Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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ASSESSING A FAMILY THERAPIST CAREER
Abstract
This assessment summarizes the job description, general career path, general education
required, average salary, and career outlook of a Family Therapist Career. It also includes a bio
of Lauri Schade, a licensed Family Therapist located in Utah, and how I (Anna Marie Hannibal)
Schade
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ASSESSING A FAMILY THERAPIST CAREER
If all your friends and family members call you when there are having a problem with a
relationship to ask for your advice and you enjoy giving it to them you may enjoy working as a
family therapist.
Job Description
In general, a family therapist helps families pinpoint the underlining cause of relationship
problems and helps them learn how to resolve these problems (Marriage and Family Therapist
Careers). As a family therapist, your day to day duties include teaching families how to resolve
problems, conducting interviews, managing tests, having discussions with your patients, and
make observations. You are also responsible for referring your patients to medical professionals
when needed, maintaining patient records, developing treatment plans and following up with
your patients. A family therapist is required to have good communication skills, be assertive, and
field such as psychology, social work, or counseling with an emphasis on marriage and family
situations. Depending on what career path you choose to take, you may want to continue your
education by getting a masters degree and in some cases your Ph.D. A masters degree is
required if you wish to become a licensed therapist (Marriage and Family Therapist Career Info).
Many colleges offer programs to complete your bachelors degree, making it easy to begin your
career path.
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ASSESSING A FAMILY THERAPIST CAREER
Once you have graduated from college with your masters degree you must than complete
two years of supervised clinical work. After you have completed your two years of supervised
clinical work you then must take and pass an exam. Depending on what state you are in, you may
only be required to complete your bachelors degree before working for the state to administer
therapy (Marriage and Family Therapist Career Info). The amount of supervised clinical work
hours required also varies depending on the state you are in. For example, California requires
3,000 hours where as New York requires 1,500 hours (Marriage and Family Therapist Careers).
Average Salary
According to the Bureau of labor statistics, Family Therapist make a median wage of
$23.64 an hour (21-1013). In 2008, Family Therapist made average salary of $44,000 a year
(Marriage and Family Therapist Career Info). As a Family Therapist, the top five paying cities
Career Outlook
In the last 10 years in the United States there was a 40 percent increase in bachelors
degrees in psychology and a 177 percent increase in associates degrees in psychology (Careers
2016). With this dramatic increase in psychology degrees it seems that any career outlook using a
psychology degree troubling. But with only a 0.6 percent unemployment rate chances are that
Bio of a Professional
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ASSESSING A FAMILY THERAPIST CAREER
Lauri Schade is a licensed Marriage and Family therapist from Sothern California,
currently located in Pleasant Grove, UT. She has her Ph.D. and M.S. in Marriage and Family
supervise therapists in this model (Compassionate). She is an adjunct teacher at Utah Valley
University and Brigham Young University, teaching subjects such as human sexuality, family
process, and psychotherapy. With how successful she has become at helping repair family
relationship and teaching other to, she is an inspirational role model to anyone pursuing a career
in family therapy. In addition to all of her education and certifications she is a mother of seven
children and maintains a happy and healthy marriage with her husband. When asked why she
choose to become a family therapist she said, I chose the profession and practice of marriage
and family therapy because I loved growing up in my own large family, and believe in the
Like any career there are pros and cons that arise. In the career of family therapy one of
the most positive aspects is its versatile use of your degreeif you are willing to think out of the
box. Other than the obvious career, Clinical Therapist, you can use your knowledge and skills of
understanding human behavior with human resource departments, health care providers, and
management positions (Careers 2017). One of the cons to perusing a career in family therapy is
that you typically work nights and weekends to work around your patients work schedules
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ASSESSING A FAMILY THERAPIST CAREER
I believe I will be a great fit in the career of Family Therapy because I thrive off
understanding how the mind works and why humans display different behaviors. I love helping
and listening to others. I feel that when I complete my education in psychology I will be able to
make a positive impact in the lives of many families. Like Lauri Schade, I truly believe that there
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ASSESSING A FAMILY THERAPIST CAREER
References
21-1013 Marriage and Family Therapists. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2017, from
https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes211013.htm
Jobs, B. S. (n.d.). Marriage and Family Therapist Ranks Among Best Jobs of 2017. Retrieved
therapist
Marriage and Family Therapist Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2017, from
http://careersinpsychology.org/marriage-and-family-therapist-careers/
Marriage and Family Therapist Career Information, Jobs, Degrees & Training Programs. (n.d.).
therapist.html
Schade, L. (2016, October 24). About. Retrieved April 25, 2017, from
https://drlorischade.wordpress.com/about/
Schade, L. (n.d.). Compassionate Connections Counseling. Retrieved April 25, 2017, from
http://compassionateconnectionscounseling.com/about.html