Marriage Family Therapist

Marriage family therapists are therapists that specialize in treating mental and emotional disorders, whether cognitive, behavioral, or affective, in marriage and family systems. They offer services to individuals, couples, and families. They are different from psychiatrists and clinical social workers.

To learn more about family therapy degree options available, feel free to request additional information.

Salary

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a median annual wage of $45,000 for marriage family therapists in 2009. Marriage family therapists ranged anywhere from $28,000 to $70,000 or more a year. Marriage family therapists working for elementary and secondary schools made more than those found in general medical and surgical hospitals.

Training and Qualifications

Marriage family therapists typically begin their education with a bachelor of psychology program and move to a graduate family therapy degree. Licensure and certification varies state to state.

Students may pursue their career as a marriage family therapist, or MFT, with an online bachelor degree in psychology and later transition to a master degree program at a campus school in their area. Students should speak with their counselors about taking the appropriate classes during their psychology study for an MFT career.

Alternatively, psychology bachelor degree graduates may pursue a master degree program as a clinical social worker.

Job Outlook

Marriage family therapists are in moderate demand as the mental sector of the health care industry continues to grow; there is even higher demand for clinical social workers. Aspiring marriage family therapists should be aware of the flooded amount of graduates in psychology and the frequency of these graduates moving onto MFT programs.

Advancement

Marriage family therapists advance with experience. They may also return to school to pursue a career as a psychiatrist.

Location plays a crucial part in a marriage family therapist’s advancement. For example, marriage family therapists in Hawaii make nearly double of marriage family therapists in places without as much need, such as California.

Learn More

To learn more about family therapy degree choices available, fill out the following form. Alternatively, check out clinical social worker.