Marriage and Family Counseling

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Recommended: diversity in counseling

Marriage and family counselors are counselors distinctively trained to work with family systems and provide therapy for people who wish to solve emotional conflicts. Their goal, with therapy, is to revise people's perceptions and behavior, expand communication, and prevent individual and family crises. Although marriage and family counseling has a broad history, formal recognition of the professional counseling specialization can be traced to the establishment in 1989 of the International Association of Marriage and Family Counseling (IAMFC), which is a division of the American Counseling Association. Requirements for marriage and family counselors typically include a master’s degree in counseling, two years or three thousand hours of supervised clinical experience, and state-recognized exams.

Marriage and family counselors can work in mental health centers, clinics, hospitals, social service agencies, and private practice. Those in private practice, for example, may specialize in one or two kinds of problems. If they are not practiced in a certain area, they may refer clients to other counselors if they determine that their clients' problems are outside their areas of expertise. Counselors who work in clinics may work in teams, consulting each other on appropriate therapy techniques as well. Counseling are encouraged to work with others counselors to better solve and understand problems that come their way instead of guessing on their own. This holds true in marriage and family counseling as well.

The techniques used in marriage and family counseling can be different. For instance, counselors will sometimes handle family therapy in different ways than they would couples or marital therapy. Both family and marriage c...

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...010). An interview with larry golden: long-time marriage and family counselor and counselor educator. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 18(3), 321-323.

Murray, C.E. (2005). Prevention work: a professional responsibility for marriage and family counselors. THE FAMILY JOURNAL: COUNSELING AND THERAPY FOR COUPLES AND FAMILIES, 13(1), 27-34.

Sholevar, G.P. (2003). Textbook of family and couples therapy. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.

Southern, S. (2006). Themes in marriage and family counseling: a content analysis of the family journal. THE FAMILY JOURNAL: COUNSELING AND THERAPY FOR COUPLES AND FAMILIES, 14(2), 114-122.

Southern, S., Smith, R.L., & Oliver, M. (2005). Marriage and family counseling: ethics in context. THE FAMILY JOURNAL: COUNSELING AND THERAPY FOR COUPLES AND FAMILIES, 13(4), 459-466.

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