What You Need to know About Earning a Counseling Degree

If you are a good listener and feel passionate about helping others, you could make an excellent counselor. Counselors can specialize in many fields, but they generally help people handle emotional problems and life management skills. As a counselor, you may work with patients trying to cope with anxiety, depression, relationship problems, abuse, stress, aging, self-esteem problems and all sorts of other challenges that people encounter in life. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about earning a counseling degree.

FAQs About Counseling Degrees

What Will I Study in a Counseling Degree Program?

You may study a wide variety of topics that may include:

• How to apply counseling and developmental mental health principles
• Behavior and brain research
• Various fields such as child, adolescent or family counseling

What Types of Counseling Degrees Can I Earn?

If you are just beginning your journey into higher education, you will earn either a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in your field of choice. These degree programs provide the fundamental skills needed to move on to the next level of education. Counseling requires an advanced degree in order to practice in the field. Most counselors must earn their master’s degrees and sometimes a doctoral degree in specialized fields. They choose a specialty and do advanced coursework and research in that area.

What Can I Do With a Counseling Degree?

Once you earn your counseling degree and do your fieldwork to qualify for licensure, you can practice in the field that you specialized in. Counselors work with a variety of people in a variety of environments. Here are several careers that you can pursue with a counseling degree:

• School Counselor
• Individual Counseling
• Guidance or Career Counselor
• Addiction Counselor
• Family Counselor

When you are just beginning your career journey toward becoming a counselor, you can earn a foundational degree such as your BS in Psychology or Sociology at Grand Canyon University. We also offer Master's in Counseling and doctoral-level programs in Psychology to help students ready to take their counseling careers to the next level.

Consider earning a BS in Psychology at Grand Canyon University to begin your education. If you have already earned a bachelor’s degree, you may benefit from one of the many emphases offered in the Master’s in Counseling programs offered by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences or from our doctoral-level programs. We also offer master's in Counseling and doctoral-level programs in Counseling Education and Supervision and Psychology to help students ready to take their counseling careers to the next level. To learn more about our programs, visit our website or click on the Request Info button on this page.