Human Services Careers involve a large range of jobs that vary in education requirements, job responsibilities, population served, and salary range. 5 human services career options will be discussed. This discussion will show the wide range of positions that are available within the human services field. Basic to specific qualifications, job responsibilities, and hiring outlook will be included to detail each career option.
Careers in Human Services
Career options in the human services field are many and widely vary not only in education requirement, job duties and salary, but also in the populations that are provided with services. In discussing 5 different careers that cross areas and population will demonstrate how varied this career field is, along with how narrow of a focus that these careers can have.
Substance Abuse Counselor
My interest in substance abuse and the recovery process was the reason for choosing this role in the human services field. I would be interested in working with clients with substance abuse, because I have a friend who is an alcoholic and drug addict. My friend and I have talked about her addictions and the struggles she has gone through trying to get clean and maintain her recovery. The challenges of choosing this area of human services would be the fact that a lot of client will relapse and have to start over again. If a person is ordered by a judge to attend substance abuse counseling, the client most likely is not ready or willing to actively participate in the recovery process. These can be the frustrating, but the success of the client in achieving sobriety and success in the other areas of their lives are the rewards of hard work on the side of the client and the ability of the counselor to ...
... middle of paper ...
..., 2014, from http://www.humanservicesedu.org/child-advocate.html
HumanServicesEdu.org (n.d.). Overview to Becoming a Counselor. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.humanservicesedu.org/counseling.html
HumanServicesEdu.org (n.d.). Probation Officers Occupation and Education Overview. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.humanservicesedu.org/probation-officer.html
HumanServicesEdu.org (n.d.). Substance Abuse Counselor | Human Services Education. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.humanservicesedu.org/substance-abuse-counselor.html
McClam, T., &Woodside, M. (2011). The Client. In An introduction to human services (7th ed., pp. 170-172 & 201-207). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.
My Majors (2014). Careers for Child Advocate. Job information. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.mymajors.com/careers-and-jobs/child-advocate
This essay will discuss working within a system of human services areas, Some of the topics included mission goal, structure, regulation, type of human services agencies, professionals worker involve, The communities context ,fund, using available services, referral and the process to refer, building an information network, paperwork, Turf issues, encapsulation and burnout, professional development, obstacle in the field , and international focus . At the end of this essay the reader will have a clear understanding of the various services entitle human services professionals. Human services worker not only delivers, facilitate and empower our society; specially to those one who require assistance in meeting their basic human needs both emotionally,
Working as a Human Service Professional can be a challenging pursuit. The attitude of the human service worker can sometimes be a problem itself. Many
Explore the personal values and attributes that are necessary to be successful in human services.
Chemical Dependency counselors have quite a few ethical dilemmas to deal with. Therapists that are in recovery may confront some even more complex dilemmas, opposed to those who are not. There is a high percentage of addiction counselors that are in recovery. In fact, 55% of 36,000 members of the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Counselors (NAADAC) are recovering alcoholics and 21% are recovering from some other chemical dependency. This brings up two sides to counselors in recovery. "There is something about the personal experience that assists counselors to being especially attentive to the needs of the recovering client." On the other hand, counselors bringing personal experience with them are likely to raise personal/professional boundary violations. Two specific dilemmas that recovering counselors may run into are dual relationships and self-disclosure.
A career path which I am considering for my future is that of a substance abuse counselor. Substance abuse counselors provide assistance and therapy to clients wishing to stop their use and abuse of alcohol and drugs. I am considering this field because of my personal experience with substance abuse and a desire to help others towards recovery, as well. In order to further understand this occupation, an acquaintance who works in the field and who possesses a similar background agreed to meet with me to discuss her career.
The Human Service field can be challenging to people at times and rewarding as well in other moments of one’s career. What is the Human Services field exactly? According to the National Organization for Human Services they report that “the field of Human Services is broadly defined, uniquely approaching the goal of meeting human needs through an interdisciplinary knowledge base, focusing on prevention as well as remediation of problems, and maintaining a commitment to improving the overall quality of life of service populations” (NOHS, 2009).
They can assist doctors in hospitals while patients are going through detox and/or while patients are in the mental health unit. In addition, they can work for a private practice and do outpatient care. Also, they work in rehabilitation centers and treat patients while they are receiving inpatient care. Interestingly, they can work for the state and local government. Finally, if dealing with kids or adolescents, substance abuse counselors could work in schools or at after-school programs.
Liddle, H A., Rowe, C L., Dakof, G A., Henderson, C E., Greenbaum, P E.; (Feb, 2009). Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology; Vol 77(1); 12-25. Doi: 10.1177/0306624X10366960
I have wanted to be a counselor since my freshmen year of high school and in the counseling field there are many specialties that I can focus on. I am fairly certain that I want to specialize in helping people with substance abuse and their families. I have always focused my studies, interests, and work on things that will help me in this field and I have a lot of qualities that help to enhance me in my eventual career. There are difficulties when I get to practice also like what people perceive as correct counseling style, challenges with my gender and race, and finally creating my own counseling style and plans.
It’s undoubtedly complex and can take someone strong and passionate, with all their good intentions, and completely break them down and burn them out. Entering this field requires a Human Services worker to not only be prepared for all that it includes, but to be fully educated in the accepted and most effective best practices to produce superior results for the child and their family. This paper will discuss the career choice of a Child Protective Service (CPS) worker and the standard best practices implemented in this
“Occupation Profile.” Careeronstop Pathways to Career Success. U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training administration, n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
Roger, Patricia R, and Stone Gerlad Counseling vs Clinical" Society of counseling psychology, n.d. Web. 13 Feb 2014.
Similar to other professions and/or social issues, there has been tremendous growth within the history of the human services field. There are different specializations that fall under this professional spectrum such as mental health, social work, and crisis intervention as well as several others. Dating back to the 1700s, individuals have been providing services and resources to those in need. Although each era may has placed different emphasis on specific areas, the general operation still remained the same. For example, the age of systems era and the professionalization of human services era focused on different issues but yet shared collective objectives.
I have chosen social work as a profession because of my passion to help others. I want to make a difference in someone’s life and help them through the problems they are having. Whether the client needs counseling, guidance, or advocacy I want to be the person to help them. My drive for helping others and motivation to change social policies for the better is why I have chosen social work as my future profession.
There are several professional spectrums that can be categorized under the human services career field. For example, legal professionals can be very vital to the human services profession whether it is for inter-professional collaborations or for professional legal counseling. This can be found true, when taking a look at an organizational chart for any state agency’s Department of Human Resources (DHR) and/or Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) organization chart. The ultimate goal of these professions is to serve their clients while promoting and enhancing diversity within our communities as well as eliminating all forms of discriminations. On the other hand, for each professional spectrum that falls under the human services umbrella, there are professional associations.