Learn more about Marriage & Family Therapists
A marriage and family therapist specializes in diagnosing and treating mental, emotional, and substance-related problems in the context of families and relationships. A marriage and family therapist focuses on the well-being of individuals, couples and families. Marriage and family therapists help people of all ages deal with psychological problems, relationship problems, and life crises.
In providing care, a marriage and family therapist typically:
- Gathers information about a client’s or family’s medical history, mental health status, living situation, employment or school status and performance, and history of substance abuse treatment
- Devises a treatment plan to determine an individual’s or family’s particular support needs during treatment
- Provides talk therapy for individuals, couples, families and groups
- Helps manage medication usage (with supervision from a doctor, such as a primary care doctor or psychiatrist), helps determine if the medication is working, and monitors side effects
- Consults with other members of a patient’s or family’s support team including doctors, social workers, home healthcare nurses, lawyers, welfare care workers, occupational therapists, and substance abuse counselors
Marriage and family therapists may also be known by the following names: MFT, marriage and family counselors; marriage, family and child counselors; couples counselors; couples therapists; and marital and family therapists.
There are 36747 specialists practicing Marriage & Family Therapy in California with an overall average rating of 4.1 stars. There are 82 hospitals in California with affiliated Marriage & Family Therapy specialists, including Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica and MarinHealth Medical Center.