Becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist
From Classroom to Consulting Room
1. Edition January 2013
312 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
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
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 SelectedModels ofMarriage 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 aWritten Treatment Plan 241
AppendixH 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
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
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).
