About Marital and Family Therapy
"Remember that happiness is a way of travel— not a destination." - Roy M. Goodman
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists or LMFTs are different from other Mental Health Professionals!
I obtained my Clinical Master's Degree in Marital and Family Therapy from Loma Linda University Medical Center and I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in the state of Colorado.
The field of Marriage and Family Therapy is a distinct discipline from other mental health professions. Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists have an academic graduate degree specializing in family and interpersonal dynamics. LMFTs treat individuals in the context of family relationships, addressing issues from anger and resentment to intimacy and communication skills. They are also licensed to diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders, other health and behavioral problems, and address a wide array of relationship issues within the family system.
Below, you will find more descriptions involved in the scope and practice of a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT.
Marriage and Family counselors 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. A family's patterns of behavior influences the individual and therefore may need to be a part of the treatment plan. The unit of treatment isn't just the person - even if only a single person is interviewed - it is the set of relationships in which the person is imbedded. About half of the treatment provided by Marital and Family counselors is one-on-one with the other half divided between marital/couple and family therapy, or a combination of treatments.
Marriage and Family counselors treat a wide range of serious clinical problems including: depression, marital problems, anxiety, individual psychological problems, and child-parent problems. They take a holistic perspective to health care; they are concerned with the overall, long-term well-being of individuals and their families.
Marital and family therapy is:
- - brief
- - solution-focused
- - specific, with attainable therapeutic goals
- - designed with the "end in mind"
Marriage and Family Therapy is very successful, effective, and beneficial!
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, obesity and dementia in the elderly, and marital distress and conflict.
Studies also show that clients are highly satisfied with services of a Marriage and Family Therapists. 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% 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 and productivity at work, including their co-worker relationships.
- Over three-fourths of those receiving marital/couples or family therapy report an improvement in the couple relationship, family relationships, social life and community involvement.
- 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.
Above information cited from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Please call 303-708-8295 or email me to discuss any questions or concerns about treatment or to schedule an initial appointment. I offer a free 15-minute introduction call for new clients. I provide both in-person and telehealth sessions.
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