Thaddeus Olinger Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Boulder, 80304, United States [email protected] · (303) 555-1270
11 September 2026
Ms. Ingrid Broshears Clinical Director Sundance Ridge Counseling Center Boulder, United States
Application for Marriage and Family Therapist, Sundance Ridge Counseling Center
Dear Ms. Broshears,
I am applying for the Marriage and Family Therapist post at Sundance Ridge Counseling Center. I hold a Colorado LMFT, #MFT-0009427, current through 2027, and I currently carry 26 clinical hours a week, 19 of them couples or families seen as a unit. I run emotionally focused therapy to certification standard and Gottman Method through Level 3, with structural and Bowen training behind both.
At Flatiron Family Therapy Collective I wrote the systemic intake protocol that routes each referral to a model and a clinician at first contact rather than to whoever has a free hour. Wait from first contact to first session fell from 26 days to 9, and relationship distress scores improved in 71% of couples completing eight or more sessions over the last two years, measured session by session on a standardized tool. The high-conflict referrals go through a Gottman assessment at intake, which is the part that most changed how quickly we could tell whether couples work was the right container at all.
I noticed that your practice has been building an adolescent and parent service and that you take referrals from two paediatric groups in Boulder County. Family sessions with adolescents and parents in the room together are the work I most want more of, and I would be glad to take referrals in that stream alongside couples. I am an AAMFT Approved Supervisor, so I can also supervise associates accruing postdegree hours if that would help you staff the service.
My license runs through 2027 and my supervisor designation through 2028, and I can start within six weeks of an offer. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Thaddeus Olinger, LMFT
Summary
A marriage and family therapist cover letter names the license you hold, the systemic models you actually run, how much of a couples waiting list you can absorb, and one outcome measured on a real tool. This guide gives you a full adaptable letter, how the letter changes between agency and private practice posts, and the openings that get a file read to the end.
Marriage and Family Therapist cover letter examples by experience level
A marriage and family therapist cover letter is a one-page letter telling a clinical director which license you hold, which systemic models you can run from the first week, how much of their couples waiting list you can absorb, and what one measured outcome looked like on your last caseload.
Couples capacity is the scarce thing in almost every practice. A letter that says plainly how much of it you bring is unusual enough to be answered quickly.
Guide to a marriage and family therapist cover letter
This guide and the corresponding marriage and family therapist cover letter example will cover:
- How to structure the letter, paragraph by paragraph
- Why the models and the relational split belong in the first paragraph
- What a measured outcome looks like when you cannot describe a client
- How the letter changes between agency, group practice and university posts
- The openings that get a file read to the end
How to write a marriage and family therapist cover letter
| Paragraph | Its job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | The post, your license, the models you run and the relational split | 2 to 3 sentences |
| Evidence | One caseload, one measure, one number, one period of time | 4 to 5 sentences |
| Fit | Something specific about their service, and what you would take on | 3 to 4 sentences |
| Close | Supervision status, availability, thank you | 2 sentences |
Say how much couples capacity you bring, in the first paragraph
A clinical director is not hiring a therapist in the abstract. They are holding a referral list with couples on it that nobody in the practice has room for.
So write the sentence that answers it: "I am a Colorado LMFT running emotionally focused therapy to certification standard and Gottman Method through Level 3, and I currently carry 19 couples or family units a week out of a 26-client caseload."
That single line tells them your license, your models, your volume and your relational split. Most letters take three paragraphs to convey none of it, because they open on values rather than capacity.
A marriage and family therapist cover letter example you can adapt
Dear Ms. Broshears,
I am applying for the Marriage and Family Therapist post at Sundance Ridge Counseling Center. I hold a Colorado LMFT, #MFT-0009427, current through 2027, and I currently carry 26 clinical hours a week, 19 of them couples or families seen as a unit. I run emotionally focused therapy to certification standard and Gottman Method through Level 3, with structural and Bowen training behind both.
At Flatiron Family Therapy Collective I wrote the systemic intake protocol that routes each referral to a model and a clinician at first contact rather than to whoever has a free hour. Wait from first contact to first session fell from 26 days to 9, and relationship distress scores improved in 71% of couples completing eight or more sessions over the last two years, measured session by session on a standardized tool. The high-conflict referrals go through a Gottman assessment at intake, which is the part that most changed how quickly we could tell whether couples work was the right container at all.
I noticed that your practice has been building an adolescent and parent service and that you take referrals from two paediatric groups in Boulder County. Family sessions with adolescents and parents in the room together are the work I most want more of, and I would be glad to take referrals in that stream alongside couples. I am an AAMFT Approved Supervisor, so I can also supervise associates accruing postdegree hours if that would help you staff the service.
My license runs through 2027 and my supervisor designation through 2028, and I can start within six weeks of an offer. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Thaddeus Olinger, LMFT
Openings that work
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| I am passionate about helping couples and families heal | I am a Colorado LMFT carrying 19 couples or family units a week out of a 26-client caseload |
| I am writing to express my interest in your therapist position | I am applying for the Marriage and Family Therapist post and can take couples referrals from week one |
| I use a variety of evidence-based modalities | I run emotionally focused therapy to certification standard and Gottman Method through Level 3 |
| I would be a wonderful addition to your practice | I noticed your practice has been building an adolescent and parent service |
What counts as evidence when you cannot describe a client
Confidentiality is not a reason to send a letter with no numbers in it. Everything useful here is a caseload figure or a service figure, and neither identifies anybody.
| Kind of evidence | What it looks like in a sentence |
|---|---|
| Relational split | 26 clinical hours a week, 19 of them couples or families seen as a unit |
| Outcome | Distress scores improved in 71% of couples completing eight or more sessions over two years |
| Access | Wait from first contact to first session fell from 26 days to 9 |
| Retention | 84% of couples reached session four, against a practice average of 68% |
| Service built | Grew the couples service from 3 clinicians to 11 over four years |
| Supervision | Supervise 7 associates accruing postdegree hours toward licensure |
Agency, group practice and university letters are not the same letter
For a community agency, lead with license, caseload volume, the populations you work with and your comfort with crisis and safety planning. For a group private practice, lead with couples capacity, models and referral sources, because the post has to pay for itself. For a university or school-based post, lead with the developmental band, the family work you do alongside it, and coordination with other services. Name one real thing about their service, taken from their own pages.
Do not write "trained in EFT" with no level attached. Do not list six models when you would only take referrals in two. Do not describe an identifiable client, couple or family, even without names. Do not blend individual hours into a couples number. Do not send a letter with no practice name in it.
A small, fast-growing occupation with a wide pay band
Marriage and family therapists numbered 76,300 in 2025, with employment projected to grow 14 percent from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average, and about 6,900 openings a year (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025-35 projections).
The pay band is unusually wide for one licensed occupation: a median of $66,940 in May 2025, with the lowest 10 percent at $44,650 and the highest 10 percent at $123,730 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025). Setting does most of the work, from $61,060 in individual and family services to $75,560 in outpatient care centers and $92,150 in state government excluding education and hospitals (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025).
A small occupation with high growth means practices recruit rarely and against a specific gap. Your letter's job is to name the gap you fill before the reader has to work it out.
Length, format and sending it
One page, four paragraphs, 250 to 400 words. PDF unless the portal says otherwise, named for yourself and the post: thaddeus-olinger-marriage-and-family-therapist-cover-letter.pdf.
Address a person. Clinical leadership is named on nearly every practice website, and "Dear Hiring Committee" on an otherwise specific letter reads as a file sent to twelve practices.
Use the same figures as your resume so the two agree. Our marriage and family therapist resume example uses the numbers here, and the free ATS checker will tell you whether the pair parses.
Key takeaways
- Name the license, the models and the relational split in the first paragraph.
- Say how much couples capacity you bring, because that is the scarce thing.
- Give the level behind each model, not the label alone.
- Pick one measure and give the before, the after and the period.
- Match the letter to the setting; agency, group practice and university differ.
- Never describe an identifiable client, couple or family.
- Address a named person and keep it to one page.
Write your marriage and family therapist cover letter in 10 minutes with our AI cover letter builder.
Marriage and family therapist cover letter questions, answered
How long should a marriage and family therapist cover letter be?
One page, four paragraphs, 250 to 400 words. Clinical directors read these between sessions, and length is not read as effort.
Do I need a cover letter if the practice uses an application portal?
Attach one wherever there is a field for it. The portal collects the same structured data from every applicant. The letter is the only place you can say how much of their couples waiting list you can absorb and in which model.
What do I write before I am licensed?
Open with your associate registration and hours completed against the hours your state requires, plus your expected examination date. Then write your placement as clinical work: setting, weekly clinical hours, relational split, models used and supervision received. Agencies hire pre-licensure clinicians constantly and supervise in-house.
Should I mention pay expectations in the letter?
Only if the posting asks. If it does, anchor on the setting rather than the occupation median: outpatient care centers paid marriage and family therapists a median of $75,560 in May 2025 and state government $92,150, against $61,060 in individual and family services (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025).
How do I write to a practice I do not know?
Spend ten minutes on their own material first: the clinician biographies, which models they name, which referral streams they describe and whether they employ associates. One accurate sentence about what they are actually building beats a paragraph of admiration, and it is the part that cannot be pasted into the next letter.