Psychology & Marriage Counseling
The marriage counseling profession--also referred to as marriage and family therapy--assists couples with many issues, such as relationship difficulties and family problems. Therapists and counselors use principles of psychology, relationship dynamics and the understanding of family systems to come up with solutions for specific problems and crises when treating clients. Marriage and family therapists--the professionals who offer marriage counseling--earn around $49,000 annually, on average, according to May 2009 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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History
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The practice of marriage counseling emerged and developed as an independent profession during the 1930s and 1940s, as a response to the needs of clients. During this time, the American Association for Marriage Counseling (AAMC) formed, which was primarily made up of psychologists, social workers, pastoral counselors and psychiatrists. However, the organization changed its name to the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT) in 1979 to reflect the incorporation of treatment of both families as a whole and couples.
Features
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Marriage counseling typically brings together the couple in joint sessions of therapy, although the therapist may decide to counsel each individual separately first before seeing both parties. Marriage counseling is often short-term, meaning that the couple's therapy may last for two to three sessions to weather a relationship crisis, or last for several months, depending on the severity of the problem. During sessions, couples examine underlying psychological issues, resentment and anger issues towards one another, and talk openly about the goals the couple has for the marriage.
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Types
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Marriage therapists and counselors practice several different formats and types of counseling for couples. Conjoint therapy refers to counseling couples jointly in the same session. Cotherapy involves the use of two marriage counselors--sometimes a married couple or simply two professionals who complement each other's training--working and treating the couple in the same counseling session. Group therapy consists of a group of couples working together--facilitated by a marriage counselor--and discussing issues in groups about communication issues, infidelity, anger towards a spouse or even rejection. Premarital counseling involves a couple receiving help from a marriage therapist--before getting married--to work out differences and prepare the couple for a lifelong marriage relationship.
Benefits
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Many difficulties and issues improve with the incorporation of marriage counseling in a couple's relationship. For example, couples learn how to communicate better with one another and argue or "fight" in a more constructive manner than simply yelling or screaming and name-calling. Couples learn how to deal with and improve intimate issues as well, such as infidelity or sexual difficulties. One marriage partner may also learn how to cope effectively with the depression or mental health issue of the other partner. Overall, the quality of a couple's relationship improves after seeking help from a marriage counselor or therapist.
Providers
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Couples who receive marriage counseling do so from a professional with the title, "marriage and family therapist." These providers train in graduate programs of study, which often involve three to five years or more of coursework, clinical training and research. At the end of training, marriage and family therapists take a national licensing exam administered by the AAMFT regulatory boards. Individual states also have their own licensing requirements, which often involve the passage of a state-administered exam, and one to two years of supervised clinical experience.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit marriage image by Mykola Velychko from Fotolia.com
