Marriage and Family Therapists

• Counsel clients on concerns, such as unsatisfactory relationships, divorce and separation, child rearing, home management, and financial difficulties.
• Encourage individuals and family members to develop and use skills and strategies for confronting their problems in a constructive manner.
• Maintain case files that include activities, progress notes, evaluations, and recommendations.
• Develop and implement individualized treatment plans addressing family relationship problems, destructive patterns of behavior, and other personal issues.
• Collect information about clients, using techniques such as testing, interviewing, discussion, and observation.
• Confer with clients to develop plans for posttreatment activities.
• Confer with other counselors, doctors, and professionals to analyze individual cases and to coordinate counseling services.
• Determine whether clients should be counseled or referred to other specialists in such fields as medicine, psychiatry, and legal aid.
• Follow up on results of counseling programs and clients' adjustments to determine effectiveness of programs.
• Write evaluations of parents and children for use by courts deciding divorce and custody cases, testifying in court if necessary.
• Provide instructions to clients on how to obtain help with legal, financial, and other personal issues.
• Provide public education and consultation to other professionals or groups regarding counseling services, issues, and methods.
• Gather information from doctors, schools, social workers, juvenile counselors, law enforcement personnel, and others to make recommendations to courts for resolution of child custody or visitation disputes.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Marriage and Family Therapists.

• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Marriage and Family Therapists.