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What MFTs Get Paid
What are
family therapists getting paid for their services? What are
their sources of income? How does that pay measure up against
what other mental health professionals make? For answers we
turn to the AAMFT Practice Research Survey conducted in fall
of 2002, and the 2000 Fee, Practice and Managed Care Survey
conducted by Psychotherapy Finances, a monthly newsletter for
behavioral health providers.
Salaries
of Family Therapists
The AAMFT
Practice Research Survey, conducted in fall of 2002, offers
insight into what MFTs earn. The participants of the survey
were Clinical Members of the AAMFT randomly selected from the
member database. Of the 750 members selected, 325 responded
and 252 provided data on their income. As previous research
has indicated, almost half of MFTs work in private practice
settings exclusively (45%), 21% work in organizational or
agency settings, and the remainder (34%) work in both
settings.
The average
salary for the participants of the 2002 survey was $54,936.
For MFTs working exclusively in private practice their average
salary was $58,787. This was slightly higher then those
working in both settings ($55,710) and much higher than MFTs
working in organizational or agency settings ($46,850). The
number of hours spent providing therapy did not differ between
the three groups with private practice, organizational, and
MFTs in both settings working 26.1, 27.8, and 27.6 hours
respectively. Whereas, the number of hours providing therapy
does not differ, the amount of time spent working does differ
with organizational MFTs and people in both settings spend an
average of 37.8 and 36.4 hours per week working, respectively,
and private practice MFTs only working 28 hours.
By the
Numbers
A breakdown
of MFTs' salaries
Average
Salary $54,936
Average
Salary by Age
Younger than
30 - $33,333
31-40 -
$43,941
41-50 -
$57,258
51-60 -
$57,787
61 and Older
- $50,581
Salary by
Setting
Organizational ‑ $46,850
Private
Practice ‑ $58,797
Both -
$55,710
Salaries by
One or Two Licenses
Single
Licensed MFTs - $52,786
Dual Licensed
MFTs -- $58,093
Salaries by
Race
White --
$53,750
Minority --
$60,273
Not
Specified/Unknown - $73,000
Salaries by
Degree
Masters' --
$49,017
Ph.D. -
$65,772
Source: 2002
AAMFT Practice Research Survey
In addition
to the differences between settings, there are also
differences by age. In 2002 the average age for MFTs was 55.6
years. As would be expected, younger MFTs make less money than
older MFTs. Clinicians under the age of 30 had an income of
$33,333; those in their 30's averaged almost $44,000; MFTs in
their 40's and 50's made just over $57,000 ($57,258 and
$57,787 respectively); and those 61 and over earned $50,581.
The average hours spent providing therapy also varied by age.
With MFTs under 30 providing 15 hours of therapy and those
over 60 conducting 20, MFTs in their 30's, 40's and 50's
provided 26, 30, and 28 hours, respectively. In organizational
settings, MFTs under 30 worked the most averaging 30 hours per
week and MFTs over 69 working 10 hours per week. In private
practice setting the opposite pattern emerged with therapists
under 30 working 5 hours and those in their 50's working 21.
The vast
majority of MFTs in the survey had a license in MFT (86%) and
of those, one-third, had an additional license. There were
differences, albeit not statistically significant, between the
average salaries of MFTs with one license and those dually
licensed. The dually licensed MFTs made, on average, $5,300
more. There was also a statistically significant difference
between the salaries of MFTs with Masters' degrees and those
with Ph.D.'s. The average salary for MFTs with doctoral
degrees was almost $66,000 whereas the income for Masters'
level MFTs was $49,000. Finally, there was some variation
among ethnic groups. Granted the vast majority of MFTs are
White (92%), but the salaries for non-White MFTs is just over
$60,000 and the average salary for Whites is just below
$54,000.
Where
MFTs Rank on the Income Scale
Psychotherapy Finances, a monthly newsletter for behavioral
health providers, conducted a Fee, Practice and Managed Care
Survey in 2000. The results offer comparative data for
salaries among mental health professionals. See Median Income
Graph.
Median Income
Graph
Private
Practice Income Total Professional Income
MFTs
$55,561
$59,405
Professional
Counselors $42,158
$47,350
Psychologists
$71,856 $80,000
Social
Workers $55,512
$61,164
Source: 2000 Psychotherapy Finances Fee, Practice and Managed
Care Survey
On the issue of income sources, the survey found that self-pay
clients make up the largest income source, 44 percent, for all
behavioral health providers in private practice, followed by
managed care, at 30.1 percent, indemnity insurance, 13
percent, other third parties, 8.3 percent, and other practice
income, 4.6 percent. Psychotherapy Finances reported virtually
no change in this area in the time period between the 2000
survey and the previous one from 1997, but it's an area they
are watching closely for the next survey, scheduled to be
released later this year.
The survey
found MFTs draw the largest proportion of income, 55 percent,
from self-pay clients. Professional counselors, psychiatrists,
social workers and psychologists draw 49.2 percent, 46.2
percent, 42 percent and 39 percent respectively from self-pay
clients. The gap in these numbers is attributed to the fact
that MFTs are the least likely among mental health
professionals to be covered by third parties. Social workers
pulled in the greatest amount of income from managed care, at
36.4 percent. By contrast, managed care makes up only about 24
percent of MFTs' income source. Psychologists are more likely
than the other professions to draw income from third parties
other than insurance companies and managed care, making more
than twice as much from this income source as MFTs.
According to
John Klein, editor of Psychotherapy Finances, income sources
have remained stable for the past seven years, but as there
are wide variables in the date-some survey participants report
that they receive between 60 and 80 percent of the income from
managed care organizations, while others say they have
eliminated managed care altogether-this is an area that bears
watching.
Though
industry experts predicted that standardized fees would level
the playing field between clinicians with Ph.D.s and master's
degrees, clinicians with Ph.D.s still make more from private
practice income and overall professional income, including
teaching and writing, than master's level clinicians. Ph.D.
clinicians, on average, brought in $86,200 professional income
annually, compared with the $55,625 annual professional income
of master's clinicians. Master's level clinicians draw nearly
50 percent (46.9%) of their income from self-pay clients,
compared to 41.3 percent of self-pay clients for Ph.D.s, while
Ph.D.s receive 10.1 percent of their income from other third
parties and master's clinicians only 6.4 percent from this
same source.
Group
practitioners tend to do more managed care work-34.1 percent
versus 29.1 percent-than solo clinicians, who receive a
greater share of their income from self-pay clients, 46.4
percent compared to 33.3 percent for group members.
Though women
continue to make up significantly more behavioral health
professionals who responded to the survey, 57 percent
according to Psychotherapy Finances, the income gap between
the genders is widening for the first time in the last two
decades. Female MFTs reported incomes 59 percent of their male
counterparts, down from 99 percent in the 1997 survey. Women
psychologists' incomes dipped from 1997's 91 percent of men's
to 78 percent in 2000. And female social workers earned 80
percent compared to male social workers, down from 87 percent
in 1997.
The reason
for this trend, according to Klein, is that male clinicians
appear to be responding more aggressively to managed care,
charging self-pay clients more and working more hours per week
than their female counterparts.
For
subscription details for Psychotherapy Finances, visit
www.psyfin.com or
call (800) 869-8450.
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