How To Become A Family Service Counselor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a family service counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a family service counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.79 an hour? That's $49,490 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 64,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a family service counselor?

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University

Counseling Services (school counseling concentration) and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (we have a CMHC concentration and a Dance Movement Therapy concentration in this program). The general advice I would give to graduates starting positions in the counseling field would be to understand the critical importance of the work of helping professionals. Counselors optimally provide a safe space for clients to discuss their fears, worries, anxieties, joys, traumas, insecurities, accomplishments, etc. This ability to be an empathic, listening, accepting presence will be even more crucial for clients in our current situation.

ScoreFamily Service CounselorUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,490

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.51%

Asian 2.67%

Black or African American 13.37%

Hispanic or Latino 15.12%

Unknown 4.19%

White 63.14%

Gender

female 62.20%

male 37.80%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a family service counselor

Explore family service counselor education requirements

Most common family service counselor degrees

Bachelor's

59.7 %

Associate

14.7 %

Master's

12.6 %

Start to develop specific family service counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Social Work	22.11%
Community Resources	12.96%
Family Services	10.34%
Mental Health	6.86%
Client Families	5.65%

Complete relevant family service counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New family service counselors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a family service counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real family service counselor resumes.

Research family service counselor duties and responsibilities

Maintain the HMIS databases for new leads and existing client s needs.
Design and implement new position utilizing community outreach counseling and support services for patients in partial hospital and outpatient programs.
Perform drug screens after hours so the kids wouldn't miss school.
Maintain and upkeep knowledge of current policy and program procedures for programs administer by DHS.

Prepare your family service counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your family service counselor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a family service counselor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable family service counselor resume templates

Build a professional family service counselor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your family service counselor resume.

Apply for family service counselor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a family service counselor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do family service counselors rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Family service counselor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019

Cons

The over documentation required by DHS that robs the quality time needed in intervention and treatment. This lopsided demand makes the term “best practices” mere bureaucratic lip service without the means to actually deliver quality hands on services.

Pros

Change agent when people are stuck and need support in the process of restoration. One on one and group processing is powerful.