Marriage and Family Therapists: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

Job description

Marriage and Family Therapists diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders, whether cognitive, affective, or behavioral, within the context of marriage and family systems. Apply psychotherapeutic and family systems theories and techniques in the delivery of services to individuals, couples, and families for the purpose of treating such diagnosed nervous and mental disorders.

• Ask questions that will help clients identify their feelings and behaviors.
• Counsel clients on concerns, such as unsatisfactory relationships, divorce and separation, child rearing, home management, or financial difficulties.
• Encourage individuals and family members to develop and use skills and strategies for confronting their problems in a constructive manner.
• Maintain case files that include activities, progress notes, evaluations, and recommendations.

Salary

Marriage and Family Therapists with little to no experience tend to make between $31850 and $38170 while the more experienced ones can earn over $63300 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Marriage and Family Therapist is to move to a higher paying state like HI. Right now, the highest paying states for Marriage and Family Therapists are HI, ME, CO, NJ and UT.

However, a higher pay at HI doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at HI might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Marriage and Family Therapist is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Marriage and Family Therapists what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Master’s Degree followed by a Post-Master’s Certificate.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Marriage and Family Therapist.

What is the job like

75% of Marriage and Family Therapists said they were satisfied with their job and 86% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

Stalin Villegas Troya

My Typical Day Check the agenda and check if you are a new customer or not. New customer: Ready to listen, without judging, to evaluate in the most balanced way possible, to help them properly. Regular customer: Meditate on your case, there is already prior knowledge, analyze what the best alternatives are, how is your … Read More

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Kimberly Panganiban

My Typical Day My work day consists of coming into the office in the morning, checking a few emails, and then seeing couples (mostly via telehealth at this time due to COVID). My sessions with couples are 75-minutes in length. I see anywhere from 3-7 couples/day. In between sessions I am taking notes and following … Read More

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Eileen Kinney Lindgren

Just Mind Counseling

There are a variety of ways LMFTs approach their jobs. Mine is focused on prioritizing my own self-care so that I can show up as open, regulated, and curious as possible for my clients. It is from that grounded place that I do my best work. My day starts with connecting with my mind and … Read More

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Is this right for me

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with, communicating with, and teaching people. They like helping or providing service to others..

They also like working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

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