Marriage and Family Therapists' Attitudes toward Marriage

Purposes, Diversities, and Futures in MFT Doctoral Education

“…Understanding theory and using it to conceptualize a case and guide interventions is a difficult task. This is probably why surveys (Caldwell & Woolley, 2008; Northey, 2002) show a sizable minority of MFTs refer to themselves as theoretically eclectic. Although there are common factors across models (Hubbell, Duncan, & Miller, 1999), there is increasing consensus that having a theory to conceptualize a case and guide interventions is essential for effective practice (Blow, Sprenkle, & Davis, 2007).…”

“…While the contexts in which we deliver services often require evidence‐based approaches, even when such approaches are available it has sometimes proven difficult to have practitioners learn and apply them. For example, only a minority of couple therapists use the readily available, well‐manualized, and empirically supported models of couple treatment available to them (Caldwell & Woolley, 2008). Our profession will not advance if those who practice it (and indeed, those who educate them) are only competent in and use the model or models they learned during their graduate training.…”