Many years ago, I got a flyer in the mail advertising a “come check us out” graduate program at a local college. My husband and I had discussed my going back to graduate school a couple of years earlier when we lived in Chicago. The timing just didn’t seem right. Ironically, the program I was looking at in Chicago was for the same degree being advertised here.
Being a person who does not believe in coincidences, my curiosity was highly peaked. Being a highly curious person, I couldn’t get this out of my mind. On one bright and hot summer day, I dragged my overly pregnant body (7 months pregnant, to be exact) down to the local college to sit while this man shared what a Marriage and Family Therapist was, how they worked, and why this was a great program. I was mesmerized by the way he weaved language together to draw me in. I loved the analogy of a baby’s mobile as a symbol for family and how all members are affected when you tug on one of the strings (i.e. the person coming into therapy is affected and effected by each person in the family). Inside I was shouting, “YES”!! I felt like I had hit the jack pot! This was it! His presentation resonated so deeply within me about what it meant to help those who were hurting and seeking help. In that moment I knew, this was what I was supposed to do with my life. To be able to work with others from a systemic (for definition and explanation of “systemic”, see below**) perspective didn’t just sound logical it seemed necessary to make real changes in a person’s life.
As I walked through graduate school, I learned some interesting facts about Marriage & Family Therapists (aka: MFT’s):
1. MFT’s are brief, solution-focused (average 12 sessions).
2. MFT’s are trained with “the end in mind”. I often tell my Clients, “my job is to work myself out of a job”.
3. MFT’s are trained to look for patterns in their Clients…patterns in their thinking, in their feelings, in their behavior. Looking for patterns in our lives helps us know how better to change and move in the direction we want to go-we need to go.
4. MFT’s are highly trained professionals. Two years supervised experience before graduation, combined with 2 years post-graduate supervised experience before applying for state licensing board exam (which literally equals thousands of hours of supervision). My supervisor was also an MFT and in each class we consistently discussed how the issues with each Client affect them relationally, biologically, psychologically, physiologically and spiritually.
In essence, it just made sense that to help people meet the goals they have in life, learning how to work with them holistically was not just logical, it is critical.
Are you looking to enter therapy? Or possibly becoming a therapist? If so, I would recommend an MFT. You can find us in 46 states and across the pond. Visit www.aamft.org for more information about MFT’s, how to become an MFT and how to find one near you! You can also check out my website to read more about how I work with my Clients. Visit me at www.c4mft.com.
**The APA (American Psychological Association) defines systems thinking as a holistic approach that examines how different parts of a system interact and influence one another within a larger whole. Systemic therapy, from family therapy, views problems as manifesting from naturally occurring patterns of interaction and/or behavior. These patterns emerge and are maintained in the context of relationships, where they may give to healthy or not so healthy functioning in the system (or family) as a whole.
Source: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/cfp-1-1-14.pdf
