How to Become a Marriage and Family Therapy Counselor

Many prospective students are learning more about how to become a marriage and family therapy counselor these days because there is an increasing demand for this job, and there are many rewards to choosing this career. Families and couples have many problems facing them, including emotional difficulties, problems with children’s behavior and the unhealthy, difficult-to-break family patterns. This is where the marriage and family therapy counselor fits in. With sufficient career information, you should be able to learn how to become a marriage and family therapy counselor and decide whether this job is right for you.

The first step in how to become a marriage and family therapy counselor is to get the degrees needed to move to the next level of certification. You will need to begin with a bachelor’s degree in a psychology-related field, and then complete a master’s degree in marriage and family counseling. The whole process will take at least six or seven years, but once you are done, you will be an expert in areas such as adolescent psychology, development, group therapy, human growth, marriage and family systems, psychotherapy, principles of counseling, theories of counseling, sexuality and substance abuse.

After you have the degrees needed to become a marriage and family therapy counselor and have satisfied all the state licensing requirements, then you can focus on completing a supervised practical internship that includes hands-on experience as a marriage and family counselor. This typically takes about a semester, or approximately four to six months. Once you begin working in the field, you can expect to earn close to the average salary of $45,310, and with additional experience you should be able to earn the higher average salary percentiles of $54,050 to $68,240.

As a marriage and family therapy counselor you will deal with problems such as adolescent behavior, depression, divorce and other marital problems, domestic violence, grief, infertility, infidelity and substance abuse. It is an important job that will continue to be in demand as long as there are marriages and families. If you really want to learn more about how to become a marriage and family therapy counselor, local colleges and universities should be able to provide additional information.

Institutions offering quality Marriage and Family Therapy Programs include University of Phoenix, University of the Rockies, Friends University and Argosy University.

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