Clinician vs family therapist

The differences between clinicians and family therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a clinician and a family therapist. Additionally, a clinician has an average salary of $60,150, which is higher than the $50,774 average annual salary of a family therapist.

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

Clinician vs family therapist overview

	Clinician	Family Therapist
Yearly salary	$60,150	$50,774
Hourly rate	$28.92	$24.41
Growth rate	9%	14%
Number of jobs	105,023	106,982
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	45	41
Years of experience	4	4

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.

What does a family therapist do?

A Family Therapist works with couples and families to help ameliorate marital and family issues. They can work in hospitals, treatment programs, government agencies, health organizations, and private practices.

Clinician vs family therapist salary

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

	Clinician	Family Therapist
Average salary	$60,150	$50,774
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $103,000	Between $37,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Rochester, NY
Highest paying state	Nevada	Oregon
Best paying company	Pace University	Dignity Health
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between clinician and family therapist education

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

	Clinician	Family Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Clinician vs family therapist demographics

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

	Clinician	Family Therapist
Average age	45	41
Gender ratio	Male, 24.3% Female, 75.7%	Male, 25.8% Female, 74.2%
Race ratio	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%	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%
LGBT Percentage	15%	6%

Differences between clinician and family therapist duties and responsibilities

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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Family therapist example responsibilities.

Complete documentation to medicaid standards.
Create maximum billable Medicaid hours and submitting necessary paperwork for Medicaid billing.
Apply behavioral analysis instruction for a student with autism concentrating on communication, socialization, self-help skills and community skills.
Receive and process referrals from DCF and community-base case managers for individuals suspect as substance abusers.

Clinician vs family therapist skills

Common clinician skills

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

Common family therapist skills

Social Work, 27%
Patients, 6%
Rehabilitation, 4%
Community Resources, 4%
Mental Health Issues, 4%
Group Therapy, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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