qualifictions to become one of those mental health workers?

what are the qualifications to become a mental health worker. im not sure exactly what you call them. in canada they work in mental health centers. their the ones that can see you more often then a psychatrist. you talk with them and do some talk therapy. what are they called? i dont think their psychologists though.

I think I know what you are talking about and - yes - I also don't think they are qualified psychologists / psychiatrists. Some of them probably have done short courses in mental health while others probably have no qualification at all but are just mature people that give-up their time to help others.

I suggest contacting whatever place you are looking to work at to find out for definate.

Kevin

You need almost no training to be a mental health worker. I work at a psych hospital and they hire just about any bozo.

really, no training at all? that seems kinda weird. they seem to be pretty knowledgable about all the diagnosises. and talk therapy. theirs gota be some sort of education behind that?

It seems that they just hire people and if they stick around they offer them more money if they get trained. You can be a pych tech I, II or III. So many people quit after just a few weeks because it can be so tough to work with the severely mentally ill. Some people get admitted who haven't had a shower or bath for months. They can swear bite spit and thow feces at you.

Then sometimes you have to give patients involuntary medication. I saw one girl being held down while screaming and begging that she didn't want the stuff.

I remember another time when a woman attacked a certain staff 4 times in one night. She got him real good one time with an ashtray. Snuck uo behind him and WHAK!! when he turned. Broke his glasses. It was kind of entertaing actually. Over in the high security ward there was a fight just about every hour.