A Career as a Marriage and Family Therapist - Research Paper Example

? A Career as a Marriage and Family Counselor of A Career as a Marriage and Family Therapist A career as a marriage and family therapist can be very rewarding. I have always wanted to help people and I notice that there are many people who get married who later find themselves getting a divorce. The divorce rate is holding at 6.8% of marriages out of 1,000 cases of marriage in the United States (CDC, 2013). Although this seems like a small number, it shows that marriages are still in trouble and that there is a need for counseling for many couples. There are a variety of reasons that couples divorce. For example, Balestrino, Ciardi, and Mammini (2013) suggested that one reason divorce is popular is because the family is no longer the only way that people are socially protected, and because divorce has become socially acceptable when marriages do not work out. Divorce is often the last resort after a couple has decided they no longer are compatible. In my opinion, divorce is a final option and if some couples went to marriage and family therapists, they may be able to save their marriage. I have chosen this profession because I would like to see couples staying together as much as possible. I have looked at other types of therapy and this one seems to be the one that best fits my interests. Skills, Experiences, and Educational Requirements for this Path Skills According to the U. S. Department of Labor, there are several skills a marriage and family therapist must be able to perform. The therapist should be able to actively listen to their clients and what they are saying to each other and individually. The therapist should also be able to understand the body language of their clients. The therapist should be able to critically think about the situation the couple is in and be able to help them find solutions to their problems. The therapist should actively want to help others and be able to convey to their clients the information that is needed to help them in their situation. In addition, the therapist must be able to write well so they can take good notes and provide reports on their clients’ progress. The therapist should be able to comprehend written words and use their critical thinking skills to help improve their clients’ lives. They should also be able to monitor their own performance as well as the performance from their clients. Experiences Marriage and family therapists have a variety of experiences with their clients. The experience is dependent on where the individual works and the type of clients they see. The experience that the individual therapist needs will vary by state and the state’s licensure requirements. According to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (2013), marriage and family therapists are trained in psychotherapy and they are able to diagnose and treat clients for mental health disorders within the framework of marriage, couples, and family systems. The experiences would be involving individuals in these areas. Educational Requirements In the United States, all states require at least a master’s degree for marriage and family therapists and they must be licensed to practice in their particular state. Prior to licensing, most states require two years of supervised clinical experience (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, 2013). Skills, Preparation, and Experiences Required Although skills were discussed in the last section, there are several levels of skills that are needed for this profession. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2013) an individual should have several areas of knowledge to add to this profession. As an example, an understanding of psychology and human behavior and how people perform. Individuals should understand how to analyze a situation and help to provide a variety of solutions that clients can use to work out their differences. Individuals who want to become marriage and family therapists should also understand the differences in customer service and how to assess the needs of clients. An understanding of basic ethics, principles, differences in the way people think and cultures are also important knowledge to have when entering into this field (U. S. Department of Labor, 2013). Generally, the middle range for marriage and family therapists as of 2012 was $46,670 per year and the outlook for the future is that there will be about a 29% increase in the need for these type of counselors which translates to an increase of opened positions (U.S. Department of Labor, 2013). Preparation A master’s degree generally takes two to three years, depending on the college or university standards and licensure requirements. An individual may benefit from taking classes in psychology that may include psychology, abnormal psychology, human growth and development and family systems. An information interview with a marriage and family counselor would also be helpful because it would give an individual who is interested in this field, some real-time understanding of the profession. An internship maybe required as part of an educational program. Today, there are several ways to gain an understanding of the profession by using the Internet to search for therapists and other information as part of the preparation for this field. Building networks with people through LinkedIn or other social networking programs can be a positive way to network with people who may have job openings in the future. Development of Plan I intend to use the following plan to move toward this profession. I will attend coursework at ___________University. The requirement for this major is ___ credit hours which will take ____ years to accomplish. Within those ___years, I will conduct information interviews with marriage and family therapist to understand what they do on a daily basis. I would also like to attend conferences or workshops if they are cost effective and close to or in my home state. I will look for these opportunities during the two years that I am doing my coursework; I will also continue looking for conferences and workshops after I receive my degree as a way to stay current in the field. I will also read journals and other information that I can find about marriage and the family so that I have a stronger background going into this field. I would like to do an internship in a ___organization that specializes in marriage and family issues. I can gain these skills by going to ___________university. The cost of the program is _______ and it will provide me with _____ credits. An example of a conference that I might intend includes the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists conference that is slated to be from October 17-20 in Portland, Oregon. To go to the conference, I would need plane fare of ___. I would join the organization as a student which would cost $58 for national dues, and $7-$10 for regional dues. Joining this organization would be a good idea because they produce their own magazine and they have job contacts. There are also several other benefits to membership that were appealing to me. They also host specific workshops around the country that would be important as a professional. I could not find the cost of the conference at their website and I think the cost will be shown as we get closer to the conference. Professional Organization To decide on professional organizations, I began a search of specific job openings. I found several positions available at different organizations. One organization that seemed interesting was the Veteran’s Administration (VA) because one would not think that this would be a need for marriage and family therapists in that setting. The VA has openings now for 1,900 therapists as men and women return from the wars (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, 2013). This may be a ground-breaking move for me because it would enable me to see a variety of issues that veterans are faced with that may include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and other issues that may be specific to veterans or seen differently in veterans as opposed to civilians. I think this would be appropriate for me because I want to help people as much as possible and I think that military families may have several challenges that other families do not have. As an example, when a mother or father is deployed in a different country during a war, the family in the states continues to move forward. When the father or mother comes back from the war, they will have to re-acclimate into the family. This can cause problems because one family member was essentially the head of the household until the other member comes back. In other words, roles may have changed or switched between the couple. This would be an interesting process and would be a space where I would be sure that I was actually providing assistance. Conclusion Becoming a marriage and family therapist seems like it would be an interesting profession. The therapist is able to help families, which include mothers, fathers, and children, and it may allow them to also deal with international couples or gay and lesbian families. Although it takes two or three years to achieve the master’s degree, it could serve an individual well once they are out and working in the field. References American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. (2013). Qualifications and FAQs. Retrieved from http://www.aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/Press/FAQs/Content/About_AAMFT/Qualifications.aspx?hkey=7d1341ef-0f95-46a3-9082-6c37fab2dcf6 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. (2013). MFT Jobs with the VA. Retrieved from http://www.aamft.org/imis15/Content/Resources/VA_Jobs.aspx Balestrino, A. , Ciardi, C., and Mammini, C. (2013). On the causes and consequences of divorce. The Journal of Socio-Economics 45. 1– 9 Centers for Disease Control (CDC). (2013). National marriage and divorce rate trends. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/marriage_divorce_tables.htm U. S. Department of Labor. (2013). O*Net online. Retrieved from http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/21-1013.00 Read More