registered with respective national-level authorities in most countries, such as India (RCI).

Some Clinical Psychologists focus solely on research into the assessment, treatment, or cause of mental illness and related conditions. Some teach, in a medical school or hospital setting, or in an academic department.

The majority engage in some form of clinical practice, with professional services for administering assessments and various forms of therapies. They may also take part in forensic testimony (expert witness who uses expertise in science & technology to reach conclusions for a legal case).

  1. Psychiatric Social Worker: Psychiatric Social Workers look after the welfare of mentally ill people. Mental illness technically means a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, and capacity to recognize reality.

Basically, they provide mental health services to individuals with high/ severe needs, perform psychotherapy, educate the patient & his or her family, and even diagnose their mental illnesses. When employed in a hospital setting, they are essentially involved in the discharge process of patients coordinating with psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, etc.

Some patients may also require periodic hospitalization. Such clients may include those with schizophrenia and those with complex sets of co-occurring conditions. Psychiatric Social Workers are extensively employed by government agencies and residential care facilities around the world. In most countries, postgraduate social workers are required to be licensed before commencing practice.

  1. Psychiatrist: Psychiatrists are trained & registered medical doctors. They are the only in the mental health industry who specialize and are certified in treating mental illness & mental disorders through the use of medications.

They are engaged in evaluating & treating patients with all types of mental and psychotic disorders (such as schizophrenia), mood disorders (such as clinical depression, and bipolar disorder), anxiety or personality disorders, neuropsychiatric symptoms, etc.

Psychiatrists are trained to conduct physical examinations, and order & interpret laboratory tests like EEGs, and brain imaging studies such as CT or CAT, MRI, and PET scanning. These are case-specific and may be mandatory to evaluate a patient for any medical problems or diseases that may be the cause of the mental illness.

Psychiatric assessments in the initial stage of therapy typically begin with a case history and mental status examination of the patient followed by physical examinations & psychological tests. On occasion, neuroimaging or other neurophysiological techniques are used.

  1. Mental Health Counselor: Mental Health Counselors work with individuals, couples, families, and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. They help them to deal with issues associated with addiction; family, and parenting, problems; stress management; self-esteem; as well as aging.

They may also be trained to evaluate and treat behavioral disorders. They typically work in outpatient & residential care centers, individual & family services, and local governments. They are trained in a variety of therapeutic techniques used to address issues, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, suicidal impulses, and grief.

They may also help with job, career, or educational decisions, if adequately trained since mental health concerns are one of the primary challenges facing the youth of today. They may also help military personnel and their families deal with issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

They have to occasionally work closely with other mental health specialists, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses, or school counselors.

  1. Mental Health Nurse Practitioner: Mental Health Nurse Practitioners are advanced nurses trained to provide a wide range of mental health services to patients and families in a variety of settings. They may diagnose, conduct therapy, as well as prescribe medications for patients who have psychiatric disorders, medical organic brain disorders or substance abuse problems.

They are licensed to provide emergency psychiatric services and psychosocial and physical assessments of their patients. They may serve as consultants or as educators for families too. They can practice autonomously and may diagnose as well as treat with “Full Practice Authority”, meaning there is no physician involvement. In some countries though, their practice requires a collaborative agreement with a physician.

What does Mental Health Professional do?

You will be engaged in one or more of the following roles and responsibilities as well as other associated duties:

  1. You will provide intensive & repetitive care and an appropriate mix of therapies, for children, adolescents, adults, and the geriatric population of patients suffering from mental illnesses, to modify their behavior, promote their well-being & personal development as well as improve their personal, and social, or vocational adjustments.
  2. You will practice psychological assessments, clinical formulation, and various psychotherapies for the purpose of understanding, preventing, & relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction in a patient.
  3. You will diagnose, conduct therapy, as well as prescribe medications (if you are a Psychiatrist) for patients who have psychiatric disorders, medical organic brain disorders, or substance abuse problems.
  4. You will interpret the appropriate information needed to identify each patient’s requirements.
  5. You will obtain and evaluate relevant historical information and incorporate that into the evaluation & treatment planning.
  6. You will determine the urgency of a patient’s needs, provide a professional interpretation of them, recommend a course of therapeutic action, and select the appropriate treatment modality (way to administer the therapy).
  7. You will develop appropriate treatment plans and discuss them with the patient and/or caregivers to ensure they participate in the development of the plan and consent to treatments.
  8. You will perform psychological evaluations and use a variety of treatment methods, such as hypnosis, behavior modification, stress reduction therapy, psychodrama, or play therapy, appropriate to each patient and their functional abilities.
  9. You will be responsible for test selection, scoring, & interpretation and you will understand the limitations of them and correctly apply the norms of each test used.
  10. You will maintain a written record of therapy, as well as coordinate with social agencies, schools, relatives, and friends to obtain pertinent information about your patient.
  11. You will utilize psychometrics (processes to measure mental capacities) for the administration & scoring of tests as appropriate, ensure the accuracy of that administration & scoring as well as prepare reports from the evaluation data.
  12. You will independently conduct research on human behavior & possible methods for eliminating psychological disorders or offer research design consultation to other researchers/ scientists.

How to become a mental health professional – eligibility criteria

After Class 11-12:

  • You can go for a Bachelor’s in Psychology/ Applied Psychology/ Rehabilitation Science or similar.
  • You can go for a Bachelor’s in Social Work/ Sociology or similar.
  • You can go for a Bachelor’s in Nursing or similar.
  • You can go for MBBS/ BDS/ BUMS/ BHMS/ BAMS.
  • After graduation, you should preferably go for post-graduation(as described in the pathways) compulsorily before starting to practice in this discipline.
  • Thereafter after your post-graduation, you may go for an MPhil degree & then get your Doctorate or directly pursue Doctoral degrees like PhD/D Psych/ Psy D.

Typically, PhDs are research-focused degrees. D Psych and Psy D are specific to the discipline of Psychology only.

Psy D is a clinical doctorate degree that is focused more on the practice. These types of programs can take 4 to 8 years to complete.

Psy D programs provide extensive training in applied topics such as diagnosing mental illness, performing psychological assessments, and conducting clinical interventions.

  • You can study for a Bachelor’s / Master’s / Doctoral degree in any of the following fields (Note that all these fields may not offer you a degree at all three levels, that is in Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral. Some fields may offer a degree only at the Master’s or at the Doctoral level):
  • Psychology
  • Psychiatry
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Applied Psychology
  • Mental Health Nursing
  • Psychiatric Nursing
  • Sociology
  • Medical Sociology
  • Applied Sociology
  • Social Work
  • Psychiatric Social Work
  • Community Studies and Social Work
  • Rehabilitation Nursing
  • Mental Health Counseling
  • Rehabilitation Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Counseling Psychology
  • Nursing Practice
  • Public Health Nursing

Educational fees

The overall educational fees to pursue this mental health profession is around Rs. 5,00,000 to 70,00,000.

Job Opportunities

You will primarily work with mental health establishments or in hospitals, clinics, and medical colleges which have registered mental health care providing units or registered Psychiatry/ Psychology units. A Master’s degree is mandatorily required as the minimum qualification in order to practice as a registered care provider in this discipline as per the norms of India’s latest Mental Health Act of 2017.

You may start a full-time job as an Intern/ Extern/ Trainee first and then proceed to these positions gradually.

  • Mental Health Professional
  • Mental Health Counselor
  • Clinical Psychologist
  • Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
  • Psychiatric Social Worker
  • Mental Health Nurse
  • Psychiatric Nurse
  • Mental Health Therapist
  • Clinical Mental Health Counselor
  • Mental Health Clinician
  • Psychotherapist
  • Mental Health Specialist
  • Behavior Support Specialist
  • Correctional Counselor

You will find opportunities with different types of mental health services delivery channels such as these:

Medical services –include family practice, psychiatric hospitals or clinics, general hospitals, and community mental or behavioral health centers. The trend today is favoring community-oriented care – psychiatric hospitals over “asylum-based” mental health care systems. The basic services may include prescribing psychiatric drugs and sometimes providing basic counseling/ therapy for “common mental disorders.”

Behavioral therapy services – Since symptoms vary across individuals, therapy is usually individualized for patients. Cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, interpersonal therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy are all examples of approaches. Such services are generally provided by Integrative Psychotherapists, Clinical Psychologists, Behavior Analysts, etc.

Social services–include community-based rehabilitation services, supportive housing, clubhouses, employment/ rehabilitation workshops, supervised work placements, and national hotlines. These are not based in hospital settings but need close working links with general hospitals or mental hospitals.

Supportive housing aims to provide permanent, accessible, and affordable housing options for individuals with mental health disorders.

Clubhouses are community centers that are usually run by individuals who have a current or previous history of mental illness.

A mental health hotline is a free, confidential, and convenient way to receive information as well as exclusively deal with mental health emergencies or crisis situations, such as suicide and substance abuse.

Traditional healing centers – are popular worldwide and provide accessible mental health services led by folk healers who use herbal remedies, spiritual rituals, and indigenous perspectives to provide comfort for individuals of a native population. These services are highly culture-specific and are sometimes used alongside conventional or western medicine.

Specialist institutional mental health services – these are provided by certain outpatient clinics and by certain public or private hospital-based facilities. These may have separate units for children, adults, elderly people, or forensic psychiatry. They meet very specific needs with properly trained specialist staff.

Dedicated mental hospitals – these provide long-stay custodial services and are very few in number in developed countries but are adequate in developing countries. Developing nations are ridden with poor outcomes and a lack of clinical care & experienced professionals. These are based on the “asylum-based” care system and in many such countries they are the only available channel of services.

In extension to your regular full-time job, you may also temporarily be associated with other:

  • Central or state government agencies/ offices
  • Private/ government research laboratories
  • Prisons and detention centers
  • Private corporations
  • Law enforcement institutions
  • Human resource divisions in companies or governments
  • Public Schools, Colleges & universities – clinical, teaching, or research positions
  • Career counseling centers/ establishments

Salary of Mental Health Professional

The Mental Healthcare industry is an emerging one in India and is extremely well-regulated in other locations abroad. The legislation relevant to this industry is still at a nascent stage in India. However, with the pace of the number of establishments and clinical cases exploding, the legislative framework is soon to be fastened to a stronghold.

Industry (Working with a company)

At the entry-level jobs, after your post-graduation, you may expect to get about Rs. 10,000 – 20,000 or even more a month. In junior-level jobs (after 4-5 years of post-graduation), you can make about Rs. 12,000 – 60,000 or more per month.

In mid-level jobs in India, you can expect to earn about Rs. 15,000 – 85,000 or even more a month.

In senior-level jobs in India, you can expect to earn about Rs. 30,000 – 2,50,000 or even more a month.

Research

After a Master’s degree, a stipend in India while doing Ph.D. is about Rs. 35,000-38,000 a month in a university or research center or as a Research Associate with a salary of about Rs. 15,000-20,000 a month.

After a Ph.D., the stipend for Post-Doctoral Fellows in a research institution or university research center is Rs. 40,000-45,000 a month.

In other organizations/companies mostly after a Ph.D. or after a Post-Doctoral Fellowship, salaries in India may vary between Rs. 50,000-1,20,000 a month or even more.

Academia

The monthly salaries of faculty serving government-aided or owned institutions approved by the Ministry of HRD (Department of Higher Education), Govt. of India are:

  • Assistant Professor Grade II: Rs 57700 to Rs 117200
  • Assistant Professor Grade I: Rs 101500 to Rs 204700
  • Associate Professor: Rs 139600 to Rs 211300
  • Professor: Rs 144200 to Rs 224100

Career Progression in Mental Health Profession

  • If you join as a Mental Health Professional/ Psychologist/ Psychiatrist in a hospital setting or a mental healthcare establishment, then you will go on to be a Senior Consultant and then Head of Department/ Principal Intervention Director / Director of Programs or similar positions. Though your pay grades with going upward faster than your profile.
  • Career growth in a university or college begins with Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor, Professor, and Professor Emeritus. Professors can also get administrative positions such as Director/Dean/Vice Chancellor, etc.
  • If you are hired as a research associate, then you will go on to become a Doctoral Research Fellow, then Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, and then Scientist in Progressive Grades. 
  • If you start as a Senior Scientist Officer (Grade II) in government agencies and offices such as Maternity & Child Health, Public Health, etc., you would soon be a Senior Scientist officer (Grade I) and then Principal Scientific Officer, and finally Director of the Laboratory.

The grades may rise backward from A to F as well. Different institutions and departments have a distinct chronology of denominations but the pay scales are equivalent.

The Mental Healthcare Act in 2017 marked India’s global acknowledgment of mental health being the need of the hour. The landmark characteristics of the bill include the decriminalization of suicide and the differentiation between mental illness and intellectual disability.

It is safe to predict that this field will remain steadfast in the many years to come. Mental health continues to be one of the biggest health challenges, especially in India but fails to receive much attention even in the current scenario.

Mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. WHO estimates the global cost of mental illness at nearly USD 2.5 trillion in 2010, with a projected increase to over USD 6 trillion by 2030.

India, China, and the US still remain the most affected by anxiety, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorders. In 2015, the suicide rate in India was 15.7/per 100,000. This is higher that the global average which is 10.6.

More than 56 million Indians suffer from clinical depression and 42.5% of corporate employees in the organized sector of India.inc suffer from the same. Further, over 38 million people are suffering from an anxiety disorder in India.

All these as well as other associated conditions with differing degrees of severity have a probability of advancing to the stage of being a mental illness where the patient is a potential harm to themselves or others too at times.

Many financial consulting groups have identified mental healthcare services as the next big revenue generators. The Healthcare Market in India has the potential to increase 3 fold to 133.44 billion US Dollars by 2022. Indian Government is willing to expand public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025. Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) launched in 2018 provides 7,124.54 US Dollars each to over 100 million families every year.

There are immense opportunities for trained ethical professionals in this field. Even, Indian schools in the coming few years will be forced to employ a counselor for their children and teachers. By 2025, medical spending in India is expected to grow by almost 9 to 12% making India one of the world’s top ten in this zone. 

The entire Healthcare Industry in India is one of the fastest-growing sectors and it is expected to reach $280 billion by 2020. India’s earnings from medical tourism could exceed US$ 9 billion by 2020. Medical tourism in India is one of the fastest growing sectors and it will benefit the industry hugely if mental healthcare is added to it.

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