Rory Cohen, LMFT
Background
A licensed marriage and family therapist is a mental health practitioner with a master’s degree or doctoral degree as well as specialized training that includes at least two years or 3,000 clinical hours of experience supervised by a marriage and family therapist. Upon completion of supervised hours, a therapist must also pass a state licensing exam or the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Board’s national MFT exam, which is used in most states. In addition to finding a qualified licensed MFT practitioner, it is important to work with someone you and family members trust and feel comfortable working with in a counseling environment. Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) is a form of psychotherapy that addresses the behaviors of all family members and the way these behaviors affect not only individual family members, but also relationships between family members and the family unit as a whole. As such, treatment is usually divided between time spent on individual therapy and time spent on couple therapy, family therapy, or both, if necessary. MFT may also be referred to as couple and family therapy, couple counseling, marriage counseling, or family counseling. — Psychology Today