Marriage and Family Therapist 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.
Marriage and Family Therapist is Also Know as
In different settings, Marriage and Family Therapist is titled as
- Clinical Therapist
- Counselor
- Family Therapist
- Human Relations Counselor
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
- Marriage and Family Counselor
- Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT)
- Outpatient Therapist
- Play Therapist
Education and Training of Marriage and Family Therapist
Marriage and Family Therapist is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Marriage and Family Therapist
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.
Education Required for Marriage and Family Therapist
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Degrees Related to Marriage and Family Therapist
- Bachelor in Social Work
- Associate Degree Courses in Social Work
- Masters Degree Courses in Social Work
- Bachelor in Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling
- Associate Degree Courses in Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling
- Masters Degree Courses in Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling
- Bachelor in Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling
- Associate Degree Courses in Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling
- Masters Degree Courses in Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling
- Bachelor in Infant/Toddler Mental Health Services
- Associate Degree Courses in Infant/Toddler Mental Health Services
- Masters Degree Courses in Infant/Toddler Mental Health Services
- Bachelor in Medical Family Therapy/Therapist
- Associate Degree Courses in Medical Family Therapy/Therapist
- Masters Degree Courses in Medical Family Therapy/Therapist
Training Required for Marriage and Family Therapist
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Marriage and Family Therapist in different industries are
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
- Mental Health Counselors
- Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
- Child, Family, and School Social Workers
- Healthcare Social Workers
- Rehabilitation Counselors
- Social and Human Service Assistants
- Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors
- Recreational Therapists
- School Psychologists
- Psychiatric Technicians
- Psychiatrists
- Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
- Clinical Neuropsychologists
- Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
- Neuropsychologists
- Occupational Therapists
- Art Therapists
- Family Medicine Physicians
- Occupational Therapy Assistants
What Do Marriage and Family Therapist do?
- 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.
- Collect information about clients, using techniques such as testing, interviewing, discussion, or observation.
- Determine whether clients should be counseled or referred to other specialists in such fields as medicine, psychiatry, or legal aid.
- Confer with clients to develop plans for posttreatment activities.
- Follow up on results of counseling programs and clients' adjustments to determine effectiveness of programs.
- Provide instructions to clients on how to obtain help with legal, financial, and other personal issues.
- 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 public education and consultation to other professionals or groups regarding counseling services, issues, and methods.
- Supervise other counselors, social service staff, and assistants.
- Provide family counseling and treatment services to inmates participating in substance abuse programs.
- Write evaluations of parents and children for use by courts deciding divorce and custody cases, testifying in court if necessary.
- Develop and implement individualized treatment plans addressing family relationship problems, destructive patterns of behavior, and other personal issues.
- Confer with other counselors, doctors, and professionals to analyze individual cases and to coordinate counseling services.
Qualities of Good Marriage and Family Therapist
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Tools Used by Marriage and Family Therapist
- Computer laser printers
- Desktop computers
- Doll houses
- Dolls
- Hand puppets
- Laptop computers
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Personal computers
- Personal digital assistants PDA
- Photocopying equipment
- Toy block sets
- Videoconferencing equipment
Technology Skills required for Marriage and Family Therapist
- 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
- Casamba Smart
- Cornucopia Software Practice MAGIC
- DocuTrac QuicDoc
- eMDs Medisoft
- EZ2Bill Confidant
- EZClaim medical billing software
- Hypertext preprocessor PHP
- Intuit QuickBooks
- Mdansby The PsychReport
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- Netsmart Technologies Helper
- PM/2 Clinical Planner
- PracticePRO Software Systems QuickPractice
- Saner Software ShrinkRapt
- SumTime Software SumTime
- Synergistic Office Solutions SOS Case Manager
- TheraManager
- Web browser software