Imagine helping families find better ways to communicate effectively, overcome day-to-day challenges, and strengthen relationships. This can be your future if you study to become a certified marriage and family therapist. Marriage and family therapists play an important role in helping parents, children, and relatives overcome a wide range of issues.
Marriage and family therapy, as defined by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), is a mental health discipline that focuses on the treatment of patients within the context of their relationships with others.
Capella University’s marriage and family therapy program teaches students how to apply research and relational theories to clinical practice and to communicate effectively across sensitive cultural and ethnic topics. In addition, the program is CACREP accredited and gives students experience through academic seminars and residential fieldwork.
Coursework, residency, and field experience prepares you to counsel and help families achieve the following positive outcomes.
1. Resolving Family Conflicts.
Over 1 million people go to marriage and family therapists yearly for help with issues such as depression, childhood behavior issues, relationship problems, substance abuse, and domestic violence. After counseling, 93% of clients report that they developed more effective tools for dealing with their problems.
What Coursework Teaches You: You will know how to identify harmful communication patterns within families and teach them skills necessary to improve their behavior.
2. Achieving Faster Results.
Like psychologists, marriage and family therapists use cognitive behavioral therapy to help their clients make positive changes. While methods may be similar, marriage and family therapists adjust their technique for each client using a family-centered perspective.
According to the AAMFT, when couples and families work together on their problems instead of individually, clients reach positive results more quickly.
What Coursework Teaches You: You will learn strategies to adapt your treatment plans to each client’s unique needs.
3. Making Better Decisions.
Decision making around career direction, family planning, or financial commitments may cause relationship tension. When families work together toward making big life decisions, studies show they tend to be more successful. Therapists can help clients develop a process to work through decisions together to reach positive outcomes.
What Coursework Teaches You: You will learn how to guide families as they debate important choices around life planning, transitions, finances, and other issues.
The benefits to the therapy are many, including improved decision making, productive conflict resolution techniques, and a faster track to improving the family dynamic. Help individuals and families achieve these positive outcomes with a Master of Science in General Marriage and Family Counseling/Therapy Specialization from Capella.
