Marriage and Family Therapists
Human Services > Counseling & Mental Health ServicesProjected Growth: Much faster than average
Projected Job Openings
Extensive Preparation Needed
Job Description
Your job is to 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.
Common job titles of Marriage and Family Therapists include:
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Experience and Education
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
59.73% said they needed a Master's Degree.
38.32% said they needed a Post-Master's Certificate.
Tasks
Determine whether clients should be counseled or referred to other specialists in such fields as medicine, psychiatry, or legal aid.
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.
Counsel clients on concerns, such as unsatisfactory relationships, divorce and separation, child rearing, home management, or financial difficulties.
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.
Collect information about clients, using techniques such as testing, interviewing, discussion, or observation.
Supervise other counselors, social service staff, and assistants.
Confer with other counselors, doctors, and professionals to analyze individual cases and to coordinate counseling services.
Provide instructions to clients on how to obtain help with legal, financial, and other personal issues.
Follow up on results of counseling programs and clients' adjustments to determine effectiveness of programs.
Confer with clients to develop plans for posttreatment activities.
Write evaluations of parents and children for use by courts deciding divorce and custody cases, testifying in court if necessary.
Provide public education and consultation to other professionals or groups regarding counseling services, issues, and methods.
Gather information from doctors, schools, social workers, juvenile counselors, law enforcement personnel, and others to make recommendations to courts for resolution of child custody or visitation disputes.
Provide family counseling and treatment services to inmates participating in substance abuse programs.
Tools
Videoconferencing equipment
Toy block sets
Photocopying equipment
Personal digital assistants PDA
Personal computers
Multi-line telephone systems
Laptop computers
All ToolsHand puppets
Dolls
Doll houses
Desktop computers
Computer laser printers
Technologies
Intuit QuickBooks
Advantage Software Psych Advantage
American Medical Billing Software PMA
Anasazi Software Client Data System
Beaver Creek Software The THERAPIST
Blueberry Harbor Software Clinical Record Keeper
Care Paths eRecord
All TechnologiesCasamba SmartClinic
Cornucopia Software Practice MAGIC
DocuTrac QuicDoc
eMDs Medisoft
EZ2Bill Confidant
EZClaim Healthcare Software EZClaim Advanced Medical Billing
Mdansby The PsychReport
Netsmart Technologies Helper
PM/2 Clinical Planner
PracticePRO Software Systems QuickPractice
Saner Software ShrinkRapt
SumTime Software SumTime
Synergistic Office Solutions SOS Case Manager
TheraManager
Skills
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Persuasion
Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Operations Analysis
Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Abilities
Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Comprehension
Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Expression
Tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Problem Sensitivity
Read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Comprehension
Communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Expression
Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Deductive Reasoning
Combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Inductive Reasoning