Any MFT's out there??

[heyjodes]

Hi,

 

I've been very interested in pursuing a career in Marriage and Family Therapy and was wondering if I could get some feedback about the profession. Any information would be helpful. Specific areas I have questions about are:

 

Pros/Cons of MFT

Level of difficulty/Stress

Becoming too involved emotionally

Schooling and internships

Level of personal fulfillment

Expected Salary, in San Francisco Bay Area

Tips/Advice

Private practices

jobs after college

 

I am 30 years old, female and have a BA in Religious Studies

 

Thank you so very much. I really appreciate this!!

[hrtbroken99]

hello,

I have my Masters in Social Work and can give you a little input on some stuff I know

I can tell you that to be MFT OR LCSW you have to get licensed

that means after you get your master's degree and then you have to register with the board of behavioral sciences and collect around 2500 hours of supervision before taking the exam to get the license and be titled as a MFT OR LCSW

 

when you graduate from grad school you get a MFTi not a MFT

MFTi is what you have until you get licensed

 

The stress and difficulty and pros and cons varies by the area of specilaization you go to and how an individual works. As far as salary in the bay area or sf, if you are not licensed honestly, it sux it is aorund 39-43k for a master's degree. If you obtain you license afterwards then it will be better because you can also do private practice or work for a big organization and easily make around 66-80k

 

but all of it is a long process as far as collecting the licensing hours until then you are working for a low wage which sucks. As a recent grad having my msw (which is VERY similar mfti) the job outlook is good but salary is extremely low. with all the debt I have going on if I could go back, honestly I would have never got my master's in this because all the jobs are offering me a salary much less than what I owe in student loans. If you are already financially stable then it shouldn't be a problem but I am 26 with no house, using a car purchased by my parents, nothing under my name and a bunch of bills and school debt!! so thats why I am complaining

i hope this helps

[yergawd]

There are other avenues to becoming a therapist. The first, your degree is in religious studies right? What about counseling through a church? The second option is many states you can apply to a licensure board to be certified as a therapist. However there are a few major drawbacks. the first you HAVE to inform every potential client what your specific credentials are. You also HAVE to inform them you are not certified in any specific field of psychology. The income you get from this will not be much just being licensed means you feel you are capable of giving advice no more no less. You also have to strictly adhere to the ethical and professional standards in whichever state you have applied. I would recomend applying for advanced psychological programs through a reputable school the degrees you should be looking at are PSY-D, PHD of psychology, or other degrees specific to counseling in your area.

[yergawd]

Sorry one last note. In San Francisco area, this is a very saturated area to enter without proper credentials.

[brainless twit]

I am also a master-level social worker, and will finish my supervision hours for the LCSW license soon. I work in a community mental health center that employs social workers, psychologists, MFTs, LPCs, and scads of other mental health professionals.

 

The biggest drawback to the MFT route is that you are limited in the types of insurance you can bill. For example, the MFT in my clinic cannot bill Medicare. So any clients with Medicare have to be referred to someone else, which can be an inconvenience with the huge caseloads we all carry. It is also hard to find supervision in many areas, simply because there aren't that many MFTs out there compared to other disciplines.

 

That said, there are advantages to enrolling in an MFT program. Your training would be more clinical than what I had in my graduate program, because social workers are trained in many areas while MFTs are only trained to do therapy. (Of course, I personally saw advantages in the MSW because I have other options if I decide to stop doing therapy, but I'm assuming that's specifically what you want to do.)

 

Someone mentioned doing religious counseling. The only problem with that is billing - insurance companies pay for services provided by Qualified Mental Health Professionals (QMHPs) and a religious counselor does not qualify to be a QMHP in most states. Religious counselors do important work, but they are not licensed by a state board and do not receive the type of training that other professionals do. There is a religious counselor in private practice in my area, and he is thought of as a joke.

 

Working in mental health is both tremendously rewarding and extremely stressful. It's very hard not to take your work home with you, especially at first, but with time and good supervision, you learn ways to decompress at the end of a hard day.

 

I hope this is helpful to you. The best way to find the answers to your questions is to look up an MFT in your area and set up a time to meet with him or her.