About Therapy at Olive Branch Family Therapy

What is Marriage and Family Therapy?

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A family's patterns of behavior influences the individual and therefore may be helpful to be a part of the treatment plan. In marriage and family therapy, an individual is not the only unit of treatment - even if the client is not married.  There are always relationships and those can have significant impact on a person's life.

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Marriage and family therapy is:

• brief

• solution-focused

• specific, with attainable therapeutic goals

• designed with the "end in mind."

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Marriage and family therapists treat a wide range of serious problems including: depression, marital problems, anxiety, individual psychological problems, and child-parent problems.

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Research shows that marriage and family therapy is as effective, and in some cases more effective than standard and/or individual treatments for many mental health problems such as: adult schizophrenia, affective (mood) disorders, adult alcoholism and drug abuse, children's conduct disorders, adolescent drug abuse, anorexia in young adult women, childhood autism, chronic physical illness in adults and children, and marital distress and conflict. 

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Marriage and family therapists regularly practice short-term therapy; 12 sessions on average. Nearly 65.6% of the cases are completed within 20 sessions, 87.9% within 50 sessions. Marital/couples therapy (11.5 sessions) and family therapy (9 sessions) both require less time than the average individuated treatment (13 sessions). About half of the treatment provided by marriage and family therapists is one-on-one with the other half divided between marital/couple and family therapy, or a combination of treatments.

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What are the qualifications to be a Marriage and Family Therapist?

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Marriage and family therapy is a distinct professional discipline with graduate and post graduate programs. Three options are available for those interested in becoming a marriage and family therapist: master's degree (2-3 years), doctoral program (3-5 years), or post-graduate clinical training programs (3-4 years). Historically, marriage and family therapists have come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds including psychology, psychiatry, social work, nursing, pastoral counseling, and education. 

The US government has designated marriage and family therapy as a core mental health profession along with psychiatry, psychology, social work and psychiatric nursing. Currently all 50 states support and regulate the profession by licensing marriage and family therapists. 

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The regulatory requirements in most states are substantially equivalent to the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists Clinical Fellow membership standards. After graduation from an accredited program, a period - usually two years - of post-degree supervised clinical experience is necessary before licensure or certification. When the supervision period is completed, the therapist can take a state licensing exam, or the national examination for marriage and family therapists conducted by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB). This exam is used as a licensure requirement in most states.

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For more information from the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, please follow this link: 

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What is the office like?

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Olive Branch Family Therapy strives to create a professional, comfortable, relaxing environment where therapy can take place.  To ensure that all people can access the office, it is fully ADA compliant and handicap accessible.  While clients wait, complimentary snacks and free Wi-Fi are provided.  To see pictures and learn more, click here.