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Couples therapist skills for your resume and career
Updated January 8, 2025
1 min read
Quoted experts
Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.,
Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical couples therapist skills. We ranked the top skills for couples therapists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 29.9% of couples therapist resumes contained couples therapy as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a couples therapist needs to be successful in the workplace.
7 couples therapist skills for your resume and career
1. Couples Therapy
Here's how couples therapists use couples therapy:
- Provide couples therapy to adults, with a specialty in couples that have childhood trauma and early relational attachment trauma.
- Provide individual, family and couple therapy to families.
2. Private Practice
Private practice refers to a business operated by professionals such as doctors or lawyers neither controlled nor paid by the government.
Here's how couples therapists use private practice:
- Established therapeutic relationships and provided therapy to individuals and couples in a private practice setting.
- Provide outpatient individual, couples, and family therapy in private practice setting utilizing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy techniques and Motivational Interviewing techniques.
3. Adolescents
Here's how couples therapists use adolescents:
- Provide Individual psychotherapy to adults, children and adolescents, couples counseling and family work.
- Provided psychotherapy to children, adolescents and couples of the Chicago Public School System.
4. Family Therapy
Here's how couples therapists use family therapy:
- Developed and implemented family therapy program for outpatient treatment unit.
- Conduct diagnostic and psycho-educational evaluations, Intensive home-based individual and family therapy with at-risk and foster children and their caregivers.
5. Cognitive Behavioral
Here's how couples therapists use cognitive behavioral:
- Provide Cognitive Behavioral, Structural, Strategic, and Solution Focused therapies.
- Used multiple modalities such as Rogerian, Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral counseling techniques to help clients enact change.
6. Assessment Methods
Here's how couples therapists use assessment methods:
- Develop diagnosis using case history, interview and observation techniques appraisals and assessment methods.
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Here's how couples therapists use substance abuse:
- Perform initial basic assessment procedures including standardized psychological testing, clinical interviewing, mental status examination, substance abuse evaluation.
- Contract services for individuals and family groups with individuals in substance abuse recovery with dual diagnosis, co-morbidity.
What skills help Couples Therapists find jobs?
Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.
What skills stand out on couples therapist resumes?
Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Human Factors, University of Alabama in Huntsville
Strong analytical skills are a must. This includes both logic and reasoning skills, but also data analysis skills. For many jobs, the ability to collect and scientifically evaluate data will be vital, if not an absolute necessity. Similarly, a strong understanding of experimental methods can put a candidate in a great position to be able to help a company evaluate existing programs and chart a path forward for new ones. Finally, I would say that a strong ability to write is critical. Those graduates who are able to effectively and persuasively communicate in writing are setting themselves up for success at any company and allowing the company to leverage them for increasingly important tasks.
What soft skills should all couples therapists possess?
Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Human Factors, University of Alabama in Huntsville
Students need to be able to read individual and group dynamics in order to act appropriately in any given situation. This includes not only the interactions with one's bosses but also peers and subordinates. Similarly, being comfortable with networking can help any company, but networking skills shine through in interviews.
What hard/technical skills are most important for couples therapists?
Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Human Factors, University of Alabama in Huntsville
Technical skills like the ability to perform statistical analyses are critically important for most Psychology-related jobs. This allows a candidate to collect and analyze data but also to interpret and understand other existing data. A strong statistical background can also help set a candidate apart from their peers in the application process. This includes understanding when and how to use various parametric and nonparametric statistics to be able to answer questions regardless of the data one is working with.
What couples therapist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Charles Westerberg Ph.D.
Brannon-Ballard Professor of Sociology, Beloit College
For students taking a gap year, I think they should focus on building up their social capital networks. They should get as much exposure and face time as possible in fields that will give them access to people who can vouch for them. This might not be precisely the sort of position they are looking for, but it should provide them with access to relatable skills and contacts. To do this, students should call and email relentlessly. You never know when you will get a break. Passivity is not an excellent way to create gaps for yourself.
What type of skills will young couples therapists need?
Dr. Eva Moya Ph.D.
Professor, The University of Texas
Graduates of the social work profession need to be able to work with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and mobilize communities to bring about social, economic, political, or environmental change, in addition to being involved in social policy development.
Skills in research, to study social issues, with the intention of developing social policy or micro-level approaches to practice to improve people's lives, and training in relation to multiculturalism, cultural competence, cultural humility practice is vital.
Key skills include:
Skills in research, to study social issues, with the intention of developing social policy or micro-level approaches to practice to improve people's lives, and training in relation to multiculturalism, cultural competence, cultural humility practice is vital.
Key skills include:
- Collaboration
- Critical thinking
- -Ethics in evidence based-practice
- Assessment, intervention, and evaluation
- Social work competencies to inform behaviors.
- Administration and management
- Community practice
- Policy practice
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about couples therapistList of couples therapist skills to add to your resume
The most important skills for a couples therapist resume and required skills for a couples therapist to have include:
- Couples Therapy
- Private Practice
- Adolescents
- Family Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral
- Assessment Methods
- Substance Abuse
Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025