A career in marriage, family or divorce counseling can be a challenging but rewarding experience for people willing to help others through what could be some of life's most stressful and painful experiences. Jackie Walker, a specialist "divorce coach", says working with couples and families going through divorce requires a sympathetic ear and the patience to ease one or perhaps both partners through the emotional pitfalls of a break-up, redorbit.com states. "Often they've been bottling it up," she said. However, with training and qualifications, counselors can help their patients to become stronger by releasing their stress and making them conscious of their own behavior. Divorce counseling is one of a number of relationship-linked counseling careers. Others include marriage and family counseling, which according the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, require graduate and post-graduate qualifications in disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry or social work, as well as a license from the state. According to figures from the Department of Labor, there were around 25,000 marriage and family therapists in the US in 2006. Job growth up to 2016 for this area is forecast at 30 per cent - much faster than most other occupations.  |