How To Become An Area Counselor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an area counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Javier Casado Pérez Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an area counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.71 an hour? That's $51,394 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 80,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an area counselor?

Dr. Javier Casado Pérez Ph.D.

Counselor Education, Portland State University

New professionals entering the mental health counseling professions must expect substantive differences in the client's needs and goals for the counseling process. The global pandemic has increased both stress and social isolation, making the counselor's job even more critical, as they are often the client's only non-work-related virtual interaction. With the global pandemic and widespread anti-racist demonstrations, counselors should anticipate clients' desire to discuss work stress and burnout, parenting and caretaker stress, culture, identity development, and racial trauma, virtual fatigue, and difficulties in social relationships.

ScoreArea CounselorUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,394

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 5.77%

Black or African American 5.89%

Hispanic or Latino 8.14%

Unknown 4.42%

White 75.48%

Gender

female 49.02%

male 50.98%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an area counselor

Explore area counselor education requirements

Most common area counselor degrees

Bachelor's

46.4 %

Doctorate

22.6 %

Master's

13.1 %

Start to develop specific area counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Legal Advice	42.71%
Litigation	31.29%
Legal Services	22.42%
Criminal Defense	3.59%

Complete relevant area counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New area counselors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an area counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real area counselor resumes.

Research area counselor duties and responsibilities

Manage employment and commercial litigation.
Conduct group check-in and co-lead group psychotherapy sessions to help clients identify and manage problems associate with psychiatric conditions.
Attend corporate leadership and management courses.
Prepare and review requests for litigation and settlements.

Prepare your area counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your area counselor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an area counselor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable area counselor resume templates

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