Marriage and Family Therapists
Human ServicesO*NET 21-1013.00United States
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 annual earnings
- $68,724
- Projected change
- +19.5%
- Typical education
- Master's or Professional degree
- Employment
- 83.68K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
91.3% of the workforce
Growing to 100.01K by 2035
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Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What marriage and family therapists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Ask questions that will help clients identify their feelings and behaviors.
- Encourage individuals and family members to develop and use skills and strategies for confronting their problems in a constructive manner.
- 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.
- Counsel clients on concerns, such as unsatisfactory relationships, divorce and separation, child rearing, home management, or financial difficulties.
- Collect information about clients, using techniques such as testing, interviewing, discussion, or observation.
- 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.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $43,113
- 25th percentile
- $50,318
- 50th percentile
- $68,724
- 75th percentile
- $98,863
- 90th percentile
- $135,679
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $68,724 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+19.5%much faster than average
202583,677 jobs
2035 projected100,011 jobs
16,334 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Master's or Professional degree
- 91.3%
- Doctoral degree or more
- 6.7%
- Associate degree
- 2.1%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- 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.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- 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.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- 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.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- 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.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists6,262 postings
- 02Behavioral Health Therapists2,765 postings
- 03Licensed Therapists1,823 postings
- 04Therapists1,802 postings
- 05Behavior Therapists1,176 postings
- 06Outpatient Therapists778 postings
- 07Autism Therapists643 postings
- 08Marriage and Family Therapists563 postings
- 09ABA Therapists560 postings
- 10Child and Adolescent Therapists497 postings
- 11Behavioral Therapists494 postings
- 12Board Certified Behavior Analysts478 postings
- 13Lead ABA Therapists467 postings
- 14Primary Therapists435 postings
- 15Family Therapists428 postings
- 16Clinical Therapists336 postings
- 17Behavior Consultants319 postings
- 18Telehealth Therapists310 postings
- 19Child and Family Therapists294 postings
- 20Behavior Technicians/ABA Therapists272 postings
Top employers
- 01Headway3,970 postings
- 02LifeStance Health2,208 postings
- 03Thriveworks586 postings
- 04Links Aba Therapy411 postings
- 05Thrive Counseling366 postings
- 06Action Behavior Centers330 postings
- 07Clarvida304 postings
- 08Kaiser Permanente277 postings
- 09American Public Human Services Association263 postings
- 10Senior Care Therapy240 postings
- 11Uhs227 postings
- 12Health Connect America226 postings
- 13Optum199 postings
- 14Universal Health Services176 postings
- 15UnitedHealth Group173 postings
- 16Intercare Therapy127 postings
- 17University of Pittsburgh Medical Center127 postings
- 18Merakey116 postings
- 19Behaviorcare Therapy110 postings
- 20LifePoint Health110 postings
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