Can you be a mental health professional eg a counselor if you yourself have a mental illness?

Answer 1

I think all living people have mental stresses, there cannot and is not any person ALIVE lol that has no problems. I am sure even the most rational, well rounded psychiatrist has a melt down at some point in their existence. It would seem to me, in order to have perfect mental health would mean you have all knowledge of existence, the why's, how's...etc, which of course no one has. Therefore no one is truly healthy from a mental illness of one sort or another, so it would reason there are many mental health professionals who have mental illness. Perhaps many became what they were because they have struggled with a mental illness, their personal experience is what allows them to help therapeutically. The key is, there is no key (lol) to labels like "mentally ill," there is no one on earth in a position to truly define these things. So in short, yes you can be a mental health professional and have a mental illness I imagine, we all have "mental illness," whether we think we do or not. We exist, and logically, that's a problem LOL. If you can perform your job successfully, for the most part, then do it! The world is your dream, live it knowing that much.

Thanks so much for such an awesesome answer. This did help alot. Yeah im sure there are many with depression. But i do struggle to imagine a counsellor with a serious mental illness e.g. skitzophrenia "out ot touch with reality" kind of thing. But yeah as long as there in the right frame of mind and healthy enough to give logical advice. Although i do believe that most of them are slightly more 'normal' than people with many, many troubles. But your right expirience counts for everything. And probably taught them way more that any 'health book' could. :) xx

Answer 2

It depends on the illness. All of us have some sort of problem since we are human and no one is perfect. The severity of the mental illness would determine if they can help another person through their problems. The purpose of counseling is to guide another person to a means for them to solve their problems/problem and some with an mental illness can not remove themselves from problems enough to give guidance.