Images from the first Gulf War. www.va.govIt's been a long time coming, but the Department of Veterans Affairs has posted its job description for marriage and family therapists. According to that document, the category applies to "VA Medical Centers, Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), Vet Centers, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) offices, and [the] VHA Central Office." The educational requirements demand that one graduated from a COAMFTE-accredited program; just one more reason accreditation matters. (If you're wondering, the VA's Professional Mental Health Counselor category requires a CACREP-accredited degree.)For those of you familiar with VA hiring practices, MFTs now become part of the Title 38 Hybrid category, and entry-level MFTs will be brought in at salary grade GS-9. (While salaries vary by specific location, in California this is likely to mean starting salaries in the $50s/yr, judging by social worker positions at the same salary grade.) More experienced MFTs will be at GS-11 (mid- to upper-$60s and up), and supervisors at GS-12.
Keep an eye on www.aamft.org for additional information, and the VA's job search site for new openings as they arise.
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5 comments:
I'm trying to decide if I should pursue a LCSW or an MFT. I want to be a therapist and had initially thought that the MFT would be the way to go. But I've heard from some people that the LCSW is more versatile and that there are more therapist positions available to LCSWs than MFTs. Is this true?
The documents actually says this - doesn't look like only COAMFTE programs qualify: Hold a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from a program approved by
the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) or have
graduated from a nationally accredited program conferring a comparable mental health degree as
specified in the qualification standards of those disciplines (Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing,
Psychology, and Psychiatry). All additional course work taken to be accepted for MFT licensure must
come from a nationally accredited program in one of the above areas.
@Anonymous - Technically accurate, but not relevant to most folks in California (and many others elsewhere). It's true that someone could license as an MFT after completing an APA-accredited counseling psychology program, for example, and that would make them eligible to work for the VA as an MFT, but that is quite rare.
What no one tells students entering MFT graduate programs is that preferential treatment for psychology and social work degrees has been due to stronger lobbying in Washington, DC. MFTs lack a single criteria for national licensing and often have to prove their credentials as they move from one state to another.
It is sad that unlike the process for medical internships there is no placement program required to ensure that every MFT graduate gets a supervisor who will help them find an internship to earn the hours needed to apply for licensure. MFT graduates get discouraged (and switch affiliations) when they realize how often social workers and psychologists are preferred in job descriptions.
East Coast MFT grad
@Anonymous (Oct 23) - I agree with much of what you've said. Psychologists and social workers do have stronger lobbying in Washington. That's partly due to history (those professions have been around longer), and partly that is a failure of the MFT profession on an individual level. If each MFT contributed to the AAMFT PAC, we would have much more lobbying power, and it would produce tangible benefits (like earlier acceptance into Medicare). As to the single national licensing standard, psychologists and social workers don't have that either (see "The myth of the portable license," and my related call for national licensure in mental health). But MFTs would be surely better served if more programs had COAMFTE accreditation, and if California moved to the National MFT Exam -- a process that is currently in the works.
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