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Marriage Counselor
Marriage Counsellors assist individuals and groups of clients to identify, understand and overcome personal problems and achieve personal objectives. They are employed by counselling centres, social service agencies, government agencies, family therapy centres, health care and rehabilitation clinics and hospitals, or they may work in private practice.
Possible Titles:
family counsellor marriage counsellor registered clinical counsellor registered marriage and family therapist rehabilitation counsellor sex therapist
marriage therapist
Responsibilities:
Marriage Counsellors perform some or all of the following duties:
Interview clients, prepare case histories and assess problems
Conduct vocational testing and psychometric assessment
Develop and implement counselling and intervention programs to assist clients in determining goals and means of attaining them
Counsel clients, and provide therapy and mediation services
Evaluate the effectiveness of counselling programs and clients' progress in resolving identified problems and movement toward defined objectives
Follow up results of counselling programs and clients' adjustments
Prepare assessment, progress, follow-up and court reports
May supervise other counsellors, social service staff and assistants
May provide public education and consultation to other professionals or groups regarding counselling services, issues and methods
May conduct research, publish research papers, educational texts and articles and deliver presentations at conferences.
Marriage Counsellors often specialize in dealing with a specific client group such as injured workers, or with specific problems, such as drug and alcohol addiction, marital difficulties or behavioural disorders.
Employment Requirments:
A master's degree in the field of counselling, mental health or a related social service discipline is usually required.
In Quebec, a master's degree in psychoeducation is required to practise as a psychoeducator.
An undergraduate degree or college diploma in a social science is required for certain areas of counselling.
Membership with a provincial association for marriage and family therapists or clinical counsellors is required to use the title "Registered Marriage and Family Therapist" and "Registered Clinical Counsellor".
Registered marriage and family therapists and registered clinical counsellors must meet strict criteria involving graduate education and a period of supervised clinical work with clients.
In Quebec, membership in the professional association is mandatory for counsellors and psychoeducators.
Additional information:
Counsellors usually become specialized in a particular area through training and experience.
Progression to social service management positions is possible with additional training and experience.
Courtesy of: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada