Reprinted with permission from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, AAMFT Blog, Dec. 15, 2025

Marriage and Family Therapists continue to serve clients across an increasingly diverse range of workplace settings. While private practice remains the most common environment for today’s clinicians, new data from AAMFT’s 2025 MFT Industry Workforce Study reveals notable shifts that may reshape the profession in the coming years.

A Profession Rooted in Variety

As of 2025, MFTs practice across an extensive mix of clinical and organizational environments, including:

• 53% in individual private practice
• 24% in group practice
• The remaining share working in community agencies, nonprofits, hospitals, healthcare systems, government, schools, corporate settings, and other hybrid roles

Importantly, nearly half of all MFTs (46%) report working across multiple settings—illustrating the profession’s adaptability and the ongoing need for therapists in a range of relational and systemic contexts.

What the Future Workforce Wants

While private practice continues to dominate the field today, student responses point toward a changing landscape. Among MFT students and pre-licensed professionals:

• 40% still prefer individual private practice
• 32% — a growing share — identify group practice as their preferred future work setting

This growing interest in group practice may signal future changes in how MFTs collaborate, receive support, and deliver care. Group environments often offer built-in supervision, peer consultation, and shared resources, which can be particularly attractive to early-career clinicians navigating licensure requirements and financial barriers.