As a marriage and family therapist who is very aware of the origins of family systems theory in the US, I am committed to the idea that "marriage and family therapists must acknowledge that the very idea of a system -- whether it is a family system or a human system -- cannot be separated from the problem of race in this country . . . This is the archetypal dysfunctional relationship in America, sociologically" (https://blog.aamft.org/2020/06/aamft-statement-on-mft-responsibility-to-counter-racism.html). I practice with an understanding that all of us are the most comprehensively trained "talk therapists" in the American mental health system. The number of practicing marriage and family therapists is increasing at twice the rate of all other comparable therapists (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The systems based medical concepts we are trained with are applicable, without exception, to mental health practice with every psychiatric disorder. This allows for communication about these symptoms and disorders that is correct universally and can be safely disseminated outside of the individual treatment context. Also, because MFTs focus on more than one person at a time as well as on the family relationships that are the basis of psychotherapy, we diagnose specific symptoms accurately from the multiple disorders in which they originate, rather than simply diagnosing and treating entire disorders indiscriminately. This allows patients to understand, psychiatrically, how their symptoms are being caused, what is changing cognitively as a part of the treatment process, and for them to understand, specifically, what symptoms are or are not being effected by psychoactive medications.
Despite the overwhelmingly consistent reaction of people who may have had previous mental health treatment or experience with mental health, marriage and family therapy is not a 'new approach' to therapy at all but a more complete application of how it is actually supposed to work. It began to emerge academically a century ago (about 30 years after Freud developed psychoanalysis). It was created by psychiatrists, theoreticians, and therapists who understood how psychiatry, supportive relationships, and therapy work together to heal symptoms as well as the comprehensive applicability of psychiatry as a medical discipline.
As a Resident in Marriage and Family Therapy in Virginia, I was trained specifically to work with nurses, physicians (PCPs), adult and child and adolescent psychiatrists, and psychiatric staff to safely heal presenting symptoms with all of the information and professional resources available to do so. In the end, my training may have been more thorough because it was pre-approved by the Virginia Department of Health Professions, because of the many medical contexts (VCU Medical Center, Chippenham Hospital, Southside Regional Medical Center, Residential Treatment Centers statewide, etc.) where Residency occurred, because it was based exhaustively on the most comprehensive (common factors) information available to educate and train marriage and family therapists, and because Residency was extended significantly as the state legislature worked to pass two laws effecting the licensure of marriage and family therapists in Virginia, but the same information is available to anyone who is interested and the same types of practice opportunities are actually available to most mental health professionals. Related resources are available by contacting the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) .
Philip M. Campbell, AB'94, University of Chicago, MA, 2005, Eastern Mennonite University, MFT (2007) April 17, 2024