Javascript how to parse JSON array

Javascript has a built in JSON parse for strings, which I think is what you have:

var myObject = JSON.parse("my json string");

to use this with your example would be:

var jsonData = JSON.parse(myMessage);
for (var i = 0; i < jsonData.counters.length; i++) {
    var counter = jsonData.counters[i];
    console.log(counter.counter_name);
}

Here is a working example

EDIT: There is a mistake in your use of for loop (I missed this on my first read, credit to @Evert for the spot). using a for-in loop will set the var to be the property name of the current loop, not the actual data. See my updated loop above for correct usage

IMPORTANT: the JSON.parse method wont work in old old browsers - so if you plan to make your website available through some sort of time bending internet connection, this could be a problem! If you really are interested though, here is a support chart (which ticks all my boxes).

In a for-in-loop the running variable holds the property name, not the property value.

for (var counter in jsonData.counters) {
    console.log(jsonData.counters[counter].counter_name);
}

But as counters is an Array, you have to use a normal for-loop:

for (var i=0; i<jsonData.counters.length; i++) {
    var counter = jsonData.counters[i];
    console.log(counter.counter_name);
}