What Does a Family Therapist Do?

We looked at the average family therapist annual salary and compared it with the average of a substance abuse counselor. Generally speaking, substance abuse counselors receive $7,705 lower pay than family therapists per year.

While the salaries between these two careers can be different, they do share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both family therapists and substance abuse counselors positions are skilled in social work, patients, and rehabilitation.

There are some key differences in responsibilities as well. For example, a family therapist responsibilities require skills like "group therapy," "child abuse," "mental health," and "foster care." Meanwhile a typical substance abuse counselor has skills in areas such as "substance abuse treatment," "excellent interpersonal," "criminal justice," and "individual sessions." This difference in skills reveals how truly different these two careers really are.

Substance abuse counselors really shine in the non profits industry with an average salary of $41,273. Whereas family therapists tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $50,267.

On average, substance abuse counselors reach lower levels of education than family therapists. Substance abuse counselors are 22.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

The next role we're going to look at is the intensive in-home counselor profession. Typically, this position earns a higher pay. In fact, they earn a $654 higher salary than family therapists per year.

While the salary may be different for these job positions, there is one similarity and that's a few of the skills needed to perform certain duties. We used info from lots of resumes to find that both family therapists and intensives in-home counselor are known to have skills such as "community resources," "mental health issues," and "group therapy. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, family therapist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "social work," "patients," "rehabilitation," and "child abuse." Meanwhile, a intensive in-home counselor might be skilled in areas such as "intensive in-home," "medication management," "treatment strategies," and "direct clinical services." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Intensives in-home counselor may earn a higher salary than family therapists, but intensives in-home counselor earn the most pay in the utilities industry with an average salary of $56,398. On the other side of things, family therapists receive higher paychecks in the health care industry where they earn an average of $50,267.

On the topic of education, intensives in-home counselor earn lower levels of education than family therapists. In general, they're 23.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The third profession we take a look at is mental health professional. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than family therapists. In fact, they make a $1,655 lower salary per year.

While looking through the resumes of several family therapists and mental health professionals we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "social work," "patients," and "rehabilitation," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from family therapist resumes include skills like "group therapy," "child abuse," "fft," and "family systems," whereas a mental health professional might be skilled in "cpr," "excellent interpersonal," "taking care," and "mental health treatment. "

Mental health professionals make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $49,393. Whereas family therapists are paid the highest salary in the health care industry with the average being $50,267.

Mental health professionals typically study at lower levels compared with family therapists. For example, they're 13.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Alcohol and drug counselors tend to earn a lower pay than family therapists by about $5,016 per year.

According to resumes from both family therapists and alcohol and drug counselors, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "social work," "patients," and "rehabilitation. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a family therapist might have more use for skills like "group therapy," "child abuse," "mental health," and "foster care." Meanwhile, some alcohol and drug counselors might include skills like "substance abuse treatment," "treatment services," "asam," and "drug abuse" on their resume.

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The professional industry tends to pay more for alcohol and drug counselors with an average of $44,333. While the highest family therapist annual salary comes from the health care industry.

In general, alcohol and drug counselors reach lower levels of education when compared to family therapists resumes. Alcohol and drug counselors are 24.7% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.