Child and family therapist vs clinician

The differences between child and family therapists and clinicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a child and family therapist and a clinician. Additionally, a clinician has an average salary of $60,150, which is higher than the $55,339 average annual salary of a child and family therapist.

The top three skills for a child and family therapist include social work, diagnosis and mental health. The most important skills for a clinician are social work, patients, and patient care.

Child and family therapist vs clinician overview

	Child And Family Therapist	Clinician
Yearly salary	$55,339	$60,150
Hourly rate	$26.61	$28.92
Growth rate	14%	9%
Number of jobs	120,152	105,023
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	41	45
Years of experience	4	4

What does a child and family therapist do?

Child and family therapists are therapists who specialize in treating traumatized children due to neglect or abuse. They always formulate various techniques and activities to treat their patients and help improve the affected family's quality of living while maintaining confidentiality and following HIPAA laws and agency policies and procedures. During treatment, they monitor the progress of their patients and adjust the treatment accordingly. They also train youth counselors to maintain open communication with their families to know the cause and resolve problems faster.

What does a clinician do?

A clinician specializes in providing diagnosis, treatment, and direct care to patients with different illnesses. A clinician's duties mainly revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis, providing medical care through various therapies, and improving one's overall health condition. Furthermore, a clinician must obtain and analyze a patient's complete medical history, provide diagnostic tests, always monitor the effects of treatment on a patient, provide prognosis and consider the overall impact on a patient's health and well-being.

Child and family therapist vs clinician salary

Child and family therapists and clinicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Child And Family Therapist	Clinician
Average salary	$55,339	$60,150
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $81,000	Between $34,000 And $103,000
Highest paying City	San Rafael, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Nevada
Best paying company	Everymind (formerly Mental Health Association Of Montgomery County)	Pace University
Best paying industry	Finance	-

Differences between child and family therapist and clinician education

There are a few differences between a child and family therapist and a clinician in terms of educational background:

	Child And Family Therapist	Clinician
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Child and family therapist vs clinician demographics

Here are the differences between child and family therapists' and clinicians' demographics:

	Child And Family Therapist	Clinician
Average age	41	45
Gender ratio	Male, 19.2% Female, 80.8%	Male, 24.3% Female, 75.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 4.6% White, 68.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 3.1% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	6%	15%

Differences between child and family therapist and clinician duties and responsibilities

Child and family therapist example responsibilities.

Develop and lead DBT base therapy groups for children and adolescents in residential treatment.
Train in HIPAA as well as an understanding of BCBA professional standards.
Create, implement, and monitor behavior programs under supervision of a BCBA.
Conduct psychological testing for social security disability, vocational rehabilitation, and hospital inpatient populations.
Perform occasional psychosocial rehabilitation services.
Perform occasional psychosocial rehabilitation services.

Clinician example responsibilities.

Perform thorough substance abuse assessments incorporating instruments such as ASAM, SASSI and urine drug screens; provide individual therapy.
Spearhead the development of rehabilitation programs serving adults with chemical dependency and mental health diagnoses with the manager.
Follow all ethical CARF standards when treating the residential client.
Facilitate stabilization, assessment, care and compassion for those in critical need.
Provide CBT and motivational interviewing for individual and group therapy to clients' who are on methadone.
Used motivational interviewing to lead recovery and therapy groups for IOP and PHP programs in the evenings and on weekends.

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Child and family therapist vs clinician skills

Common child and family therapist skills

Social Work, 21%
Diagnosis, 8%
Mental Health, 6%
Individual Therapy, 6%
Community Resources, 5%
Behavioral Health, 5%

Common clinician skills

Social Work, 26%
Patients, 14%
Patient Care, 4%
Individual Therapy, 4%
Mental Health, 4%
Mental Illness, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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