Becoming a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist in Maine

Marriage family therapists work in different settings including colleges, hospitals, substance abuse treatment facilities, and mental health centers. Some marriage family therapists also work in private practices as well as in employee assistance programs. These programs are provided by some employers to help their employees deal with any personal issues that they may have.

In the state of Maine there are several licensing requirements that must be met in order for a person to become a licensed family therapist in the state. Below is an outline of these requirements.

Educational Requirements for Marriage Family Therapists in Maine

In order to become licensed as a marriage family therapist in the state of Maine a person must obtain a master’s degree or doctorate degree in marriage family therapy.

The courses taken during the graduate degree program must include:

• Nine semester hours in marital family studies: three of these nine hours must be in a general systems theory course. The other required semester credit hours can be in courses such as sociology of the family, contemporary family forms, families under stress, external influences from society, family pathology, etc.
• Nine semester hours in marital and family therapy: coursework may include structural, strategic, integrative, systems, experiential, neo-analytic, behavioral treatment and communications.
• Six semester hours of human development: the study of cognitive development, personality theory, or human development through the life cycle is examples of accepted courses to meet this requirement.
• Human sexuality: courses that offer information about human sexuality through the life cycle, sexual function, sexual dysfunction, and sex roles.
• Diagnosis and treatment: courses that provide information about psychopathology, using the statistical manual during counseling, developing treatment plans, role of assessment, reports, and intake interviews.
• Professional orientation: courses that show professional roles, history of the profession, legal and ethical standards, professional credentialing, and professional preparation standards.
• Research and evaluation: courses that discuss the different types of research that is used, research report development, statistics, program evaluation, needs assessment, legal and ethical consideration in evaluation and research.
• Practicum: The practicum is a course of clinical instruction that will provide practical experience in real life settings for the purpose of developing the student’s marriage family counseling skills. The practicum will allow the student to perform a limited about of counseling activities that real marriage family therapists would be expected to know how to perform.
• Internship: The internship is a full academic year of at least 900 clock hours of supervised marriage family counseling. This must include 360 hours of direct contact with the client.

Experience Requirements

Before becoming a licensed marriage family therapist in Maine an individual must have 3000 hours of experience. This includes providing clinical counseling to individuals, couples, and families under the direct supervision of a licensed professional. The supervisor may be a licensed marriage family therapist, and LCPC, a licensed psychiatrist, a licensed psychologist, a CSW-IP, LCSW, a LMSW-CC, or a licensed pastoral counselor.

Of the 3000 required hours at least half must be in direct contact with the client. There must be 100 hours of individual supervision within this time frame and no more than 50 hours can be in a group setting.

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Career Outlook In Maine

The job outlook for marriage family therapist is very good. It is expected that the increase in the number of careers in this field is expected to grow by 14% from 2021 through 2031.

In May 2022, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published its annual report on the state of the nation’s workforce. On a national level, the BLS says MFTs make an average salary of $63,300. Unfortunately, the BLS hasn’t reported average salaries for marriage and family therapists in Maine since 2020 when it was $58,540 — higher than the average for many states in 2022.

However, in 2022, mental health counselors in Maine earned an average annual wage of $54,500. The highest 10% earned upwards of $113,430.

Research Additional Psychology Professional Licenses Granted by Maine:

• Maine Psychologist Licensing
• Maine Counselor Licensing
• Maine Social Work Licensing
• Learn More About The Career of an LMFT

2022 US Bureau of Labor Statistics job market trends and salary figures for marriage and family therapists and substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors are based on national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed August 2023.

Schools with MFT Degree Programs Accepting Students from Maine