Career Discovery Tool
Your email has not been verified. Verify email now ›

Marriage & Family Therapist

Overview and Key Facts

counseling session
Education
Education
Master's degree
Median Pay
Median Pay
$63,780
Job Growth
Job Growth
12.60%
(Above US Average)
Jobs in 2034
Jobs in 2034
87,700

What Do They Do?

A marriage and family therapist could...

 
father and son having a serious chat
Counsel parents about how to understand and cope with an out-of-control child.
budgeting
Help a person who spends money excessively understand and modify his or her behavior.
family counseling
Assist parents in explaining their divorce and their feelings to their children.
advice session
Determine if a person who is depressed should be referred to a psychologist for other treatments.
 
father and son having a serious chat budgeting family counseling advice session

Overview Listen to this section

Families and couples face many problems, from difficult child behaviors, depression, and compulsions to anger-management issues and eating disorders. Sometimes these problems get repeated generation after generation, whereas other times they arise spontaneously. Marriage and family therapists can help break the cycles of maladaptive behaviors. They provide goal-oriented counseling that focuses on the family and close relationships. They diagnose mental health problems, give psychological tests, provide counseling services, and refer patients who need medication to psychiatrists.
Watch this video to see what a marriage and family therapist does who specializes in helping children whose parents are going through separation or divorce.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXrw_jY8qS0

Do You Have the Skills and Characteristics of a Marriage & Family Therapist?


  1. Active Listening: ?
  2. Social Perceptiveness: ?
  3. Speaking: ?
  4. Service Orientation: ?
  5. Writing: ?
More skills...

Core Tasks

Think about if you'd like the typical tasks a Marriage & Family Therapist might do:
  • Encourage individuals and family members to develop and use skills and strategies for confronting their problems in a constructive manner.
  • Ask questions that will help clients identify their feelings and behaviors.
  • Develop and implement individualized treatment plans addressing family relationship problems, destructive patterns of behavior, and other personal issues.
  • Maintain case files that include activities, progress notes, evaluations, and recommendations.
  • Collect information about clients, using techniques such as testing, interviewing, discussion, or observation.
  • Counsel clients on concerns, such as unsatisfactory relationships, divorce and separation, child rearing, home management, or financial difficulties.
  • Confer with clients to develop plans for posttreatment activities.
  • Confer with other counselors, doctors, and professionals to analyze individual cases and to coordinate counseling services.
  • Determine whether clients should be counseled or referred to other specialists in such fields as medicine, psychiatry, or legal aid.
  • Provide instructions to clients on how to obtain help with legal, financial, and other personal issues.
  • Provide public education and consultation to other professionals or groups regarding counseling services, issues, and methods.

Salary & Job Openings

Median Salary (Yearly Pay)

Tap or scroll over map to see median salaries for each state
No data available for some states (white on the map)

Future Jobs

Blast-Off:

How Will Marriage & Family Therapist Jobs Grow by 2034?
Projected % Growth
Rapid growth
(10% or higher)
Much faster than average
(7% - 10%)
Faster than average
(5% - 7%)
About as fast as average
(3% - 5%)
Slower than average
(0% - 3%)
Decreasing
Average of all U.S. jobs (5.3%)
Marriage & Family Therapist jobs (12.60%)
Source: https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/occupational-projections-and-characteristics.htm

Steps to Get There: Becoming a Marriage & Family Therapist

High School Subjects to Study

Aim to study the yellow-shaded subjects.
Math
Algebra 1
Geometry
Algebra 2
Pre-Calculus
Calculus
Statistics
Science
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Environmental Science
Physiology
Bio-Medical / Biotech
IT &
Engineering
Computer Science
Applied Technology
Drafting & CAD Training
Core
English
Foreign Language
Business
Psychology / Sociology

Education- Typical Degree Needed After High School Listen to this section

Degree
Post
high school credential
AA
Bachelor's
Master's
Doctoral or Professional Degree

Typical degree for an entry-level position: Master's degree ? Types of Degrees and Credentials

Requirements for marriage and family therapists typically include master's degrees in counseling, two years or 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience, and state-recognized exams. Therapists must adhere to ethical codes and standards and complete continuing education requirements every year. Courses in sociology, social work, psychology, and modern foreign languages are helpful.

Companies That Hire Marriage & Family Therapists

Try it Out with an Activity or Project

STEM Activities

STEM activities are fun hands-on explorations that usually take from 10 minutes to one hour and use readily available household or classroom materials while introducing you to STEM concepts common in this career.

Science Project Ideas

Project Ideas are in-depth STEM explorations that have a strong focus on controlling variables, taking accurate measurements, and analyzing data suitable for investigating the scientific method or the engineering design process.

On the Job

Role Models

Read this interview to meet a self-employed marriage and family therapist who describes what she enjoys the most and what she finds the most challenging about her job.
I really love helping couples choose intimacy and teaching them that what they have is good. 
K. Alexandra Onno, MFT

Nature of the Work

Marriage and family therapists or counselors provide therapy for people who wish to solve emotional conflicts. Their goal is to modify people's perceptions and behavior, improve communication, and prevent individual and family crises. Therapists work in mental health centers, clinics, hospitals, social service agencies, and private practices.

Therapy usually consists of talk sessions, lasting about an hour. Using techniques learned in classrooms and in fieldwork, counselors guide their clients through a series of conversations that reveal their clients' anger, fears, and needs. When couples are considering divorce, for instance, counselors work to uncover the underlying reasons for the divorce and discover whether reconciliation is possible.

Marriage counselors usually speak with a husband and wife at the same time, although they may have some sessions with them separately. They may also counsel groups of married couples, groups of husbands, or groups of wives. Family therapists work with entire families or with individual family members, using similar methods of therapy.

Therapists' work may vary by place of employment. Those in private practice, for example, may specialize in one or two kinds of problems. They may refer clients to other counselors if they determine that their clients' problems are outside their areas of expertise. Counselors who work in clinics may work in teams, consulting each other on appropriate therapy techniques. Some clinics employ counselors with special qualifications to take on the most difficult cases.

Work Environment

Therapists work in offices where they can speak with their clients in private or in groups. Working hours vary because many therapists combine part-time jobs in social service agencies with private practice. Agency work, especially in marriage counseling, often includes two or three evenings of work each week because many clients work during the day. Therapists in private practice can regulate their own schedules; they may have some evening and weekend sessions.

The work can be very demanding. Therapists must always give their complete attention to their clients' difficulties.

More Information

Ask Questions

Do you have a specific question about a career as a Marriage & Family Therapist that isn't answered on this page? Post your question on the Science Buddies Ask an Expert Forum.

Additional Resources

Sources

Top
Quick Links X
Free science fair projects.