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Pepperdine | Graduate School of Education and Psychology

Career Outcomes: MA in Psychology with MFT (Evening Format)

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

A licensed marriage and family therapist offers therapy to individuals, couples, children, families, and groups for a variety of issues that may arise. This career path focuses on mental health, wellness, and growth. Therapists can work in a variety of settings including private practice, community clinics, hospitals, in-patient facilities, and veterans affairs to name a few. Emphasis is often placed on families, couples, and individuals whose problems are relationship and socially based.

Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor

A licensed professional clinical counselor offers treatment and crisis counseling to individuals who suffer from mental health and substance abuse disorders. This treatment can be in an individual, family, or group setting and may address issues that are behavioral, mental, emotional, or substance abuse-related. This career path can work with both adults or children and can work in private practices, hospitals, community clinics, non-profits, or other mental health agencies.

Child and Adolescent Therapist

A career in child and adolescent therapy involves working strictly with the child and adolescent population as well as their families. In this field, the therapist will help individuals overcome cognitive, behavioral, and emotional hurdles. This career path includes evaluating children and adolescents for these disorders and connecting them with treatment and support resources.

Emergency Assessment Counselor

A career as an emergency assessment counselor often involves working in in-patient facilities, community clinics, and hospitals as responding clinicians for emergent mental health situations. This career can work with a range of populations including children and adults and provides mental health evaluations and immediate treatment recommendations.

Clinical Director

Clinical directors are responsible for overseeing aspects of clinical operations in regards to the treatment of patients. This role can be situated in hospitals, clinics, in-patient facilities, rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes, and more. This role varies depending on the facility but often includes managing schedules, overseeing a team of clinicians, implementing care procedures, and helping to maintain a positive work environment.

Executive Coach

Executive coaches assess team and individual challenges, either remotely or as part of an organization, and create action plans and gather resources to help the client achieve higher levels of success, growth, and development. As part of this role, responsibilities also include providing support, guidance, advice, and customized guidance based on expertise. Executive coaches often work with directors, managers, and other executives from both public and private organizations.

Academic Advisor/Counselor/Director

A career in academic advising focuses on helping students plan out their academic years as well as help prepare students for the next steps post-graduation, whether that be entering the workforce or pursuing further education. Academic advisors help students with the logistics of needed credits, schedules, internships, research opportunities, special accommodations, and more. Academic advisors can work at the high school level up to the doctoral level.

Case Manager

A case manager is under the umbrella of human services. A case manager works as part of a team that organizes and coordinates care for individuals and families who need it. This career path is robust, with responsibilities ranging from advocacy to counseling, to evaluation and assessment. This career works collaboratively with clients and their families to provide psychoeducation and services.

Substance Abuse Professional (SAP)

A substance abuse professional works with individuals struggling with substance addiction, specifically alcohol or drugs. This career path focuses on helping the individual overcome their substance dependency through one-on-one counseling, group therapy, and support groups. Substance abuse professionals work in private practices, community clinics, in-patient and out-patient facilities, among other locations.

Faculty Member at a Community College 

Masters-level MFT and PCC graduates can secure jobs as full-time professors at community colleges or work as adjunct faculty members in psychology or counseling programs.

Employment Potential

  • The number of jobs in Individual and Family Services is expected to grow 23%*
  • Average annual income earned in private practice is $50,948 for a licensed California LMFT**
  • California has the nation's highest employment demand for graduates of Clinical Psychology master's programs***

*U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017
** CAMFT "The Therapist", September/October 2015
***2017-2018 Burning Glass Report on Employment Potential for Selected Program