Personal Narrative: A Career As A Marriage And Family Psychologist

There are different reasons why the employment outlook for a marriage and family therapist is good. First, national legislature changes have forced insurance providers and health care organizations to expand services and increase coverage. These include the Affordable Care Act, the Mental Health Parity Act and the Addiction Equity Act.

My professional goals in relation to Couples and Family Therapist (CFT) program are to gain excellence in theoretical and practical approach to provide a professional quality service. I have attained a broad academic knowledge through my liberal arts education, gathered practical experiences, and learnt lessons of life through various volunteer and work experiences in multicultural and international settings. These experiences have also provided me with a foundation to take a next step in my career to be a CFT professional.

family and relationships among relatives or spouses. Marriage and family therapists usually have an office of their own, but spend a majority of their time meeting with various patients, being a socially-driven job. There is not much room for growth because the entry-level position is very similar to a seasoned therapist’s position; a counselor is expected to have all of the knowledge and skills necessary at the time of being hired.

What made you want to become a Marriage and Family Therapist? It was something I always wanted to do, but for various circumstances, I was never able to. I was a plumber for almost 40 years until I finally decided to have a career change and

Clinical psychologist are not like ordinary people, they are benevolent and placid people. Psychologist observe others behavior, brain functions, talk with clients, and diagnose disorders. The reason I chose this career is because I would love to help people overcome difficulties in their life and to be there for the people that need someone to listen. Psychologist are not only there to listen but they also give advice to others. They give them exercises and other ways to help fix a problem they could be having. It is important to understand education or training requirements, skills or talents needed, salary and benefits offered, and the duties for a particular career when making this decision

Marriage and family therapists believe that the family patterns may affect an individual’s psychological and physical well being and therefore need to be part of therapy. During a therapy session even if only one person is being interviewed, the therapists focuses on a set of relationships that the person is embedded in. The entire family is involved in solving clients problems regardless of whether the issue in individual or family.

A marriage and family therapist may work in collaboration with other health care professionals, be involved in research, or use the family perspective to analyze public policies.

The social make up the mental health field is a predominantly female occupation. Currently, men represent only twenty percent of psychology degrees earned today, down by 50 percent from only four decades ago (Rubinstein, Noah. 2013). According to the Bureau of Labor Statics, the majority of mental health counselors and therapist work individually in family services at 21 percent. The typical entry level education for a mental health counselor or therapist is a master’s

It takes very special people to want to make a difference in people’s lives, to want to help them to be better. Some people seek to become counselors after overcoming a most important life challenge. The individuals that seek the profession of marriage and family therapy do not think of this work as a job or career, more typically a constellation of life experiences that demand explanation and a sense that others seek one out for assistance and emotional sustenance become driving forces leading one to counseling profession (An Invitation to Counseling Work).

Marriage and Family Therapists (MFT) are mental health specialists who treat and diagnose disorders related to psychotherapy and mental health. Each state has their own strict license requirements for people who are seeking to be a licensed, professional Marriage and Family Counselor (MFT, 2015).

The workforce size for mental health and SA social workers in 2012 were 114,200 nation wide. By 2022 the estimated amount of mental

At Marriage and Family Therapeutic Restorations, an agency focused on couples and family therapy, I work as a marriage and family therapist (MFT). My job description entails understanding a family’s patterns of behavior, how these patterns influence individual members of the family, and how the relationships between family members help the family function as a whole (About marriage and family therapists, n.d.).Aa a marriage and family therapist, I would be required to understand how to treat a wide range of serious physical and psychological clinical problems, including depression, marital problems, anxiety, parent and child conflict, eating disorders, and substance abuse (About marriage and family therapists, n.d.).

I think most people with psychology degrees either work directly with patients or they do research. The psychologists I know work in independent practices and specialize in a specific age group or issue such as development, trauma, mental disorders, etc. Their job is usually listening to a patient, helping them to recognize the root of their problem, and then giving them the knowledge and skills to overcome it or live with it. I do know however that some people with psychology degrees work in hospitals, clinics, or doctor’s offices instead of independent practices. I do not think that psychologists who work for hospitals are with their patients long term. Instead, they are there to assess and minimize the damage before the patient is passed

     In my research or the counseling profession, it was stress to me that given the drawbacks, counseling was a very worthy and rewarding. The problems can be easily dealt with and planned for. It is important that one have a balanced life outside of their career. A balance life helps prevent compassion fatigue and help maintain that high level of physical and emotional energy that is needed to be an effective counselor.

My desire to complete a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy stems from my compassion to try to help and guide those who have marital issues. Also I have a passion to help families who are facing familial difficulties. I am a firm believer in the saying “all healthy family have issues”. It is okay to have problems it is how you work through the problems as a family that will determine a family dynamic. This degree will help me in my social work endeavors because my concentration was clinical with a specialization in families and children. The doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy will give me an opportunity to further my knowledge and ability to help those who are in need. After I graduate I plan on taking the licensing exam for my LMFT license. I plan on using my degrees, social work, LMFT license and experience to start my own group practice. The research question I may want to answer for my dissertation is