Family counselor vs therapist

The differences between family counselors 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 $41,510 average annual salary of a family counselor.

The top three skills for a family counselor include social work, community resources and POC. The most important skills for a therapist are social work, patients, and group therapy sessions.

Family counselor vs therapist overview

	Family Counselor	Therapist
Yearly salary	$41,510	$55,943
Hourly rate	$19.96	$26.90
Growth rate	14%	17%
Number of jobs	93,253	159,770
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	-

What does a family counselor do?

A Family Counselor treats married couples or family members in order to help them overcome mental or emotional problems. They provide effective treatment measures to help the family members resolve their issues.

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.

Family counselor vs therapist salary

Family counselors and therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Family Counselor	Therapist
Average salary	$41,510	$55,943
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $62,000	Between $39,000 And $80,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New York	California
Best paying company	Shirley Ryan AbilityLab	Childhelp
Best paying industry	Professional	Government

Differences between family counselor and therapist education

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

	Family Counselor	Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Family counselor vs therapist demographics

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

	Family Counselor	Therapist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 26.3% Female, 73.7%	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 family counselor and therapist duties and responsibilities

Family counselor example responsibilities.

Conduct group check-in and co-lead group psychotherapy sessions to help clients identify and manage problems associate with psychiatric conditions.
Assist the clients in completing their DCF case plan, helping to remove any hindrances they may encounter.
Counsele and test patients who requesting confidential HIV testing services
Collaborate and coordinate patient care with resident/faculty physicians to provide appropriate levels of care to patients.
Receive and process referrals from DCF and community-base case managers for individuals suspect as substance abusers.
Utilize PowerPoint presentations to facilitate ongoing new student orientation, ensuring students understand rules and regulations.

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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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Family counselor vs therapist skills

Common family counselor skills

Social Work, 22%
Community Resources, 13%
POC, 7%
Family Support, 5%
Family Therapy, 5%
DOD, 4%

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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