Merakey logo
Merakey
Wilmington, Delaware

Family Based Therapist

CounselorIncludes weekendsFull-Time

Listed compensation

$32.15/hr

The week · per this posting

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, nights and shift pattern and time off.

Posted 29m ago · Verified live

Job Description

Are you looking for an opportunity to advance your career while working with an extraordinary team? At Merakey, we put heart and soul into everything we do.

We are seeking a Family Based Therapist to join our team our program in Kennett Square, PA, supporting the Chester County area.

Earn $32.15/hour!

Position Details

Family Based Therapist (FBT) works as one half of a team which provides treatment services to families including therapy and counseling to child and family. FBT helps with skills training and education designed to enable families to care for their mental health children at home.

FBT works flexible hours, including evenings and weekends, to meet the needs of the children and families on caseload. FBT travels to client homes, other agencies, and community resources for the purpose of arranging and providing community and home-based services for children, adolescents, and families.

Family Based therapists facilitate individual and family therapy sessions, parent coaching, and crisis intervention for each child assigned to his/her caseload using an Eco-systemic Structural Family Therapy (ESFT) designed to intervene with families of children who are experiencing behavioral health problems and are at the risk of out-of-home placement.

Ensures that every child and family have the necessary service linkages and community supports. The Family Based Therapist (FBT) works in collaboration with a case manager as part of an interdisciplinary team to provide time-limited intensive community based ESFT treatment.

Therapists receive extensive training and supervision to master the ESFT model.

Benefits

Merakey offers generous benefits that promote well-being, financial security,

and work-life balance, including:

  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus access to healthcare advocacy support.
  • Retirement plan -- both pre-tax and Roth (after-tax) options available for employee contributions.
  • DailyPay -- access your pay when you need it!
  • On the Goga well-being platform, featuring self-care tools and resources.
  • Access Care.com for backup childcare, elder care, and household services.
  • Confidential counseling, legal, and financial services through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
  • Tuition reimbursement and educational partnerships.
  • Employee discounts and savings programs on entertainment, travel, and lifestyle.
  • Access to Pryor Online Learning for free online personal development classes.

Learn more about our full benefits package - https://www.merakey.org/careers/benefits [https://www.merakey.org/careers/benefits]

About Merakey

Merakey is a non-profit provider of developmental, behavioral health, and education services. More than 8,000 employees provide support to nearly 40,000 individuals and families throughout 12 states across the country each year.

Click here to watch a video about Merakey. [https://youtu.be/MD3KtxmS7qo] Merakey strictly follows a zero-tolerance policy for abuse.

Merakey is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer! We deeply value diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, ethnic background, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or disability status.

Moreover, we are committed to creating teams that reflect the diversity of the communities we serve and encourage applicants from underrepresented backgrounds to apply. Merakey welcomes all Veterans to apply!

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications:

  • Master’s Degree in psychiatry, psychology, social work, nursing, education, rehabilitation or a graduate degree in the field of human services.
  • A minimum of 2 years experience in a CASSP program, experience must be with children and adolescents and include direct service.
  • Experience facilitating family therapy and/or crisis intervention, de-escalation is preferred.
  • A valid Pennsylvania Driver's license and access to reliable transportation is a requirement.

Key Responsibilities

The Family Based Therapist provides intensive community-based therapy and counseling to children and families to support mental health and prevent out-of-home placement. They work as part of an interdisciplinary team to facilitate therapy sessions, parent coaching, and crisis intervention while ensuring necessary service linkages.

Qualifications

Education
Master's degree (postgraduate degree)
Experience
2+ years of experience

Key Skills

Case managementService linkageInterdisciplinary collaboration

Counselor Career Context

In Delaware, the Mental Health Therapy weighted monthly median benchmark on WeekdayDoc is ~$108k (13 salary observations; 49 listings), vs ~$75k nationally (2,258 salary observations; 7,025 listings). Monthly aggregates cover 2025-12-01 through 2026-09-01; these are not the modal's selected comparable-job medians.

Of the 50 active Mental Health Therapy listings this role was benchmarked against, 56% are remote, 14% have no call, 72% require no weekends.

Mental Health Therapy pay on WeekdayDoc is down 2.7% vs. the prior quarter (through Aug 2026).

The cost-of-living index for Delaware is 99.8 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$67k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $67k in an average-cost state. 63.5% of Delaware clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Top Counselor Jobs

35 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution35 jobs · 20 employers

11
<$75k
3
$75k-95k
6
$95k-115k
14
$115k-135k
1
$140k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks34 jobs · 20 employers

401k / retirement match
94% this job
CME allowance
29%
Sign-on bonus
15%
Loan repayment
12%
PSLF eligible
12%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Outpatient Therapist (Licensed Psychologist or LICSW)

Allina Health · Edina, Minnesota

$125k-$140k
#2

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT, LPC, LCSW)

LifeStance Health · Madison, Wisconsin

$92k-$125k
#3

Licensed Mental Health Therapist (LMFT, LMHC, LCSW)

$115k-$120k
#4

Licensed Mental Health Therapist (LMFT, LPC, LCSW)

$115k-$120k
+ 33 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 6.3this job 4.8
Better work-life than 40% of Mental Health Therapy (Counseling) listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 7,853 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • Includes weekends

Living in Wilmington

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$299k
Typical market rent
$1,786/mo
Residents’ average commute
24 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
102.6
State income tax
Up to 6.6%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.

Merakey logo

About Merakey

Non-profit Organizations
Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania
1,001-5,000 employees

Benefits & Perks

Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
Healthcare Advocacy Support
Retirement Plan (Pre-tax and Roth)
DailyPay
On the Goga Well-being Platform
Access to Care.com for Backup Childcare, Elder Care, and Household Services
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Tuition Reimbursement and Educational Partnerships