Information on Marriage & Family Counselors

Couples and their immediate or extended family sometimes experience difficulties in life and seek the guidance or input of a marriage and family counselor. Marriage and family counselors typically limit their services to married couples and/or families only.

Marriage and Family Counselor Services Differ

• The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy says that a family member's behavior impacts any individuals in the family, making it useful to include family members in plans for the treatment of an individual, or the family as a whole. In this regard, marriage and family counselors differ from other types of counselors or therapists, who might only work with an individual.

Marriage and Family Counselor Qualifications

• In most states marriage and family counselors must complete a graduate and doctoral or postgraduate program, and typically come from different educational backgrounds such as psychology, psychiatry, social work or pastoral counseling.

Statistics and Salary

• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 27,000 counselors practice marriage and family therapy, and more that 31,000 counselors are projected to practice marriage and family therapy by 2018. The median annual wages of marriage and family therapists were over $44,000 in May 2008, and some marriage and family counselors earned more than $70,000 that year, while others earned as low as $27,000.