Duties and Responsibilities of Marriage and Family Therapist

Happiness AbdulLast Updated: July 24, 2023

As a marriage and family therapist, your role is to help individuals and families work through challenging life events and mental health issues. You provide counseling and therapy for people dealing with relationship problems, life transitions, and psychiatric disorders. Your responsibilities include evaluating clients’ situations and needs, developing and implementing treatment plans, and helping clients develop coping strategies.

To be effective in this role, you need to have a master’s degree or doctorate in marriage and family therapy, counseling, or a related field. You must also be licensed or certified in your state. Strong interpersonal skills, empathy, and the ability to gain clients’ trust and help them work through sensitive issues are essential. The job can be rewarding but also emotionally taxing at times. If you want to help people improve their lives and relationships, a career as a marriage and family therapist may be right for you.

Duties and Responsibilities of Marriage and Family Therapist

Below are some of the duties and responsibilities of marriage & family therapist:

1. Provide Counseling to Individuals, Couples, and Families

As a marriage and family therapist, one of your primary responsibilities is to provide counseling to individuals, couples, and families. You will evaluate clients’ situations and help them develop strategies to improve relationships and resolve issues.

Counseling Services

You will meet with clients, evaluate their situations, and determine the best approach to counseling. This may involve:

Individual counseling to address personal issues like depression, anxiety, trauma, or life transitions.
Couples counseling to improve communication, resolve conflicts, and strengthen the relationship.
Family counseling to address issues affecting family dynamics and help families function in a healthier manner.
Group counseling to help multiple clients with similar issues at the same time.

Treatment Plans and Strategies

Based on your evaluations, you will develop customized treatment plans for your clients. This may incorporate strategies such as:

Communication and listening techniques to facilitate constructive conversations
Conflict resolution and anger management skills
Strategies for setting boundaries and maintaining healthy relationships
Coping strategies for stress, anxiety, trauma, grief, or other issues
Exercises to increase intimacy and improve relationship satisfaction
Parenting strategies to address behavioral or developmental issues in children

You will continuously evaluate clients’ progress and make adjustments to treatment plans and counseling strategies as needed to optimize outcomes. The ultimate goal is to help clients develop the skills and strategies to improve their wellbeing, strengthen their relationships, and address issues in a healthy manner.

2. Assess Clients’ Situations and Mental Health Needs

As a marriage and family therapist, you need to properly assess your clients’ situations and mental health needs. This involves:

Conducting initial consultations to understand the issues and dynamics. You should ask open-ended questions about the relationship history, current challenges, living situation, financial status, health issues, substance use, trauma, abuse, etc. Take notes and look for patterns.

Observing interactions and communication

Pay close attention to body language, tone of voice, and choice of words. Notice how clients interact, express feelings, and respond to each other. This can reveal underlying problems and shed light on the health of the relationship.

Identifying individual and relationship strengths

Along with challenges, determine strengths, skills, interests, values, and areas of compatibility. Build on what is working well and the clients’ ability to cope.

Determining mental health symptoms

Screen for conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD or others. Assess if clients would benefit from medical evaluations or other professional help. Provide referrals as needed.

Developing a treatment plan

Based on your assessment, determine appropriate short and long-term goals. Select modalities like communication improvement, conflict resolution, parenting skills, financial counseling or cognitive behavioral techniques. Outline the frequency and duration of sessions.

Continuously re-evaluating clients’ progress and adjusting treatment plans is key. An in-depth initial assessment paired with ongoing evaluations will help guide your clients to improved wellbeing and relationship satisfaction. With your support and expertise, clients can build on their strengths, overcome challenges, and develop healthier interactions.

3. Develop and Implement Treatment Plans

As a marriage and family therapist, developing and implementing effective treatment plans is one of your most important responsibilities. A good treatment plan will provide a roadmap for helping your clients work through challenges and achieve their goals.

Assess Clients’ Needs

The first step is conducting a thorough assessment of your clients’ needs, issues, and goals for therapy. Meet with clients for an initial consultation and evaluation. Assess any mental health conditions or disorders. Identify relationship problems or life stressors. Discuss clients’ desired outcomes and objectives for treatment.

Develop a Customized Plan

With your clients’ input, develop a comprehensive treatment plan tailored to their unique situation and needs. Outline a schedule of regular therapy sessions. Determine techniques, interventions, and strategies to utilize, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, communication training, or family systems therapy. Include short- and long-term goals with measurable objectives to work toward.

Implement and Make Adjustments

Begin implementing the treatment plan by engaging your clients in scheduled therapy sessions using the outlined techniques and interventions. Provide counseling and advice for improving relationships and coping with challenges. Make any needed adjustments to the treatment plan based on clients’ progress, setbacks, or changing needs. Regularly re-evaluate clients’ goals and objectives, updating the treatment plan as necessary.

Review and Follow Up

Meet with your clients periodically to review their treatment plan and progress. Discuss what is working well and any obstacles encountered. Make sure the treatment plan continues to meet clients’ needs as they evolve. Once clients’ goals have been achieved, develop a plan for follow-up and aftercare. This may include less frequent maintenance sessions or a referral to another professional.

Following these steps will help ensure you develop and implement effective, customized treatment plans to guide your clients toward improved wellbeing and functioning. Regular review and follow up is key to providing the best care and support for clients throughout the therapeutic process.

4. Evaluate Clients’ Progress and Adjust Treatment Plans

As a marriage and family therapist, evaluating your clients’ progress and adjusting treatment plans accordingly is essential to effective therapy.

Monitor Progress

You should regularly monitor your clients’ progress to determine if current treatment methods are helpful or if adjustments need to be made. This can be done through:

Discussing with clients how they feel therapy is progressing and if their needs are being met.
Having clients fill out assessments or questionnaires again to compare with initial evaluations. Look for improvements or declines.
Observing clients during sessions for changes in mood, behavior, communication, interactions, etc. Note any positive or concerning developments.

Make Adjustments

Based on your progress evaluations, you may need to make adjustments to better suit clients’ needs. Some options include:

Changing the frequency of sessions (e.g. from once a week to twice a month or vice versa).
Trying different therapeutic techniques like role playing scenarios, art or play therapy, mindfulness exercises, etc.
Referring clients to a psychiatrist or other healthcare professional if medication or further diagnosis is needed.
Helping clients establish new short-term goals or modify existing goals to work towards. Provide accountability and encouragement.
Giving clients “homework” or exercises to do outside of sessions to supplement their progress. Follow up on these during next meetings.

Discuss Adjustments

Be open, honest and sensitive when discussing any adjustments to treatment plans with clients. Explain your reasoning for changes and get input on what they feel would be most helpful. Compromise when possible to find solutions you both agree will have maximum benefit. Reassure clients that adjustments are common and help to tailor therapy to best meet their unique situation. With ongoing progress evaluations and a willingness to make changes, you can provide the most effective treatment for your clients.

5. Maintain Accurate Notes and Client Records

As a marriage and family therapist, maintaining accurate and up-to-date client records is one of your most important responsibilities. Client records include your notes from each session as well as any assessments, contact information, diagnoses, and treatment plans. These records serve several purposes:

They allow you to provide the best care to your clients by giving you a detailed history of your work together. Referring to previous notes helps ensure consistent treatment and follow up on issues or concerns from past sessions.
They protect you legally by documenting the services you provide. Accurate record keeping demonstrates your professionalism and competence. Lack of records or missing information could expose you to liability risks.
They allow for continuity of care if the client sees another provider. Complete records enable a smooth transition and the ability to pick up where you left off.

To properly maintain client records:

Take notes during each session and type or review them immediately after while the details are still fresh in your mind. Be sure to date and sign all entries.
Keep a separate file for each client that includes intake forms, contact information, a treatment plan, progress notes, and any assessments or evaluations.
Use a consistent format for progress notes that includes details such as the date, start/end time, topics discussed, client’s demeanor and mental status, any interventions used, plans for the next session, and homework assignments.
Keep all records in a secure location to protect clients’ privacy and comply with HIPAA regulations.
Update treatment plans and reassess clients periodically based on their progress. Note any significant changes in diagnosis or the overall course of treatment.
Retain client records for at least 7 years from the date of last treatment as required by most state licensing boards.
Maintaining clear, well-organized, and comprehensive client records is essential to providing the best care for your clients and protecting yourself professionally. Devoting the necessary time to accurate record keeping and documentation is well worth the effort.

Conclusion

As you have seen, marriage and family therapists have a challenging yet rewarding role helping clients work through relationship and personal issues. The job requires empathy, patience, and the ability to guide people through sensitive life events and transitions. While the work can be difficult, assisting families and couples in improving their lives and relationships is meaningful. If you feel passionate about strengthening the foundation of families and communities, consider pursuing a career as a marriage and family therapist. With the right education, skills, and dedication, you have the opportunity to positively impact many lives.