Occupation · SOC 21-1013
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.
Median wage
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Projected growth
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Annual openings
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per year
Employed (US)
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Job Zone 5
Typical preparation
Extensive preparation
Stackable credential programs
481 mapped
Core skills
Active ListeningSocial PerceptivenessSpeakingJudgment and Decision MakingComplex Problem SolvingReading ComprehensionWritingService Orientation
Knowledge areas
Therapy and CounselingPsychologyCustomer and Personal ServiceSociology and AnthropologyEnglish Language
Technology & tools
Medical softwareBilling and invoicing softwareVideo conferencing softwareWeb platform development softwareAccounting software
Representative tasks
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.Follow up on results of counseling programs and clients' adjustments to determine effectiveness of programs.Supervise other counselors, social service staff, and assistants.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.Write evaluations of parents and children for use by courts deciding divorce and custody cases, testifying in court if necessary.
Competency framework
Skill expectations by proficiency level.
emerging
Active listening techniques — apply during initial client intake sessions under clinical supervisor guidance in a community mental health setting.Client information — collect through structured interviews, standardized assessments, and direct observation under close supervision in a practicum environment.Case files and progress notes — maintain accurately using electronic medical records software under the review of a licensed clinical supervisor.Therapeutic questioning strategies — use to prompt clients to identify feelings and behavioral patterns during supervised individual sessions.Foundational counseling theories — demonstrate knowledge of by selecting appropriate frameworks when discussing assigned cases in weekly supervision meetings.Family systems concepts — recognize and describe when observing or co-facilitating sessions focused on relationship dynamics and communication patterns.Empirically supported treatment protocols — follow step-by-step under direct supervision when delivering structured interventions to individual or family clients.Video conferencing and telehealth platforms — set up and operate to conduct remote client sessions in compliance with agency privacy and security policies.Interdisciplinary case notes — contribute to by drafting summaries of client progress for review by supervising therapists and coordinating professionals.Ethical guidelines and mandatory reporting obligations — identify and apply correctly when handling sensitive disclosures during supervised clinical practice.
developing
Individualized treatment plans — develop and implement addressing family relationship problems and destructive behavioral patterns for a routine caseload with periodic supervisor consultation.Client feelings and behavioral patterns — explore systematically by constructing tailored open-ended questions adapted to each client's presenting concerns across individual and family modalities.Problem-solving and coping skills — teach and reinforce by guiding clients to practice constructive strategies between sessions in outpatient therapy contexts.Posttreatment transition plans — confer with clients to create, identifying community resources and relapse-prevention strategies appropriate to their goals.Concurrent client concerns — counsel on including divorce and separation, co-parenting challenges, financial stressors, and home management difficulties within ongoing therapeutic relationships.Progress monitoring — conduct across an active caseload by reviewing session notes, reassessing treatment goals, and adjusting interventions based on documented client outcomes.Interdisciplinary coordination — participate in by conferring with physicians, psychiatrists, and other counselors to align care plans for shared clients.Billing and documentation software — use to complete insurance authorizations, treatment summaries, and invoicing accurately in compliance with agency billing procedures.Cultural and contextual factors — incorporate into case conceptualizations by drawing on knowledge of sociology and anthropology when working with diverse family structures.Critical thinking — apply to evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing interventions and recommend evidence-based modifications during peer consultation meetings.
proficient
Complex, non-routine treatment plans — design autonomously for clients presenting with co-occurring relational dysfunction, trauma, and behavioral health conditions across individual, couple, and family modalities.Advanced therapeutic questioning — employ across systemic, narrative, and cognitive-behavioral frameworks to facilitate deep client insight without supervisor direction in a full private or agency practice.Multidisciplinary service coordination — lead by conferring with medical, legal, and social service professionals to integrate comprehensive care for clients with complex psychosocial needs.Judgment and decision making — exercise independently when evaluating risk, adjusting diagnoses, and determining appropriate level-of-care transitions for high-acuity clients.Posttreatment and relapse-prevention frameworks — develop collaboratively with clients by synthesizing clinical data, client strengths, and community resource knowledge into durable aftercare strategies.Destructive behavioral and relational patterns — address through evidence-based modalities such as EFT, DBT-informed family therapy, or structural family therapy across a full autonomous caseload.Comprehensive written evaluations — produce including psychological assessments, court-ordered reports, and treatment summaries that meet professional, legal, and insurance standards.Telehealth and in-person service delivery — manage simultaneously by adapting clinical techniques and informed consent processes to ensure therapeutic continuity across both environments.Systems evaluation — perform on clinical service outcomes by analyzing aggregate case data to identify effectiveness gaps and recommend program-level improvements.Continuing education and emerging research — integrate proactively into clinical practice by critically appraising new literature and incorporating validated techniques into existing treatment approaches.
advanced
Clinical supervision frameworks — design and deliver for pre-licensed therapists and interns, shaping professional identity and competency development across an entire training program.Organizational treatment standards — establish for a department or agency by synthesizing best-practice research, regulatory requirements, and population-specific data into policy-level clinical guidelines.Strategic interdisciplinary partnerships — forge with healthcare systems, legal entities, and community organizations to expand service access and create integrated care pathways for underserved family populations.Program evaluation methodologies — lead by designing outcome measurement systems that assess treatment efficacy across a full service portfolio and inform executive decision making.Workforce development initiatives — spearhead by identifying competency gaps across clinical staff and implementing structured training curricula grounded in advanced family therapy and counseling knowledge domains.Ethical and legal standards — champion at the organizational level by authoring compliance policies, leading ethics consultations, and representing the agency in professional or regulatory forums.Advocacy and systems change — drive by translating clinical and community data into legislative testimony, grant proposals, or public health recommendations that shape marriage and family therapy policy.Revenue cycle and administrative operations — oversee by directing billing, credentialing, and documentation practices that sustain organizational financial health while preserving clinical quality and compliance.Research and scholarship — generate or facilitate by leading practice-based research projects, publishing findings, and presenting at professional conferences to advance the field of marriage and family therapy.Organizational culture of empathy and integrity — model and institutionalize by embedding core work-style values into hiring, performance evaluation, and team development processes across the entire clinical enterprise.
Also known as
103 alternate job titles map to this occupation.
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