Monday 19 August 2013

The Job Of A Marriage And Family Therapist

By Essie Craft


There are so many families and spouses today who have problems understanding each other because of the lack of proper communication and openness between the affected parties. Because of this kind of problem, there has been a demand for certain therapists who specialize in this type of field. A person who focuses on this aspect of psychology and counselling is known as a marriage and family therapist.

Of course if one would want to go into this sort of field, then it is very important that he would have to undergo formal education first. First of all, he would be needing a degree in psychology or any similar course. After that, he would be needing a masters degree also in that field and then he may proceed to take the exam so that he may receive his license to become an official counsellor.

When therapists in this field start out their work, they will be dealing with families that have a range of problems that are not easily fixed. Some of these problems would include constant fighting, affairs, financial conflicts, depression, and even more. Not only will they be dealing with problems regarding the spouse, but even with other units of the family as well like the siblings, parents, and children.

Usually, psychologists or therapists would be looking at the internal conflicts that would be brewing inside each of the clients. In other words, a traditional therapist would be looking at each individual and try to make them blend with each other. Their principle is that if one can become well internally, then the external will follow.

However, these specialists would want to look at the family collectively. In other words, they will be looking at the family as an entire unit and all of them are considered to be an entire entity. What they would do is that they would look at the core problem of the entity and try to fix it from there instead of focusing on each of the members as individuals.

Before actually giving out treatment to the clients, it is very important for the therapist to be able to know what the problem of the clients is. He will have to go through some assessments first like questionnaires, surveys, or other written assessment means. The reason why most assessments are written is because not all clients would feel comfortable having a dialogue at first.

Once one has already assessed the main problem of the client, then the next step would be to go for the treatment. The main purpose here is to be able to get the parties to open up to each other and be willing to communicate. Now tools like journals, communication programs, or maybe even some short activities may be a very big help to the clients.

So for those who are interested in becoming a marriage and family therapist, these are some of the things to do. Now there is one very important quality to have. One must never be judgmental or pushy otherwise the client will never open up.




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