If you are considering a career path, whether you are on the verge of starting your first career or you are looking to retrain to do something new, careers where you get to help other people can often be appealing. Working as a therapist or counselor can be a highly rewarding and interesting job for the right type of person, and if you are someone who is interested in relationships, then being a couples’ therapist may be a job that has caught your eye. But what is life like as a couples or marriage guidance therapist, and how do you get started in this career?
What Type of People Make Good Couples’ Therapists?
As with any kind of therapy role, a couples’ therapist needs to be someone who is interested in listening to other people, and who can take a non-judgmental approach to the things they hear. Of course, when you are working with couples, it is different to offering therapy to individuals, as you have to be able to give equal weight to both people, and avoid a tendency to take sides. Some people can find this difficult, especially if the scenarios a couple describe to them remind them of things that have happened in their own lives where they feel better equipped to empathize with one partner than the other. This is something a good couples’ therapist will be able to avoid. It is particularly important for women working in this field to be able to treat both partners equally, as in many cases, it is the male in a couple who is most reluctant to attend therapy, and this is often due to the preconception that the counselor will take their female partner’s side.
If you are someone who is passionate about helping people but can also look at people’s problems objectively and avoid letting any personal biases interfere with how you handle your work, you could well be suited to working as a marriage or couples’ therapist.
What is the Work Like?
All sorts of people seek out couples’ therapy, and for all different reasons. Some people do it as a kind of maintenance to keep the communication between them strong and keep a good relationship healthy, whereas others seek therapy because they are severely struggling as a couple. There will be clients of all ages, and with all different family situations. This means no two days are the same, and the work can be very interesting, however it can also be very emotionally demanding if the people you see are going through some difficult times.
How Do You Get Started?
A good starting point to becoming a couples’ counselor is to earn a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. You can consider an online MFT program if you want to be able to fit your studies around an existing job or family commitments.
Being a couples’ therapist can be a rewarding career where you can help lots of people, so if you think it is right for you, why not get started on your path to becoming one?