Heart & Home: Marriage and Family (MFT) Therapy
9/22/25 | By: Stephanie Wilkes
What Is a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT)? Training, Licensing, and How They Help
When people hear the term “MFT,” they often have a lot of questions: What exactly is an MFT? How does someone become licensed? And how is this different from other types of therapy? With the field of Marriage and Family Therapy growing rapidly (projected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to increase 16% from 2023 to 2033, compared to 4–5% growth for most other occupations), it’s a great time to help the public better understand what MFTs do.
How Was the Field Of Marriage and Family Therapy Created?
The field of Marriage and Family Therapy began in 1942 with the creation of the American Association of Marriage Counselors, now known as the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).
Over the years, influential figures like Salvador Minuchin and Virginia Satir helped shape the field by developing innovative methods and frameworks. At the heart of MFT is Systems Theory: the idea that we exist within a broader network of relationships, and that our problems cannot be fully understood or addressed in isolation.
How are Marriage and Family Therapists Trained?
MFTs are trained to identify problem sequences that occur within individuals or client systems and to consider how factors like culture, family of origin, gender, and sexuality may influence these patterns. This training equips MFTs to work with a wide variety of clients (individuals, couples, families, and larger systems), in a way that accounts for the full context of their lives.
Although the word “marriage” appears in the title, MFTs focus on all types of relational dynamics, not just traditional marriages. They believe that therapy can benefit relationships at any stage of life and relationships of various formations. Because of their systemic perspective, MFTs often involve other members of a client’s system in therapy when it can help provide a more holistic understanding of the problem. This relational approach distinguishes MFTs from many other therapists, whose training may focus more narrowly on individual clients rather than the systems surrounding them.
How Do You Become a Marriage and Family Therapist?
Becoming an MFT requires rigorous academic preparation, a substantial number of supervised clinical hours (currently 2,000 in D.C. and Maryland, and 3,400 in Virginia), and passing a national licensing exam. This combination of education, experience, and assessment ensures that MFTs are well-prepared to work with complex relational dynamics.
How Do MFTs Do Therapy?
Whether I’m working with individuals, couples, or families, I like to begin by zooming out from the client’s presenting problem and explore a holistic understanding of the different elements of their human experience.
From there, the client (or clients) and I work together like detectives to identify recurrent patterns and dynamics that are showing up and reinforcing the issue at hand.
As we begin to implement various methods to approach the problem, we start to dial into which interventions are best suited for the client and the problem sequence. By collaborating through open, two-way feedback, we can ensure that we are taking the most effective approach.
Reach out to see if working with a Marriage and Family therapist, or therapist in training, would be a good fit for you.