Mental Health Clinician
(Female, Age 34) from mountlake terrace, NY
This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 34 who works as a Mental Health Clinician in mountlake terrace, NY. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.
At a Glance
Current Job
Basic data on your current job
| Job Title | Mental Health Clinician |
|---|---|
| Salary | $61,000 |
| Other Compensation | None Set |
| Hours/Week | 45 |
| Company Size | (not answered) |
| Location | mountlake terrace, NY |
| Years Experience | 9 years |
Career Ratings
Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)
| Years in Career | 0 |
|---|---|
| Education | (not answered) |
| Income Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Interest Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Work-Life Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Fulfilment Rating | 0 / 10 |
Current job Q&A
Describe the type of organization you work for.
A non profit social service agency, with locations around the country. I am part of the western washington division. In my agency there are many departments that help people with things like dispute resolution, basic needs, child care resources, crisis services, etc.
Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Crisis clinician, I work at a crisis line and answer calls about suicide, mental health, disasters, etc. This is a 24 hour service, staffed fully by paid master’s level clinicians. We also triage mental health outreaches to local hospital, schools, police stations, etc.
Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
403b, medical, dental, vacation, sick leave
Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
well compensated.
Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
I work with a small number of coworkers on a daily basis. The job is split up into shifts, so there are only a few people in the office at the time, I have outside agency coworkers who are employed for different agencies but I work with on a regular basis. I like that if you dont get along with your coworkers its pretty easy to do your own thing and not have to interact much with them. We are here more to interact with callers, and the community.
Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes
Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes
Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
Its an office building with a bunch of desks in it. We all have computers and phones. There’s one window, it doesn’t open. Its a secure building. The temperature is never right in here.
Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 3
Benefits: 2
Hours: 5
Co-Workers: 4
Supervisors: 8
Job Title: 7
Level of Responsibility: 6
The Actual Work: 1
A day in the life of…
Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:
| 5am to 6am | |
| 6am to 7am | |
| 7am to 8am | walk in the door, get stuff out of my locker sit at my desk. Straighten up messes left by other people. Check mailbox for important papers. Check work email for important emails. |
| 8am to 9am | Log into work station and phones, answer calls. Drink coffee. Conversate with coworkers. Check personal email. |
| 9am to 10am | Continue to answer phone calls, usually frequent callers call to check in and report plans for the day. Other agencies call to check about emergency appts. The senior information line calls to check for messages. |
| 10am to 11am | Slow time, interact with coworkers, talk to supervisor. Start reading book. Most calls coming in are for referrals, people need numbers to local agencies |
| 11am to 12pm | Lunch time usually go out, get food, come back eat at desk. Lunch is only half an hour, but free to eat while answering phone calls. Midday coworker arrives and gets settled, other morning coworker takes lunch break seperately. |
| 12pm to 1pm | Check personal email, read and interact with coworkers intermittenly. Answer phone calls as they come. |
| 1pm to 2pm | Do contact reviews of other coworkers, go through call logs and verify things have been filled out correctly, answer phone calls that come in during this time as well. |
| 2pm to 3pm | Take over disaster texting service, await text from those in distress, continue to answer phone calls. |
| 3pm to 4pm | Afternoon shift starts to arrive, prepare to leave for day. Finish up hand off sheets of open cases. Clean up work area. Log off computers. |
| 4pm to 5pm | |
| 5pm to 6pm | |
| 6pm to 7pm | |
| 7pm to 8pm | |
| 8pm to 9pm | |
| 9pm to 10pm | |
| 10pm to 11pm | |
| 11pm to 12am |
Table of Contents
How you got your job
How did you get your current job?
newspaper
What was the application process?
sent in a resume, interview, hired.
Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
1 interview with 1 supervisor.
If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
No, it was quite awhile ago.
Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Somewhat, its really a job with a lot of one the phone training. You learn by doing.
Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
Im a licensed mental health counselor, with a master’s degree. I also have certification in psychological trauma, and am getting certification in geriatric mental health.
Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes, You have to have a good understanding of mental health to be able to know what is going on the minds of some of the callers.
If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
I did an intership in counseling, so it helped me prepare to work with people and their problems over the long term. I already worked here at the time though.
If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
To get a job here you have to have a master’s degree in social work or mental health counseling. Its preferred that you be licensed, and have some experience. However if you are flexible about when you work and have some basic computer skills its not too hard to find a spot.
What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
Good phone skills, knowledge of community resources, mental health education, able to use a computer.
Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Master’s degree is required, but many crisis lines are successful with volunteers.
What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Make sure its what you want to do, its a lot of education to get if you are not going to stick with it. Many people come into the field work a few years and leave to do something completely different.
Long-term career plans
Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Yes, I went to school for mental health, I love mental health. I always struggle trying to figure out where I would want to go from here.
What are your current career goals?
Finish my geriatric mental health certificate, 1 more quarter. Get my geriatric and child mental health certification.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
Prior work history
Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:
| Title | Length | Salary | Description | |
| Prior Job 1 | Caseplanner | 6 years | 35000 | Casemanagment for at risk youth in a long term residential facility. Supervised, and supported through daily living skills. |
| Prior Job 2 | Counseling Intern | 1 year | 0 | Counseled women 1 on 1 in an office based setting. Offered support, resources and coping skills. |
Educational background
Please list your educational background:
High School GPA:3.6
| GPA | School | Degree | |
| College (Undergraduate) or Technical/Vocational |
3.4 | Western Washington University | BA psychology and sociology |
| Graduate or Professional (Masters or Doctorate) |
P | Antioch University | MA Mental Health Counseling |
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