Becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist

Becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist is a practical "how to" guide designed to help trainee therapists successfully bridge the gap between classroom and consulting room. Readers will learn how to apply empirically-based methods to the core tasks of therapy in order to improve competency, establish effective supervision, and deliver successful client outcomes.

• A practical guide to improving competency across the core tasks of therapy, based on over 40 years of observation and teaching by an internationally acclaimed author
• Presents treatment protocols that show how to apply therapy task guidelines to a range of empirically-supported marriage and family treatments
• Provides extended coverage on assessing and beginning treatment with crisis areas such as suicidal ideation, and family violence with children, elders, and spouses
• Suggests how supervisors can support trainees in dealing with crisis and other challenging areas, to build competence and successful delivery

List of Figures, Tables, and Boxes ix

About the Author xi

Foreword xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Part I

1 Becoming a Competent Marriage and Family Therapist 3

2 Basic Therapist Skills 17

3 The Initial Phone Call and Assessing Clients’ Complaints and Goals 63

4 Establishing a Treatment Plan and Delivering the Planned Treatment 85

5 Evaluating Adherence to the Treatment Plan and Evaluating Treatment Outcomes 109

6 Terminating Therapy 135

Part II Protocols for Selected Models of Marriage and Family Therapy: Delivering Evidence-Based Treatments

Introduction to Part II 147

7 Protocol for Conducting Gottman Method Couple Therapy 149

8 Protocol for Conducting Emotionally-Focused Therapy with Couples 195

Notes 217

Appendix A Person of the Therapist Checklist 219

Appendix B Therapist Self-Soothing Procedures 221

Appendix C Standard Assessment Battery for Marital Relational Problems 223

Appendix D Written Case Progress Notes 235

Appendix E Observations of the Couples’ Communication and Problem-solving Behaviors Therapist’s Rating Form Based on Gottman (1999) 237

Appendix F Clinical Experience Log 239

Appendix G Preparing a Written Treatment Plan 241

Appendix H Written Treatment Summary 247

Appendix I Therapy Tailoring Skills Rating Form 249

Appendix J Homework Success: Therapist Guidelines 251

Appendix K Preparation for Supervision Checklist: Couples 253

References 257

Index 285

D. Eugene Mead is Emeritus Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at Brigham Young University, Utah. Over the course of 40 years, he developed and initiated the university's family therapy, sex therapy, marriage and family practicum, and marriage and family therapy supervision classes. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and Clinical Member and Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), having taught the Approved Supervision course at their Winter Institute. He is the author of the acclaimed Effective Supervision: A Task-oriented Model for the Mental Health Professions (1990).

Becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist is a practical “how to” guide designed to help trainee therapists bridge the gap between classroom and consulting room. Drawing on over 40 years’ experience, D. Eugene Mead demonstrates that for supervision to result in the positive changes needed to create successful client outcomes, therapists must focus on two basic factors: a good supervisory relationship, and attention to the task of improving therapy skills. The book shows readers how to reinforce these competencies by applying empirically-based methods to each of the core tasks of therapy.

Part I presents generic guidelines for all therapy models, including initial contact, assessment and treatment planning, evaluating treatment delivery, continuous evaluation of therapy outcomes, and terminating therapy. Part II goes on to provide treatment protocols that apply these guidelines to a number of well-known and empirically-supported marriage and family treatments.

The book also provides extended coverage on assessment and beginning treatment with crisis areas, often a difficult aspect for new therapists, and suggests how supervisors can support trainees in these and other challenging areas.

"This book is the single best source that I am aware of for helping marriage and family therapy interns in implementing knowledge and skills as they begin and advance in working with couples and families. It is apparent that Dr. Mead has shared his professional lifetime of clinical supervision and training as he compiled this encyclopedic volume. Practicing professionals, as well as clinical interns, will greatly benefit from studying and applying information contained in this book."
—Robert F. Stahmann, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Brigham Young University

"Becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist represents a significant step in the training literature in marriage and family therapy (MFT). It is a challenge to marriage and family therapists to apply an evidence-based approach to their work not unlike what MFTs expect of the physicians to whom they take themselves and their families for treatment. It is a plea to assess thoroughly and to demonstrate progress and success with the best science available. It is asking for the field to come of age. I commend this book as an important contribution to the training literature."
—Douglas H. Sprenkle, Professor Emeritus, Purdue University Former Editor, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy