Where Do Counselors Work?

The U.S. is experiencing a serious shortage of mental health professionals, with the Commonwealth Fund’s 2024 survey of community health center leaders finding that 77% said their centers were facing such shortages. Community health centers are not alone. From schools to mental health facilities to the justice system, the settings in which licensed professional counselors (LPCs) can apply their skills vary widely, and all of those settings are encountering difficulty in filling mental health positions.

If you have been considering enrolling in a master’s in counseling psychology degree program and aspire to become an LPC, now is a great time to enter the field. With many work settings from which to choose, new LPCs can work in settings that align with their interests. 

So, exactly where do counselors work? Exploring the answer to that question can help individuals who want to launch counseling careers learn about the extensive range of work environments open to them.

The Work That LPCs Perform

While LPCs can apply their knowledge and skills in many different settings, their general responsibilities are similar. LPCs work with clients to help them address their challenges and issues. They form strong bonds of trust with their clients and inform them about techniques they can use to improve their lives.

Responsibilities of LPCs

In conducting their work, LPCs perform duties such as the following:

• Assessing clients and determining whether they are ready for treatment
• Creating, implementing, and revising client treatment plans
• Helping clients to adopt specific behaviors to improve their lives
• Showing families how to support clients who are receiving treatment
• Making referrals to help clients obtain other services from which they could benefit
• Maintaining information regarding their clients’ progress

Skills That Help LPCs Excel

Regardless of where counselors work, they can benefit from cultivating specific skills. For example, effective LPCs have strong skills in areas like the following:

• Boundary setting
• Communication
• Compassion
• Cultural competence
• Empathy
• Patience

Typical Work Settings for LPCs

Looking at examples of the typical employers that hire LPCs is a good way to get an overview of where counselors work.

Schools

If working with younger clients appeals to you, then providing counseling services in a school setting could be a good career choice. 

Providing mental health services in schools involves working with students to address their emotional and mental health issues so they can feel supported at school and achieve academic success. 

LPCs who work in schools strive to help students early in their academic journey so that issues do not continue to grow as students progress through school. They help students build resilience, work through disciplinary challenges, and manage their emotions.

Private Practices

Private practices are also among the settings in which LPCs can work. Establishing a practice provides great flexibility in terms of the clients counselors accept, the hours they work, and the rates they charge. 

Of course, choosing to open a private practice also requires an LPC to carry out other business responsibilities, such as funding start-up costs, conducting marketing efforts, and performing routine administrative tasks.

Mental Health Facilities

LPCs who work in mental health facilities generally provide therapy to clients who are facing mental health challenges. However, it is important to know that mental health facilities can be structured in different ways, and those structures influence the intensity of the work LPCs perform. 

In a mental health facility offering residential treatment, for example, an LPC offers frequent individual or group therapy services to clients living there. In contrast, when working for an intensive outpatient mental health facility, an LPC might see a client a few times each week.

Employee Assistance Programs

Many employers offer employee assistance programs (EAPs) through which their employees can seek counseling services. 

LPCs who work for EAPs help people address work-related issues, such as achieving work-life balance. They also can help people who face issues that may or may not be related to their work, such as anxiety or family-related issues. In addition, LPCs who work for EAPs can refer people to other resources that can help them address challenging issues.

Crisis Teams

Interdisciplinary mobile crisis teams are also beginning to hire LPCs. The overall goal of these teams is to reduce psychiatric hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and adverse experiences in the criminal justice system.

As part of a crisis team, an LPC works directly with individuals experiencing behavioral health crises. LPCs and crisis teams can resolve crises during their initial encounters with individuals or draw on their expertise to refer individuals to stabilization programs or mental health providers.

Forensic Counseling Work Settings

People who have not started working on a counseling degree may not be familiar with forensic counseling and the unique LPC work environments this branch of counseling offers.

LPCs who work in forensic counseling focus on providing counseling services to offenders or victims in the justice system. They can work in settings such as correctional facilities, probation agencies, parole agencies, or juvenile detention centers. Their work environments also can include victim services agencies or social services agencies.

Working in forensic counseling requires an LPC to have expertise in areas such as providing mental health testimony and assessing competency to stand trial. LPCs also need to have expertise in subjects such as criminal behavior, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the relationship between our legal system and mental health system.

The Settings Where Counselors Work Offer a Host of Fulfilling Options

All of the work environments for LPCs offer the opportunity to perform rewarding work that can help others improve their lives. Each day, LPCs apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways that enable people to address their challenges. 

Felician University’s online Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology degree program can help aspiring counselors achieve their career goals. Through a combination of online courses and in-person experiential learning, the program provides students with the knowledge and skills to become LPCs. It also offers a forensic counseling track that prepares students to apply their counseling expertise in the justice system. 

Start working to reach your counseling career goals today.