The Work of a Family and Marriage Therapist Essay

Marriage and Family Therapists (also known as MFTs) are relationship specialists. MFT focuses on the relationships that the client has and assists them to function as a stable individual and as a relationship parent. MFTs are trained assess to diagnose and treat individuals, couples, families and groups to achieve more adequate, satisfying and productive marriage, family and social adjustment (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists). According to American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) Marriage and Family Therapists are mental health professionals with a minimum of a master’s degree and two years supervised clinical experience. Marriage and Family Therapists are trained and licensed to independently diagnose and treat mental health and substance abuse problems. The role of a MFT is to help individuals and families to address issues and guide them in the situations and everyday life so that they can function within society. MFTs provide a wide variety of services for clients. Some services that MFT provide but are not limited to is diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders, marriage and relationship counseling, and pre-martial counseling. A few of common disorders treated by MFTs are depression, martial/family

Coursework may cover contemporary models of couple and family therapy, family systems theories and practices and clinical assessment and psychotherapy for families. Classes may teach students how to conduct assessments and implement interventions based on family dynamics. Students learn about the prevention and resolution of problems arising from unemployment, substance abuse, chronic illness, domestic violence and legal challenges. Case studies illustrate real-world scenarios in hospital, mental health and human service

My professional goals in relation to Couples and Family Therapist (CFT) program are to gain excellence in theoretical and practical approach to provide a professional quality service. I have attained a broad academic knowledge through my liberal arts education, gathered practical experiences, and learnt lessons of life through various volunteer and work experiences in multicultural and international settings. These experiences have also provided me with a foundation to take a next step in my career to be a CFT professional.

As a marriage and family therapist, it is important to have a firm understanding of both who you are and your values. This concept is ever present and most important during our training period. We start as individuals, with a passion that leads us to choose this career path and our own preconceived ideas about what it means to be a therapist. It is those preconceived notions or beliefs, that become assumptions and therapeutic viewpoints underlying our treatment methods. There are seven, beliefs and assumptions, in particular, that can contribute to what therapeutic model of treatment we choose to use in our sessions.

Family is something that plays a tremendous role in our life. Even though the structure of families has changed over the years, it is important to acknowledge that there many families out there whether they are traditional families, nuclear family, stepfamilies or others which tend to have different types of problems in their families. Therefore, many families attempt to go to family therapy in order for them to obtain help in solving the different types of issues they might have at home. As stated in the book Family Therapy by Michael P. Nichols (2013), “The power of family therapy derives from bringing parents and children together to transform their interaction… What keeps people stuck in their inability to see their own participation in the problems that plague them. With eyes fixed firmly on what recalcitrant others are doing, it’s hard for most people to see the patterns that bind them together. The family therapist’s job is to give them a wake-up call” (2013).

family and relationships among relatives or spouses. Marriage and family therapists usually have an office of their own, but spend a majority of their time meeting with various patients, being a socially-driven job. There is not much room for growth because the entry-level position is very similar to a seasoned therapist’s position; a counselor is expected to have all of the knowledge and skills necessary at the time of being hired.

Marriage and family therapists believe that the family patterns may affect an individual’s psychological and physical well being and therefore need to be part of therapy. During a therapy session even if only one person is being interviewed, the therapists focuses on a set of relationships that the person is embedded in. The entire family is involved in solving clients problems regardless of whether the issue in individual or family.

A marriage and family therapist may work in collaboration with other health care professionals, be involved in research, or use the family perspective to analyze public policies.

It takes very special people to want to make a difference in people’s lives, to want to help them to be better. Some people seek to become counselors after overcoming a most important life challenge. The individuals that seek the profession of marriage and family therapy do not think of this work as a job or career, more typically a constellation of life experiences that demand explanation and a sense that others seek one out for assistance and emotional sustenance become driving forces leading one to counseling profession (An Invitation to Counseling Work).

therapy aims to improve family relations, and the family is encouraged to become a type of

Ethics and therapy are closely intertwined. It is important that healthcare professionals dealing in therapy adhere to strict professional standards and values that help define expectations and also prevent harm to those who seek therapy. Although the application of such values can sometimes be somewhat complicated when such therapists are dealing with individual clients, the complexity is even more heightened in the context of having multiple family members under therapy. Advancing conversations regarding values and marriage and family therapy is important to enable professionals grapple with the complexities of the topic as well as support their clients better.

The history of family therapy began around 1960, when Gregory Bateson coined the term, “system thinking.” This type of therapy was a daring departure, both technically and philosophically, from traditional and individual treatment during the 1960s. Gregory Bateson was inspired. He felt that the unit known, as “the family” needed to be celebrated and that is exactly what he did” (Family Therapy, 2010, Para 1) Along with Gregory Bateson, are a list of several others who contributed to the evolution of Marriage and family counseling. This list includes the founder of social work, Mary Richmond, Mr. W. James, who researched the organic expression of social systems intervention and Mr. J. Dewey. Each of these

My theoretical approach to family therapy is very integrative as I believe families cannot be described nor treated from a single-school approach. I view humans through a humanistic and existential lens but am more technically structural and solution-based. With this integrative approach, I believe I will be the most effective in helping families grow and reach their goals.

Due to the extremely sensitive nature of marital and family therapy, it is imperative that therapists engage in the ethical, competent treatment of their clients. There are three aspects of marriage and family therapy research that makes it unique from other research fields: 1) multiple family members are involved; 2) it involves extremely sensitive information; and 3) it is performed in conjunction with therapy. According to Hohmann-Marriott (2001), because of these aspects as well as the researcher’s responsibility to conduct

My desire to complete a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy stems from my compassion to try to help and guide those who have marital issues. Also I have a passion to help families who are facing familial difficulties. I am a firm believer in the saying “all healthy family have issues”. It is okay to have problems it is how you work through the problems as a family that will determine a family dynamic. This degree will help me in my social work endeavors because my concentration was clinical with a specialization in families and children. The doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy will give me an opportunity to further my knowledge and ability to help those who are in need. After I graduate I plan on taking the licensing exam for my LMFT license. I plan on using my degrees, social work, LMFT license and experience to start my own group practice. The research question I may want to answer for my dissertation is