[humanser] experience from Marriage and family therapists

[Carmella Broome]

Well, not being able to draw genograms was and is certainly a frustration  for me. The emotionality in  sessions can  get away from you more quickly  when working with  a couple or a parent and child than when I'm just talking with one person.  I have to be  more directive and  assertive in  such situations.   Working with couples is not easy and is often discouraging due to how entrenched problems have become before they ask for help.   Two unhealthy people feeding off of one another's issues  can be challenging. With couples, my client is actually the  relationship, the thing they have co created that is its own entity separate from either of them.  Getting other family members to  participate or convincing a client that having their parents or spouse involved  would be helpful when issues  about the relationship are part of what they want to talk about as an individual or when their individual  issue is impacting  their loved ones is challenging at times.  

I am both an LPC and an LMFT. I have an EdS in Counselor Education with a specialization in marriage and family therapy.  In order to be licensed as an MFT, I had to  take certain classes and pass a different exam than the one required to become an LPC.  Historically, MFT has its own set of  theories and  is based on more of a systems approach to problems vs a medical  model that  assigns a "label" to just one person.  My identity as an MFT was stronger at the beginning of my career than it is now.  I learned  pretty quickly that I  have to be able to diagnose and have someone at least be the  "identified patient" because, like it or not, that is how the world of insurance works.  I need to be able to recognize  when  a disorder such as Major Depression, Social Anxiety, or  ADHD has  decided to become particular friends with a family member  or a certain individual within the system. I no longer view diagnoses as necessarily bad or  pathologizing the way  my MFT training taught me in the early 2000s. I am not sure  how different  schools handle this now, but  I suspect MFTs are having to balance a systems view with the ability to  also be more clinical  as well as relational.  Plenty of MFTs diagnose and treat   in private practice or  state or hospital  settings  the same  way   other masters level clinicians would (LPC, LCSW, etc).  They just may approach treatment a little differently at times.  MFTs have their own  national and state organizations and their own identity, but there is a lot of overlap   among  masters level therapists and the  kinds of work we do. MFTs  work  with  military families, parent/child issues,  couples counseling, and  with individuals  from a range of backgrounds.  We work with people individually and  with  various combinations of family members and  have an understanding of  how  various  issues impact not just the individual but their loved ones.    

Inaccessible record keeping software is an ongoing and very frustrating issue too, but tbhat' that's for all of us who work  as counselors. 

Carmella Broome EdS LPC LMFT in South Carolina