Marriage and family therapists are health professionals who are licensed to diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders of married couples and families. These therapists are required to treat patients with issues such as child and adolescent behavioral problems, depression and anxiety, and marital conflicts. They must observe the interaction of people within units while evaluating and resolving their issues with relationships. Marriage and family therapists must also guide their clients to go through transitional crises such as divorce or death.

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Marriage And Family Therapist Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real marriage and family therapist resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

  • Conduct play therapy with elementary age students to help manage anxiety, divorce, ADHD, etc.
  • Develop effective treatment plans and implement evidence-base strategies to assist patients in alleviating psychological symptoms and achieving goals.
  • Train in EMDR, DBT, work with divorce issues, PTSD, deployment/reunification, anxiety, and depression issues.
  • Counsele patients experiencing common mental health problems including emotional and physical abuse, family issues, relationship problems and parenting problems.
  • Attend weekly DBT team meetings and supervision including mindfulness activities and focus on DBT principles.
  • Administer outcome measures to track baseline symptoms, such as the YOQ, CBCL, UCLA PTSD assessment tools.
  • Co-Le multiple psychotherapy groups for military couples and individuals dealing with PTSD as a result of combat and military exposure.
  • Provide training for federal and public organizations regarding the psychological aspects of veterans having experience combat or military sexual trauma.
  • Consult with teachers, principles, therapist, and other adjunct professionals, and attend IEP meetings.
  • Collaborate with school psychologists, special education teachers, and IEP team to develop a better therapeutic understanding of the student.
  • Coordinate and provide court order services for DCFS families.
  • Complete extensive treatment plans and Medicaid documentation.
  • Train in EMDR & cognitive-behavioral therapy.
  • Complete all state-requir paperwork for a Medicaid fund program.
  • Conduct MST assessment including review of referral information, maintain the confidentiality of all consumer care information including protect health information.

Marriage And Family Therapist Job Description

Perhaps the hardest question to answer when deciding on a career as a marriage and family therapist is "should I become a marriage and family therapist?" You might find this info to be helpful. When compared to other jobs, marriage and family therapist careers are projected to have a growth rate described as "much faster than average" at 22% from 2018 through 2028. This is in accordance with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What's more, is that the projected number of opportunities that are predicted to become available for a marriage and family therapist by 2028 is 12,300.

On average, the marriage and family therapist annual salary is $57,856 per year, which translates to $27.82 an hour. Generally speaking, marriage and family therapists earn anywhere from $41,000 to $80,000 a year, which means that the top-earning marriage and family therapists make $29,000 more than the ones at the lower end of the spectrum.

It's hard work to become a marriage and family therapist, but even the most dedicated employees consider switching careers from time to time. Whether you're interested in a more challenging position or just looking for a fresh start, we've compiled extensive information on becoming an addictions counselor, clinical counselor, mental health counselor, and clinician.

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Marriage And Family Therapist Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 36% of Marriage And Family Therapists are proficient in Social Work, Patients, and Crisis Intervention. They’re also known for soft skills such as Listening skills, Speaking skills, and Organizational skills.

We break down the percentage of Marriage And Family Therapists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Social Work, 36%

    Consult with other therapists, supervisors and social workers on children and adolescents with personal and academic difficulties to implement solutions.

  • Patients, 9%

    Counseled patients experiencing common mental health problems including emotional and physical abuse, family issues, relationship problems and parenting problems.

  • Crisis Intervention, 6%

    Conduct individual, family and group therapy sessions in accordance with agency and accrediting bodies and provide crisis intervention when necessary.

  • Substance Abuse, 5%

    Contract services for individuals and family groups with individuals in substance abuse recovery with dual diagnosis, co-morbidity.

  • Mental Illness, 4%

    Conducted individual therapy sessions with clients' with severe mental illness utilizing techniques from Cognitive Behavioral and Dialectical Behavioral Therapies

  • Mental Health, 3%

    Work collaboratively with behavior management provider, clinical supervisor, psychologist and psychiatrist for the mental health improvement of the client.

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Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume
Marriage And Family Therapist Resume

Most marriage and family therapists list "social work," "patients," and "crisis intervention" as skills on their resumes. We go into more details on the most important marriage and family therapist responsibilities here:

  • Listening skills can be considered to be the most important personality trait for a marriage and family therapist to have. According to a marriage and family therapist resume, "marriage and family therapists need to give their full attention to their clients to understand their problems, values, and goals." Marriage and family therapists are able to use listening skills in the following example we gathered from a resume: "communicated and coordinated care with psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses to establish the most stable mental health condition for the client. "
  • Another trait important for fulfilling marriage and family therapist duties is speaking skills. According to a marriage and family therapist resume, "marriage and family therapists need to be able to communicate with clients effectively." Here's an example of how marriage and family therapists are able to utilize speaking skills: "diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders within the framework of marriage and family systems for the latino spanish-speaking population. "
  • Marriage and family therapists are also known for organizational skills, which can be critical when it comes to performing their duties. An example of why this skill is important is shown by this snippet that we found in a marriage and family therapist resume: "marriage and family therapists in private practice must keep track of payments and work with insurance companies." We also found this resume example that details how this skill is put to the test: "utilized organizational skills to monitor and adapt, as necessary, the daily activities of the child with autism. "
  • In order for certain marriage and family therapist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires the skill "compassion." According to a marriage and family therapist resume, "marriage and family therapists often work with people who are dealing with stressful and difficult situations, so they must be compassionate and empathize with their clients." As an example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies: "provide compassionate, strengths-based short-term and long-term individual therapy at a sliding-scale mental health clinic in the tenderloin. "
  • Yet another important skill that a marriage and family therapist must demonstrate is "interpersonal skills." Marriage and family therapists work with different types of people This is clearly demonstrated in this example from a marriage and family therapist who stated: "provide individual therapy in an out-patient setting to adults and adolescent with a variety of presenting problems to improve interpersonal relationships. "
  • See the full list of marriage and family therapist skills.

    Before becoming a marriage and family therapist, 56.7% earned their bachelor's degree. When it comes down to graduating with a master's degree, 36.7% marriage and family therapists went for the extra education. If you're wanting to pursue this career, it may be impossible to be successful with a high school degree. In fact, most marriage and family therapists have a college degree. But about one out of every ten marriage and family therapists didn't attend college at all.

    Those marriage and family therapists who do attend college, typically earn either a psychology degree or a family therapy degree. Less commonly earned degrees for marriage and family therapists include a counseling psychology degree or a clinical psychology degree.

    Once you've obtained the level of education you're comfortable with, you might start applying to companies to become a marriage and family therapist. We've found that most marriage and family therapist resumes include experience from Thriveworks, Gotham, and AlphaVista Services. Of recent, Thriveworks had 184 positions open for marriage and family therapists. Meanwhile, there are 33 job openings at Gotham and 23 at AlphaVista Services.

    But if you're interested in companies where you might earn a high salary, marriage and family therapists tend to earn the biggest salaries at Henderson Behavioral Health, Thriveworks, and Medical Billing. Take Henderson Behavioral Health for example. The median marriage and family therapist salary is $91,232. At Thriveworks, marriage and family therapists earn an average of $81,333, while the average at Medical Billing is $78,326. You should take into consideration how difficult it might be to secure a job with one of these companies.

    View more details on marriage and family therapist salaries across the United States.

    Some other companies you might be interested in as a marriage and family therapist include Private Practice, Catholic Charities Health and Human Services, and Family Services. These three companies were found to hire the most marriage and family therapists from the top 100 U.S. educational institutions.

    The three companies that hire the most prestigious marriage and family therapists are:

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    What Addictions Counselors Do

    An Addictions Counselor helps patients overcome personal addiction problems, such as dependence on drugs, alcohol, and other substances. They evaluate the condition of their client through examining, asking questions, and recommending the proper treatment options.

    In this section, we take a look at the annual salaries of other professions. Take addictions counselor for example. On average, the addictions counselors annual salary is $10,630 lower than what marriage and family therapists make on average every year.

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

    These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A marriage and family therapist responsibility is more likely to require skills like "substance abuse," "mental illness," "mental health," and "mft." Whereas a addictions counselor requires skills like "substance abuse treatment," "rehabilitation," "patient care," and "treatment services." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

    Addictions counselors really shine in the non profits industry with an average salary of $47,326. Whereas marriage and family therapists tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $60,978.

    Addictions counselors tend to reach lower levels of education than marriage and family therapists. In fact, addictions counselors are 9.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of a Clinical Counselor?

    A Clinical Counselor interviews clients to assess their mental health and behavioral problems. They examine issues such as substance abuse, depression, stress, aging and self-image.

    Now we're going to look at the clinical counselor profession. On average, clinical counselors earn a $3,665 lower salary than marriage and family therapists a year.

    Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Marriage and family therapists and clinical counselors both include similar skills like "social work," "patients," and "crisis intervention" on their resumes.

    But both careers also use different skills, according to real marriage and family therapist resumes. While marriage and family therapist responsibilities can utilize skills like "substance abuse," "mft," "family systems," and "individual psychotherapy," some clinical counselors use skills like "foster care," "independent living," "social service agencies," and "program documentation."

    Clinical counselors may earn a lower salary than marriage and family therapists, but clinical counselors earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $53,306. On the other side of things, marriage and family therapists receive higher paychecks in the government industry where they earn an average of $60,978.

    When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, clinical counselors tend to reach similar levels of education than marriage and family therapists. In fact, they're 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    How a Mental Health Counselor Compares

    A mental health counselor is responsible for helping patients deal with their emotional and mental disorders by developing treatment plans and conducting regular counseling to track the patient's progress and condition. Mental health counselors encourage active communication from their patients, provide coping strategies for triggering situations, seek advice from other health care professionals, and guide patients on doing other activities that would help them relax. A mental health counselor must have excellent knowledge of the mental health disciplines to assist patients in their healthy lifestyle development.

    The mental health counselor profession generally makes a lower amount of money when compared to the average salary of marriage and family therapists. The difference in salaries is mental health counselors making $8,385 lower than marriage and family therapists.

    Using marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "social work," "patients," and "crisis intervention," but the other skills required are very different.

    Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from marriage and family therapist resumes include skills like "substance abuse," "mental illness," "mft," and "child abuse," whereas a mental health counselor might be skilled in "patient care," "rehabilitation," "cpr," and "family therapy. "

    Mental health counselors make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $52,181. Whereas marriage and family therapists are paid the highest salary in the government industry with the average being $60,978.

    Mental health counselors typically study at lower levels compared with marriage and family therapists. For example, they're 6.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of a Clinician

    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.

    Clinicians tend to earn a higher pay than marriage and family therapists by about $2,294 per year.

    According to resumes from both marriage and family therapists and clinicians, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "social work," "patients," and "crisis intervention. "

    Each job requires different skills like "substance abuse," "mft," "child abuse," and "anxiety disorders," which might show up on a marriage and family therapist resume. Whereas clinician might include skills like "patient care," "rehabilitation," "discharge planning," and "treatment services."

    Clinicians reach similar levels of education when compared to marriage and family therapists. The difference is that they're 4.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree more, and 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.