Why I Love Being a Counselor

Today I get to talk about why I love being a counselor!.........Read more below

There are so many reasons why I love being a counselor! Below I talk about 6 of them.

I get the opportunity to help people every day

I am a social worker by background. Prior to becoming a mental health counselor, I worked with homeless veterans for many years, helping them find jobs and housing and connecting them to resources. I have also worked specifically as a Drug and Alcohol counselor. I have worked as an adjunct professor of social workers. For pretty much my ENTIRE adult life I have done social work and counseling jobs. I have even tried to veer off, particularly after a period of burn-out which I may discuss in a future video, but I always come back to helping professions because I just can’t help myself. I love doing work that helps others, I find it very meaningful. And I super love people.

Counseling is sacred work.

There is something incredibly valuable and honoring about giving people space to talk and be heard. I love providing people that space. I love listening. We all know that most people have not discovered (or at least honed) the art of listening. I believe that everyone deserves for others to take the time to listen to them.

I have awesome clients.

I work with some very cool people. I get to spend every workday talking to people who are actively working to improve their lives. This means that my daily interactions are filled with people who are learning and intentionally processing life. I learn so much from my clients. Plus, my clients have awesome personalities and great hearts. This is not to say that they are perfect. None of us are perfect, but I am very grateful for the people I have been able to meet as a counselor.

Breakthroughs are a joy

It is incredibly rewarding to see people having epiphanies about their lives, developing understanding for why they do certain things or gaining more understanding of things from their past. I have always loved seeing that lightbulb. It is such an encouragement as a counselor to be a part of that process and know that you played a role in at least some of the breakthroughs that people describe.

I get to talk to people all day long

I remember in one of my first social work jobs how I would just be practically pinching myself that I got paid to talk to people. I am an extreme extrovert. Spending time with people is the best. You may think of extroverts as people that talk a lot but at this point in my life I prefer to listen, and I spend significantly more time listening in sessions than talking.

Private practice rocks!

On a personal level, I just love being a business owner. I love creating my own schedule around priorities like spending time with my family. I love making my business into something that I enjoy and spending time on work activities I find valuable (which wasn’t always the case in previous jobs). I also love that my husband was able to join me about a year ago to take on operations and marketing duties. It is great to work with him and it is such a blessing and privilege to have this business that gives us so many opportunities.

There are many more reasons that I love being a counselor, but the blog would get way too long to include them. I made this blog so prospective clients can get a picture of why I do what I do, and also so that people who are looking into being a counselor get some info from someone doing the work about the pros of this career. I think it is an excellent career choice and one that is so needed. Talk to you again soon!

**Do you think I could be your “right fit” counselor? Be sure to set up a free 20-minute phone consultation at 281-746-9826 or kristen@upliftingcounsel.com. I provide counseling to clients in Texas and Oregon and would love to talk with you about the possibility of working together