Child and family therapist vs therapist

The differences between child and family therapists and therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a therapist has an average salary of $55,943, 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 therapist are social work, patients, and group therapy sessions.

Child and family therapist vs therapist overview

	Child And Family Therapist	Therapist
Yearly salary	$55,339	$55,943
Hourly rate	$26.61	$26.90
Growth rate	14%	17%
Number of jobs	120,152	159,770
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	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 therapist do?

A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

Child and family therapist vs therapist salary

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

	Child And Family Therapist	Therapist
Average salary	$55,339	$55,943
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $81,000	Between $39,000 And $80,000
Highest paying City	San Rafael, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	Everymind (formerly Mental Health Association Of Montgomery County)	Childhelp
Best paying industry	Finance	Government

Differences between child and family therapist and therapist education

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

	Child And Family Therapist	Therapist
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Child and family therapist vs therapist demographics

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

	Child And Family Therapist	Therapist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 19.2% Female, 80.8%	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
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, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	6%	12%

Differences between child and family therapist and therapist 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.

Therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.

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Child and family therapist vs therapist 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 therapist skills

Social Work, 23%
Patients, 12%
Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
Crisis Intervention, 7%
Mental Health, 4%
Patient Care, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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