In this Blog, we’ll explore a few of the jobs you may find after completing the Certificate IV in Mental Health.
Mental Health is one of the most diverse and in-demand roles in the health care industry.
Just this month, ABC News released an interview with Professor Patrick McGorry, who leads the Melbourne youth mental health facility Orygen. McGorry stated that, because of COVID and lockdowns, ‘The temperature has risen in terms of anxiety, and that means that a proportion of people will tip over into the need for care. We’ve seen a surge of demand.’1
What are the Expected Career Outcomes?
This mental health qualification prepares students for several roles in the mental health workforce, including:
- Mental health support worker.
- Mental health intake officer.
- Community support worker.
- Community rehabilitation and support worker.
- Rehabilitation worker.
- Wellbeing consultant.
- Disability support worker.
- Mental health rehabilitation support worker.
- Mental health outreach worker.
These jobs reach different members of the community in different ways. Here are a few examples from seek.com.au and other sources of career pathways with a mental health qualification.
Community Support Worker
A community support worker provides ‘care and support to clients so they can become more independent in their everyday lives. They help clients in various ways, such as assisting with personal care including grooming and feeding, household chores such as cooking and cleaning, and arranging transportation and recreational activities’3
Additionally, community support workers with a mental health qualification create activities for their clients to ‘help stimulate them physically and emotionally. In some cases, Community Support Workers advocate on behalf of clients so they know their rights in situations where they may be experiencing inequality, injustice or discrimination.’ 3
You can read more about community support workers here.
Intake Officer
An intake officer is often ‘the first point of contact for (a) therapeutic services team. The intake officer triages all referrals to (their) therapeutic team and ensures that all relevant paperwork is completed and submitted prior to the client’s first intake session with the counselling team.’5
Intakes officers, particularly those with a mental health qualification, also assess the level of risk for callers and, if needed, report this information to other colleagues or the relevant authorities.
Rehabilitation Worker
A rehabilitation worker ‘supports people with disabilities, medical or health conditions or who are socially disadvantaged to reach their individual goals. e.g. returning to paid employment, living independently or attending an educational program)…
Some rehabilitation workers with a mental health qualification specialise in working with individuals who have particular conditions or disabilities, such as those with complex drug and alcohol abuse histories, refugees or people with mental health conditions.’4
Workers often need to:
- ‘Provide counselling and case management to help disadvantaged people reach their individual rehabilitation goals’.4
- Assess the client’s needs.
- Provide information/resources, and
- ‘Assist the client, their family members and any professionals involved with the client with developing rehabilitation plans’.4
To read more about this job, check out its seek webpage.
Mental Health Support Worker*
Mental health support workers ‘specialise in helping those with a range of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder’. 2 Tasks include:
- ‘Assessing client needs.
- Monitoring client progress
- Referring clients to other support groups and social services
- Contributing to developing new services and mental health programs.
- Maintaining client records.’2
*If you are interested in becoming a counsellor or mental health support worker, you will need a higher mental health qualification than a Certificate IV in Mental Health. Fortunately, this Certificate IV offers pathways to reach those higher mental health qualifications. If you’d like more information about these pathways, please send us an enquiry form by clicking the ‘Apply Today’ button on the top right.
Student Story: Ben’s Study Experience
Ben Nimubona completed his Certificate IV in Mental Health with Celtic Training. Here is his recap of the experience:
‘I really like the time I spent doing my cert IV in Mental Health here. This college is very supportive, especially when doing online studies. I really enjoy your positive approach and how you support students to achieve and finish studies with success. I rate this Celtic College 5 stars as the staff deserve that. Thank you for your support throughout till I accomplish my course.’
Interested in Learning More?
If you still have questions about this mental health qualification or are ready to get started, you can send us an enquiry here. One of our learning consultants will get back to you as soon as possible and help you take the next step as a mental health professional.
Sources
1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52S15-YJpxc
2 https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/role/mental-health-support-worker
3 https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/role/community-support-worker
4 https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/role/rehabilitation-counsellor
6 https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/role/intake-worker