Marriage and Family Therapists vs. Clinical Psychologists
There is some overlap between the roles of clinical psychologists and marriage and family therapists (LMFTs). Both are mental health professionals. Both assess and treat clients with a range of problems, including diagnosable mental illness. Clinical psychologists are more likely to work with individuals who have severe mental illness, but some marriage and family therapists do so as well. When a person has a serious illness, it’s often more effective to involve the whole family, and this is an area where LMFTs have specialized training. However, the severity of illness that they treat will depend on their own training as well as the laws of the state where they are licensed.
There are differences in the practice of marriage and family therapists and clinical psychiatrists, and client circumstances may lead them to prefer one over the other. Clients are more likely to see a marriage and family therapist when they need premarital counseling or assistance with other family transitions.
There are also some services they may need a psychologist for. Psychologists have longer educational programs that include more training in psychometric assessment. Their scope of practice typically includes more test administration.
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Education and Training
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Marriage and family therapists must have at least a master’s degree. Master’s programs have increased in length to 60 semester hours of coursework; they take a minimum of two years to complete. One in five marriage and family therapists has a doctoral degree. This does not confer a higher license, but may be an asset for various positions, including those in research or higher education.
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BLS has predicted 22% growth in the psychology field and 41% for the MFT field.
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The majority of coursework in a marriage and family therapy program will be in family studies, human development, and MFT clinical practice. Students typically take at least one research course — most states require three semester hours. LMFTs usually get some training in assessment; this is often included in the state’s clinical coursework requirement. There is generally a full year of part-time practicum or internship; students can expect to spend about 15 hours a week fulfilling this requirement.
Clinical psychologists need doctoral degrees. They have two options: the PsyD and the PhD. A clinical psychologist generally spends at least four years earning the degree. The PhD is the more traditional degree; it places more emphasis on research and takes a little longer to complete. The PsyD degree is practice-oriented, but includes far more training in assessments than an LMFT program.
There may be an option to specialize in a broad field like child psychology. Electives allow for further specialization. A future psychologist should expect to do a full-time, year-long internship. There is a matching process that usually involves moving to a new city; for this reason alone, psychology programs represent greater commitment.
Making the Cut
Both MFT and clinical psychology programs are competitive. However, psychology is typically more so; programs may admit a small fraction of applicants. Academic requirements are generally higher. Graduate admission exams are typically required; masters-level MFT programs may or may not require them.
Postgraduate Practice
Post-graduate supervised practice requirements are set by individual states. Psychologists typically practice under supervision for one year, marriage and family therapists for two. Some states set a one year requirement for marriage and family therapists who have doctoral degrees.
Salary and Career Outlook
The extra years that a psychologist trains do translate into significantly higher salaries. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that clinical, counseling, and school psychologists enjoyed a mean annual salary of $72,220 in 2012. The average salary for marriage and family therapists was $49,270 during that time period.
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The BLS has predicted 22% growth in the psychology field in the 2010 to 2020 decade. The marriage and family therapy field, meanwhile, has been projected to see 41% growth.
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What is Marriage and Family Therapy?
A family’s patterns of behavior influences the individual and therefore may need to be a part of the treatment plan. In marriage and family therapy, the unit of treatment isn’t just the person – even if only a single person is interviewed – it is the set of relationships in which the person is embedded.
Marriage and family therapy is:
- brief
- solution-focused
- specific, with attainable therapeutic goals
- designed with the “end in mind.”
Marriage and family therapists treat a wide range of serious clinical problems including: depression, marital problems, anxiety, individual psychological problems, and child-parent problems.
Marriage and family therapists treat a wide range of serious clinical problems including: depression, marital problems, anxiety, individual psychological problems, and child-parent problems.
Research indicates that marriage and family therapy is as effective, and in some cases more effective than standard and/or individual treatments for many mental health problems such as: adult schizophrenia, affective (mood) disorders, adult alcoholism and drug abuse, children’s conduct disorders, adolescent drug abuse, anorexia in young adult women, childhood autism, chronic physical illness in adults and children, and marital distress and conflict.
Marriage and family therapists regularly practice short-term therapy; 12 sessions on average. Nearly 65.6% of the cases are completed within 20 sessions, 87.9% within 50 sessions. Marital/couples therapy (11.5 sessions) and family therapy (9 sessions) both require less time than the average individuated treatment (13 sessions). About half of the treatment provided by marriage and family therapists is one-on-one with the other half divided between marital/couple and family therapy, or a combination of treatments.
Who are Marriage and Family Therapists?
Marriage and family therapists (MFTs) are mental health professionals trained in psychotherapy and family systems, and licensed to diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders within the context of marriage, couples and family systems.
Marriage and family therapists are a highly experienced group of practitioners, with an average of 13 years of clinical practice in the field of marriage and family therapy. They evaluate and treat mental and emotional disorders, other health and behavioral problems, and address a wide array of relationship issues within the context of the family system.
Marriage and family therapists broaden the traditional emphasis on the individual to attend to the nature and role of individuals in primary relationship networks such as marriage and the family. MFTs take a holistic perspective to health care; they are concerned with the overall, long-term well-being of individuals and their families.
MFTs have graduate training (a Master’s or Doctoral degree) in marriage and family therapy and at least two years of clinical experience. Marriage and family therapists are recognized as a “core” mental health profession, along with psychiatry, psychology, social work and psychiatric nursing.
Since 1970 there has been a 50-fold increase in the number of marriage and family therapists. At any given time they are treating over 1.8 million people.
Why use a Marriage and Family Therapist?
Research studies repeatedly demonstrate the effectiveness of marriage and family therapy in treating the full range of mental and emotional disorders and health problems. Adolescent drug abuse, depression, alcoholism, obesity and dementia in the elderly — as well as marital distress and conflict — are just some of the conditions marriage and family therapists effectively treat.
Studies also show that clients are highly satisfied with services of marriage and family therapists. Clients report marked improvement in work productivity, co-worker relationships, family relationships, partner relationships, emotional health, overall health, social life, and community involvement.
In a recent study, consumers report that marriage and family therapists are the mental health professionals they would most likely recommend to friends. Over 98 percent of clients of marriage and family therapists report therapy services as good or excellent.
After receiving treatment, almost 90% of clients report an improvement in their emotional health, and nearly two-thirds report an improvement in their overall physical health. A majority of clients report an improvement in their functioning at work, and over three-fourths of those receiving marital/couples or family therapy report an improvement in the couple relationship. When a child is the identified patient, parents report that their child’s behavior improved in 73.7% of the cases, their ability to get along with other children significantly improved and there was improved performance in school. Marriage and family therapy’s prominence in the mental health field has increased due to its brief, solution-focused treatment, its family-centered approach, and its demonstrated effectiveness.
Today more than 50,000 marriage and family therapists treat individuals, couples, and families nationwide. Membership in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) has grown from 237 members in 1960 to more than 25,500 in 2015. This growth is a result, in part, of renewed public awareness of the value of family life and concern about the increased stresses on families in a rapidly changing world.
How can I find a Marriage and Family Therapist?
AAMFT Clinical Fellow members meet stringent training and education requirements that qualify them for the independent practice of marriage and family therapy. AAMFT requires Clinical Fellow members to abide by the AAMFT Code of Ethics, the most stringent ethical code in the marriage and family therapy profession. This code delineates specific ethical behavior and guidelines for members to follow to ensure the ethical treatment of clients. Clinical Fellow membership in AAMFT signifies an MFT’s dedication to his or her ongoing professional development. Each month, AAMFT Clinical Fellow members receive important updates on current clinical and research developments in the field, as well as numerous opportunities throughout the year to attend professional development conferences.
Marriage and Family Therapist
What are the qualifications to be a Marriage and Family Therapist?
Marriage and family therapy is a distinct professional discipline with graduate and post graduate programs. Three options are available for those interested in becoming a marriage and family therapist: master’s degree (2-3 years), doctoral program (3-5 years), or post-graduate clinical training programs (3-4 years). Historically, marriage and family therapists have come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds including psychology, psychiatry, social work, nursing, pastoral counseling and education.
The Federal government has designated marriage and family therapy as a core mental health profession along with psychiatry, psychology, social work and psychiatric nursing. Currently all 50 states support and regulate the profession by licensing marriage and family therapists.
The regulatory requirements in most states are substantially equivalent to the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy’s Clinical Fellow membership standards. After graduation from an accredited program, a period – usually two years – of post-degree supervised clinical experience is necessary before licensure or certification. When the supervision period is completed, the therapist can take a state licensing exam, or the national examination for marriage and family therapists conducted by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB). This exam is used as a licensure requirement in most states.
