What is Behavioral Health & Social Work in Allied Health?

Working in allied health gives healthcare professionals a wide variety of career options to consider. Within each discipline of allied health is a wide range of occupations that an allied healthcare professional can choose from. For instance, in behavioral health and social work, allied healthcare professionals can choose to become a case manager, a behavioral health clinician, a counselor, a mental health tech, or a social worker. While many jobs in healthcare can be seen as extremely fulfilling, a career in behavioral health and social work has been considered especially rewarding. Check out our allied health blog series if you want to learn more about the disciplines in this healthcare field.

Case manager

In healthcare, case managers are responsible for helping patients will several aspects of their healthcare plan. “A case manager is a certified medical professional who connects patients with health care providers, coordinates appointments and treatment plans, and helps patients meet their optimum level of health,” (Coursera, 2023).

Education requirements

To become a case manager in healthcare, you’ll first need to earn your bachelor’s degree. Depending on where you plan to start your career as a case manager, you might also want to consider completing a master’s degree in case management. Some employers require a master’s degree, so it’s important to do research to figure out if a master’s degree is a necessary step to take or not. After you’ve acquired your degree(s), you’ll need to gain work experience then consider getting the Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC) (Simmons, 2023). Many employers require this credential, so you should look into what all the certification entails.

Skills needed

To be a successful case manager, you’ll need to be skilled in communication, empathy, time management, and advocacy.

Work environment

Case managers typically work in short and long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, hospitals, clinics, child welfare agencies, and more (Simmons, 2023).

Behavioral health clinician

These allied health professionals play a major role in helping patients with their mental health. Behavioral health clinicians treat individuals with mental, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive disorders (Franklin University, n.d.).

Education requirements

If you’re interested in pursuing a career as a behavioral health clinician, you’ll first need a bachelor’s degree in social work or psychology. Following this degree, you will need to obtain a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling. Once you’ve earned your master’s degree, you’ll need to complete 2,000 to 4,000 hours of work experience before you can take the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) to gain a license to begin practicing (ZipRecruiter Marketplace Research Team, n.d.)

Skills needed

As a behavioral health clinician, it’s important to be skilled in communicating, problem solving, customer service, critical thinking, and crisis intervention.

Work environment

The work environment for a behavioral health clinician typically consists of hospitals, treatment centers, and correctional facilities (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024).

Counselor

According to an article, “A counselor is a mental health professional who helps individuals work through issues in all stages of life. Depending on where a counselor works, their daily work may differ. But the primary job of a counselor remains the same,” (Gagnon, 2023). Counselors are unique in that they are able to help their clients in a multitude of ways. These allied health professionals help people with everything from battling addiction to adjusting to a new career.

Education requirements

The first step to becoming a counselor is to earn a bachelor’s degree in counseling, and once this is complete, you’ll then need a master’s degree. When looking into schools and programs for a master’s degree, it’s important to ensure that the program is CACREP-accredited (Gagnon, 2023). While still in school, you’ll also want to look into the National Certified Counselor (NCC) certificate (Gagnon, 2023). After you’ve earned the necessary degrees, you’ll need to gain work experience so that you can become a licensed counselor. The last step to becoming a counselor is to apply for a license, although the requirements for this vary by state, so it’s important to do research (Gagnon, 2023).

Skills needed

Counselors should be skilled in communication, patience, active listening, problem solving, and most importantly, empathy if they want to be successful in their roles.

Work environment

These allied health professionals have several work environments that they have the option to work in. For example, many counselors work in hospitals, rehab facilities, schools, physicians’ offices, and more (Gagnon, 2023).

Mental health tech

By now we all know the importance of mental health and how it can affect our physical health. Mental health technicians play a vital role in helping people with mental disorders and illnesses. “Mental health technicians—also called psychiatric technicians or behavioral health technicians—are key players in a mental health treatment team, working directly with patients who are coping with disabilities, illnesses, or substance use,” (Fritscher, 2023).

Education requirements

At a minimum, you’ll need a high school diploma to work as a mental health technician. However, many states require further education and training, which leads many of these allied health professionals to get their bachelor’s degree. However, education requirements are broader for this field and less restricted on options. You can also get your associate’s degree at a community college to become a mental health tech. Just be sure to check which states require you to obtain a license because if you choose to take this route to get certified, then you will at least need an associate’s degree (Learn.org, n.d.).

Skills

Mental health techs need to be skilled in communication, compassion, empathy, and patience to be successful in their careers.

Work environment

These allied health professionals typically work in settings such as psychiatric hospitals, substance abuse hospitals, inpatient, outpatient facilities, and government organizations (Learn.org. n.d.).

Social worker

The responsibilities of a social worker include helping families and individuals cope with challenges, they help their clients’ set goals for themselves, they manage necessary documents and files, and much more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). These healthcare professionals are constantly advocating for their clients and helping them through their individual struggles.

Education requirements

There are several steps to becoming a social worker. The first step is to earn your bachelor’s degree in social work or an equivalent. Next, you’ll want to earn your master’s degree in social work (MSW) if you want to work in healthcare. While some social workers only have their bachelor’s degree, many opt to get their master’s degree so they can advance further in their career and not be confined to non-clinical areas in social work (SocialWork.org, n.d.). The next step in your education would be to gain work experience and then take the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Social Work Licensing examination so that you can apply for your social work licensure (onlinemswprograms.com, 2022). Once you’ve passed the exam, the last step is to apply for your licensure.

Skills

Necessary skills for all social workers include strong communication, cultural competence, active listening, time management, critical thinking, organization, and advocacy.

Work environment

Social workers often work in setting such as child welfare agencies, schools, and some healthcare facilities (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024).

Each career within the behavioral health and social work field is sure to be a promising career. Any one of these careers is also extremely fulfilling because you get to help people be the best versions of themselves. Mental health is a huge part of our overall well-being, and these healthcare professionals ensure that it is always a top priority. We hope this blog gave you a better understanding of all the different career options within the discipline of behavioral health and social work. If you’re interested in starting your career in this discipline, search our open jobs today!