What is Marriage & Family Therapy?
A family's patterns of behaviour influence each individual in the family and therefore may need to be a part of any 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 imbedded.
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 as, 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 efficient, short-term therapy. Data on treatment of individuals show 13 sessions on average; marital and relationship therapy (11.5 sessions on average) and family therapy (9 sessions on average) often require even fewer 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.
Marriage and family therapy is:
- brief
- solution-focused
- specific, with attainable therapeutic goals
- designed with the "end in mind."