This is not actually a straight forward question to answer as there are lots of variables. However, in general social work is a much broader profession and as such with an MSW you would be eligible to apply for MANY more jobs than with an MFT. Now if you narrow this to the domain where the fields overlap (primarily individual psychotherapeutic positions requiring a clinical license for 3rd party billing) then the difference is less clear. In CA the MFT is probably roughly equivalent to the MSW in this narrow area (as someone else mentioned this is not true in all states). So if you want to look overall and past CA…the MSW is a better choice. The MFT is also different in CA from other states in the orientation which is actually more individual oriented then true MFT – this is partially because there is no LPC in CA so many who would go for an LPC appear to go for MFT changing the profession. DA

You will want to do Yahoo! searches for “social workers – state licensure – California” and “marriage & family therapists – state licensure – California” to find out the technically correct differentiation between a social worker and a marriage & family therapist. They might even be under one common State Board of Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists, as it is in Ohio. You will want to go to http://www.salary.com for salary information. As for the demand for specific types of jobs, you’ll want to look up the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Could you possibly do both? Become a licensed Social Worker and also take enough credits to specialize in Marriage and Family Counceling and be licensed to do that?

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