23 May 2021

Have you ever talked to someone about ‘practicing self-care’, toxic relationships, or ‘establishing boundaries’? You might be a budding mental health practitioner! If that vibes with you, we’ve put together a run down of some of the reasons that a career in mental health can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life:

It's one of the best ways to make a difference to other people's lives

Mental health is coming to the forefront in a really huge way, and I think we’re all realising just how important it is to take care of your noggin as well as your body. An improvement in someone’s mental health can have a real ripple effect on the other areas of their lives, and through your work you could help make that first wave.

It can be a really satisfying job

One of the great things about mental health services is that it’s really focussed on interpersonal relationships. There are loads of jobs where you can help people, but mental health services are one of those jobs where you’re really getting involved in people’s lives in a specific way. That means you can help individual people and celebrate their wins alongside them, which is pretty awesome in our books.

It's a super diverse field with loads of different jobs

When people think about mental health services, they often think of a psychiatrist talking to someone lying down on a plush chaise longue while they talk about their dreams from the night before. But there’s actually loads of different kinds of mental health practitioners.

Organisations like TrainSmart offer certificates and diplomas in fields such as drug and alcohol counselling, youth work, and community services. When you’re working in the mental health industry, no day, client or situation is the same and there’s loads of opportunities for variety.

It's in high demand and subsidised by the government

No matter who you are, you, a friend or a loved one will be affected by the issues surrounding mental health, and our society is really coming around to the idea that mental health services are something that just about anybody should be able to access.

That’s why our government is currently putting tens of millions of bucks into our mental health infrastructure, which means that businesses and organisations are looking to expand.

If you’re trained up with the right qualifications, you could find yourself out there changing lives quick-smart.

You don't actually need an ATAR to get into mental health work

Have you thought about doing something with mental health, but worried you don’t have the marks? Think again - there are heaps of different qualifications you can get with no ATAR required.

If that sounds like something you’d be into, make sure you suss out Trainsmart. They’ve got all sorts of courses available for you to really specifically pursue the clients, areas or aspects of mental health that you want to work in. Take a look at what they’ve got on offer here.