Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs) are mental health professionals
trained in psychotherapy and family systems, and licensed to diagnose and treat
mental and emotional disorders of individuals, couples and family systems. 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 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 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.

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.

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. Marriage and family therapists are licensed or certified
in 46 states and are recognized by the federal government as members of a distinct
mental health discipline.