Marriage and Family Therapy as a Distinct and Separate Profession
“If I had one hour to save the world I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution.” –Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein’s quote is key in understanding how the profession of Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) is distinct and separate from other professions in the mental health field. Chapters 11 and 12 of the required text for class defined and defended well the field of Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) as a distinct and separate profession in terms of its “scientific body of knowledge, some relevant theory, a code of ethics, and some specific techniques” (Wilcoxon et al, 2007). To continue the definition and the defense of the MFT field in the same terms would be redundant and overshadow the characteristic I believe distinguishes MFT from other mental health professions; compassion. No doubt that this statement will be met by protest from many in the “other” mental health professions. However, amidst the protest, I intend to shed light on my use of Einstein’s quote and it’s correlation to the field of MFT and define and defend my assertion that MFT’s are a distinct and separate profession through the redefinition of the word compassion, in this paper.
Abracadabra: The Magical Process behind Second-Order Change
Clients present in therapy when “internal and/or external motivation (crisis) or need (events) prompts them to do something different to get something different” (Nelson J., 2009). The client’s internal/external motivation (crisis) or need (events) (Nelson J., 2009) to change is primary to initiate the process of change. Creating an environment that is warm, accepting and supportive (safe) for the client to present while producing enough tension (discrepancy) (Miller & Rollnick 2002) to gain influence and promote change is essential to progressing and sustaining that change. The following paper will address the elements of motivation and of creating a warm, accepting and supportive (safe) environment while producing the appropriate level of tension (discrepancy) as significant elements in initiating, progressing and sustaining the process of (second-order) change (Nichols & Schwartz, 2008).
