How Do I Know if I Would Make a Good Marriage and Family Therapist?

Finding the right career is often a challenge for many people. Data indicates that 70% of American workers are disengaged from their work. If you happen to be one of them, you probably have been thinking about what sort of new job to try. One that may come to mind is a marriage and family therapist. Different people have different ideas about what you need to fit a certain job. Most people think it just requires training and a good work ethic, and you can be a good fit for most positions. This claim ignores the high percentage of American workers who are not happy with their work. To become a good marriage and family therapist, there are several personality traits that are nice for a person to naturally have. They include:

1. Excellent Listening SkillsHow Do I Know if I Would Make a Good Marriage and Family Therapist?

The best therapists enjoy listening. The worst therapists are very focused on their own timecard, and they do not have time to help you. Most people are not naturally good listeners. If you are a very strongly outgoing and cold person, it can be hard for you to hear the needs of the people who would be your clients. This is despite your best efforts to try to do so. Very pushy therapists can come off as controlling and insensitive.

2. A Great Knowledge of Temperament Psychology

Most people today have been heavily schooled in the environmental psychological method. This view approaches humans and students as blank slates that a therapist tries to encode instructions into by modifying environmental characteristics. While the environmental model is partially accurate, it is often false. People have specific natural preferences that only modify moderately with age and experience. If a couple who is being counseled are assumed to have the same method of understanding information, this can slow down the therapeutic process.

3. You Have a Great Marriage

If you are terrible at deep relationships, it is a great sign that you are not a good pick for a marriage and family therapist. Patients tend to trust a therapist that walks what they talk. You will be a good counseling professional if you are better than the average person at maintaining a healthy relationship with your spouse. If you often need counseling yourself for family issues, another profession is probably a superior pick.

4. A Healthy and Deeply Spiritual Faith

Dr. Gary Chapman, a popular religious marital counselor who wrote the best-selling book The Five Love Languages, attributes a lot of his success to his devote faith. If you do not have a devoted religious or spiritual belief, it may be hard for you to deal with the spiritual problems that often appear in a counseling environment. Although this might seem condescending, it is a fact that devoted religious couples tend to be better at maintaining their relationships than those who are not.

Conclusion

Not everyone is or should try to be good at marriage and family counseling. If you are someone who does not meet most of these tips, finding a more financially rewarding career is a good thing to do. However, if many of these things sounded like you then consider this path as a great step toward helping others restore their hurting families.

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Top 20 Graduate Degree Programs in Marriage and Family Therapy