You may be surprised to learn that a lot of counselors have actually
received little training in treating couples. And yet they readily take on
couples as clients.
Buyer Beware.
My name is Brent Bradley, and I hold a PhD in Marriage and
Family Therapy. Had I not been trained in this field, I wouldn’t know this either.
My brother, for example, doesn’t know it. Nor does my wife.
Or her sister.
If you are considering couples counseling, it’s a very good
idea to know what kind of training credentials potential counselors hold. Think
about it: A lawyer from Harvard may be fantastic if you are facing court and
need a lawyer. Not so good if you have a toothache though.
In the past the therapy field tended to throw individuals
and couples under the heading of general “Therapy” or “Counseling”. Not so
anymore. Treating two people in a love relationship, for example, is very
different from seeing an individual that is grieving a loss.
In the old days people saw their general doctor for
everything – colds, childbirth, tonsillitis – you name it. Try going to your
general doctor now for childbirth. Probably won’t happen. S/he will refer you
out to a specialist. That’s because as our knowledge has increased, the medical
field has grown into a field of specialties.
And so has the field of psychotherapy.
It is perfectly reasonable to ask about a therapist’s
training and specialties before deciding on whom with to make an appointment.
Finding out about a therapist up front may save you from disappointment down
the road.
Here are a few suggestions:
-
See a counselor that identifies as mainly a
“couple therapist”. If this isn’t prominent on their webpage – not just listed
among many other areas of treatment – but prominent, take note.
-
Find out what percentage of their current weekly
caseload is made up of couples. If it’s fewer than 50%, I’d go elsewhere.
-
Find out if they have received intensive advanced
training in couple therapy apart from graduate school. That means after
receiving their degrees. Couple therapists often go to post-school weeklong trainings
because they desire specialty training.
-
Find out if they use an empirically supported
approach with couples. Currently Behavioral Therapy and Emotionally Focused
Couple Therapy are the only two highly empirically supported couple treatment approaches.
-
Even “marriage and family therapists” (believe
it or not) may have received little training in couple counseling. These
guidelines hold just as true for them as they do for psychologists.
