Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) has become a wildly popular career choice for people interested counseling, psychology, and even social work. The field is expected to see a whopping 29% job growth rate over the next decade, and counselors with a master’s degree will be the first in line for new careers in this field.
One of the most appealing factors about marriage and family therapy is getting to work with diverse clients and help them achieve real, positive change in their lives and relationships through a variety of techniques, including:
- Individual and group therapy sessions with couples and families
- Communication counseling and traditional psychotherapy
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy and attachment theory
Many successful MFT maintain websites for their practices to find new clients and participate in the increasingly active community of MFTs online and on social media. These sites represent therapists, practices, and publications related to all aspects of this quickly developing field. These sites are not listed in ranking order but are grouped by subject matter.
MFT Organizations
National, state, and local organizations provide regulation and standardization for marriage and family therapy licensure and practice.
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American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy is the professional association for the field of marriage and family therapy. They offer information on current research and education, current publications, job postings, and other relevant information for those in the therapy community.
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International Family Therapy Association (IFTA)
The International Family Therapy Association promotes continuing education in the development of quality standards for marriage and family therapy professionals. Members receive many benefits, including scholarly journals, online newsletter, access to a member directory, and discounts to conferences worldwide.
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National Council on Family Relations
Members of the National Council on Family Relations are professionals dedicated to understanding and strengthening families. They include researchers, marriage and family therapists, family educators, university faculty, students, social workers and enjoy the membership benefits of scholarly journals, regular conferences, networking, and continuing education.
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World Family Therapy Congress
This long-standing conference is an opportunity for family and marriage counselors from all over the world to meet and learn. Hosted by the International Family Therapy Association, the World Family Therapy Congress promotes research and education in family and marriage counseling.
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Growthtrac
This site offers advice to newly married or about to be married couples. From articles on intimacy and communication to finances and frustration, this site has answers for many pressing problems couples face.
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The Marriage Bed
The Marriage Bed is a collection of articles on marriage, sex, and intimacy from a Christian perspective. There are several resources for newly married couples or couples who have been long married.
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Oklahoma Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
The Oklahoma Association for Marriage and Family Therapy strives to provide a strong network of members and opportunities for marriage and family therapy providers. OFAMFT provides continuing education opportunities for members and other mental health professionals through an annual conference in the spring. Trainings focus on theory, clinical application, and ethics.
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Pennsylvania Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (PAMFT)
PAMFT works to support therapists throughout their careers. They conduct annual conferences, local workshops and networking events, and professional development workshops for students and recent graduates.
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American Family Therapy Academy
AFTA offers a unique Annual Conference that addresses personal and professional growth through peer discussion and current research. This year AFTA’s conference theme will examine the state of health and wellbeing for individuals, families and communities.
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Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (MAMFT)
AAMFT and the Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy has been working to advance the profession of couple and family therapy for more than 60 years. They provide professional support and advocacy to marriage and family therapists and serve as a vital resource to the counseling community.
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Michigan Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
The Michigan Association for Marriage and Family Therapy is a division of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the professional organization representing over 24,000 qualified marriage and family therapists in the United States, Canada, and abroad. They work as a resource for the public, prospective students, and to marriage and family therapists.
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Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards
This site is a national source for the regulatory boards for licensing for marital and family therapists across the country. It lists all contacts and board websites for every state in the US, and also has an FAQ section for those who are licensed in one state and are looking to move their licensure to another state.
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National Institute of Relationship Enhancement
As an integral part of the marriage and family therapy community, the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement has proven to be one of the most notable organizations in the country. Their site underlines how comprehensive they are, with an impressive display of categories breaking down nearly every issue imaginable.
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Family Dynamics Institute
The Family Dynamics Institute started in 1994 and helps couples grow happier and ensure their children remain happy and stay productive in their development. The page has great marriage resources, but also classes and workshops that can be attended.
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National Institute of Marriage
The National Institute of Marriage uses Christian-centered beliefs to help married couples and they even have retreats and events throughout the country to attend. They also have marriage enrichment activities that can take place at a local church if a couple wishes.
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Oregon Association for Marriage & Family Therapy
The Oregon Association for Marriage & Family Therapy is a great tool for those looking to get involved in the profession in the state of Oregon. Professionals can still learn a lot from the events, guest speakers, and videos featured on the site.
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Council for Relationships
Council for Relationships is the oldest counseling and training center in the country, having been founded in 1932. They’ve often led the way in developing new techniques for counselors to apply in their practices, so definitely shouldn’t be overlooked.
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Wisconsin Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
The Wisconsin Association for Marriage and Family Therapy doesn’t fall short on their professional offerings and makes a great place for furthering one’s career. They have engaging content for students to check out, while also giving advice to those in need of a therapist locally throughout the state.
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Smart Marriages: The Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education (CMFCE), LLC
Smart Marriages: The Coalition for Marriage, Family, and Couples Education (CMFCE), LLC is an expert organization for understanding the complex issues couples often face and knows exactly how to tackle through the most effective means. It’s a great organization for both sides of the table, offering couples useful guides and information to read through, while also providing a place for those who wish to get involved in the field to start.
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Ontario Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (OAMFT)
The Ontario Association for Marriage & Family Therapy is the premier organization in the province and one of the most notable in all of Canada for working through issues related to marriage. They also have professional training advice and a useful media center for expanding knowledge.
Clinics & Therapists
Many therapists and clinics operate their own websites and publish information that can be useful both to prospective clients and to other professionals in the field.
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Theravive
Theravive is an online service that helps connect clients to the right counselors. They can find local therapists, online or phone counselors, and even have listings for workshops and seminars.
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The Relationship Specialists
The Relationship Specialists is a counseling and relationship coaching clinic in Hillsboro, Oregon. Run by Marilyn Hough and Chuck Schmitt, these marriage and relationship professionals offer one on one counseling as well as post podcasts and articles personal growth, relaxation, and working together in a relationship.
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Strengthening Marriage
Strengthening Marriage is Laura Brotherson’s practice, and her calling. She is an MFT and respected author of books and counseling materials for couples who are having difficulty maintaining intimacy and love in their marriages.
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HedyYumi
Hedy and Yumi Schleifer have been married for over 45 years and together, they pioneered the international development of Imago Relationship Theory based workshops throughout Europe, Israel and Africa. Hedy and Yumi work together as a couple and bring their expertise in relationships to couples all over the world.
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The Conscious Relationships Institute
The Conscious Relationships Institute does a great job at detailing how they go about reinvigorating couples and building long-term solutions. They administer retreats in addition to counseling to help intimacy problems.
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Love & Life Toolbox
The Love and Life Toolbox is a growing archive of articles about living your life to the fullest. It includes guest contributions by respected related professionals and “Real Stories” submitted by people thriving through emotional and relationship challenges.
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The Center for Family Unity
Kellye Laughery is a licensed counselor out of San Diego helping to run the Center for Family Unity. Here, she offers the services including online therapy, family counseling, pet therapy, marriage counseling and several other services.
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Lemieux Solutions Unlimited
Katie Lemieux runs Lemieux Solutions in Florida where she offers counseling solutions to families and individuals. Her specialties include grief, loss, relationships, and work issues.
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Dr. Kate Campbell
Dr. Kate Campbell is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Clinical Fellow of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. She has over a decade of experience working with individuals, adolescents, couples, and families to resolve a wide variety of personal and relationship-centric struggles.
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Fuller Life Family Therapy
Fuller Life Family Therapy can help address issues like grief, depression, anger, and relationship stress. Because they function as a non-profit, they are able to accept donations from individuals and businesses and see clients who are unable to pay, or pay on a sliding scale.
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Marriage Family Center
The team of counselors at the Marriage and Family Center help adults, adolescents and children work through difficult relationships, depression, anxiety, grief, compulsive eating and a wide range of other interpersonal and emotional issues.
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Miami Teen Counseling
A teen specific counseling center, this Miami based counseling clinic offers a resource to parents and teens alike. Miguel Brown works with teens on issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, self-esteem, bullying, and drug abuse.
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Susan Block, MS, LMFT
Susan Block works with couples, families and individuals on issues like anxiety, depression, infertility, and stress. She is a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family and practices in Florida.
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Center for Marriage & Family Therapy, LLC
Kim Dodd, therapist at the Center for Marriage & Family Therapy, is an awarded and highly trained therapist. Among her areas of expertise are marital and family therapy, supporting families who have children with special needs, working with teens and helping pastors and their wives work through ministerial issues.
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Relationship RX
This website is full of articles, advice, and answers written by a marriage counselor, writer, speaker and relationship expert. This site is full of info on topics ranging from sex to in-laws to parenting to dating and anything in between.
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Lia Huynh, MS, LMFT: Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Lia focuses on adolescents and adults from a diverse range of backgrounds. She is a clinical member of the California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists and serves clients in the Milpitas, San Jose and Fremont areas.
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Kate Scharff, LCSW-C LICSW
Kate Scharff has been a practicing therapist for over 25 years, helping children, adults, couples, and families navigate emotional and behavioral issues. She is a mediator, divorce consultant, and parenting coordinator and has written extensively on these subjects.
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Parenting Road Maps
Linda Perman Gordon and Susan Morris Shaffer are celebrated authors and parenting experts. This parenting-centric site offers resources such as books and speaking events where parents can gain understanding and advice on how to raise and interact with their kids.
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San Diego Counseling Services
San Diego Counseling Services has wide-ranging services that include marriage/couples counseling, gay/lesbian issues counseling, and even premarital counseling. The site also features an engaging blog for couples to gain valuable insight into the issues they may be facing.
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Wyndhurst Counseling Center
Wyndhurst Counseling is a clinic near Lynchburg, VA that offers many services for individuals and couples seeking therapy. From premarital counseling to substance abuse to marriage counseling or weight loss counseling, Wyndhurst has dynamic and qualified specialists available to assist.
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Center for Christian Therapy
The Center for Christian Therapy is for the couples who want an outstanding marriage or for singles who want to improve their relationship patterns. They are committed to the care of current and future relationships.
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National Directory of Marriage & Family Counseling
This directory helps those looking for or considering marriage counseling find a counselor in their area. It can also be helpful in answering some general questions about counseling, like general costs, what to expect during a visit, and how to choose a counselor.
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Denver Psychotherapy
Denver Psychotherapy is the clinic of Amy Gray, MA, MBA, LPC. She has training and experience couples and relationship therapy, family and parenting dynamics, and workplace issues.
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Blooming Relationships
This counseling center focuses on couples who are in troubled relationships or who are looking to enrich their relationship or singles who want to embrace their next relationship in a healthy way. Image therapists are not only state certified, but trained in the Imago method, and continue to receive training through national conferences, regional workshops, and newsletters.
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Life & Relationship Coaches
The Center for Conscious Relationships offers several different workshops, specifically targeted toward couples, individuals and parents, and at locations throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Their relationship coaching helps many couples find restoration in their lives and relationships.
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Wichita Counseling and Coaching
Wichita Counseling and Couching is a clinic comprised of marriage counselors dedicated to working with clients on their marriage and family. Here clients can learn about communication, forgiveness, trust, and other elements of a healthy marriage.
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Therapy 4 Life
Dr. Bergen has advanced training and experience in treating posttraumatic stress, dissociative disorders, incest, adults abused as children, and Attention Deficit Disorder. Within her practice, Dr. Bergen uses tools for healing such as guided imagery, EMDR, clinical hypnosis, Voice Dialogue therapy, and other therapeutic tools as appropriate for the individual client.
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Vicki Botnick, Marriage and Family Therapist Intern
Vicki Botnick is a Marriage and Family Therapy intern. She currently posts relevant and important articles that might be helpful for struggling individuals that deal with topics like anxiety, body image, and families.
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Metropolitan Marriage and Family Therapy, PLLC
Metropolitan Marriage wants to help couples resolve issues, feel connected, stop arguing, and get their needs met. Their specialties are pre-marital, individual and couple codependence, infidelity, and anger management.
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TalkItOver
TalkItOver is a counseling clinic based in India. They counsel people from many stages in life, including single adults, new couples, couples with children, and families later in life.
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Marriage Quest
Marriage Quest helps couples with their marriage in a number of ways. They offer an intensive marriage retreats to build a relationship back up, infidelity counseling, discussions on intimacy, and even divorce counseling which helps couples who have made the decision to divorce move forward amicably and with emotional stability.
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Therapy Help
Susan Heitler is a Denver clinical psychologist and marriage counselor. She specializes in fast and effective help for depression, anger, anxiety and marriage problems with long term results and long lasting improvements.
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Carol Odell, MSW
Carol Odell, MSW helps families work through complex issues and help foster an environment that is intuitive to the bettering of relationships. Base in Seattle, she’s been active in the field for over 30 years, having worked with countless individuals, couples, and families.
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Dr. Fibus
Dr. Fibus knows what it takes to get a relationship back on track and how to ensure that people are able to work through the problems they may be facing. Equipped with an incredibly proficient team of counselors and relationship experts, they’re a highly regarded practice based in Sherman Oaks, California.
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Family Tree Counseling Associates
Family Tree Counseling Associates displays impressive depth and candor with family issues. The site has great videos and a library of over 300 articles to read through.
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Couple Coaching Interactive
Couple Coaching Interactive is an online system devised by David Wilchfort MD. The system is designed to help couples work through relationship issues and conflict, and it is available in both English and German.
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Sexual Wholeness
Sexual Wholeness is led by three Christian therapists and sex therapists. They train professional counselors to become sex therapists and educators from a Biblical perspective and produce material to be a resource to clients.
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Marianne Clyde
Marianne Clyde has taken her wealth of experience and translated it into a book that makes it easier to identify why a relationship may be failing. She still works as a marriage and family therapist, often helping couples turn that crucial corner that gets the relationship back on track.
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Wasatch Family Therapy, LLC
With a eye-catching website and lush amounts of content, Wasatch Family Therapy makes for an engaging stop to figure out how to live happily and work through issues in the spirit of unity. They’ve been recognized nationally for their contributions and have been featured on some of the most notable websites in the country.
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The Relationship Society, Inc.
The Relationship Society understands that they way relationships function today has changed even from 20 years ago due to various technologies. Their contemporary approach has helped make it more realistic to figure out exactly why a relationship may be struggling.
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Rhett Smith
Rhett Smith drives his Christian-based practice through experience previously as a pastor, often serving the youth around Los Angeles. He’s authored books on personal development aimed at increasing one’s love of self to help improve a relationship.
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National Directory of Marriage Friendly Therapists
If in search of the most comprehensive list of marriage counselors, look no further than the National Directory of Marriage Friendly Therapists. The organization differentiates in their approach, namely that the therapists in their registry wish to promote the preservation of marriage, while those not included in this registry have a more neutral focus.
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CounselingWorks
CounselingWorks is a nonprofit Dallas Christian Family Counseling ministry serving individuals, couples, and families. Counselors offer help and therapy at a reduced cost to those struggling with depression, conflict, abuse, and relationship issues.
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Audrey B. Chapman
Audrey B. Chapman is a Washington D.C.-based private practice therapist who has authored best selling books and been regarded for her expertise on couple therapy on shows such as Oprah, NPR’s Morning Edition, Good Morning America, and an impressive number of news publications. She also conducts weekly radio broadcasts that bring on celebrity guests to help work through relationship problems.
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Marriage & Family Therapy of Trumbull
Marriage & Family Therapy of Trumbull is a private practice that is well-versed in developing adaptable programs for making relationships more sustainable. They have very useful documents available online as well for quickly understanding where the need for therapy is.
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Family First Counseling
Family First Counseling knows what couples are looking for in their therapy needs and they have a staff with backgrounds from diverse cultures. They understand that relationship problems can sometimes be cultural or easier to discuss with someone of a similar background, so use this to more suitably meet the needs of many.
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Ben Caldwell, PsyD
When it comes to short-term therapy for couples, Ben Caldwell emphasizes the experience to appropriately define and address problems they may be having. His approach focuses intently on emotionally focused therapy, a method that is empirically supported.
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Peter Hannah MA LMHC
Peter Hannah works out of Seattle where’s he’s developed significant counseling material that is dependent on his own experiences, which he believes to be incredibly informing for when it comes to counseling. He’s also an expert in helping men specifically with depression, mid-life crises, and more.
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Center for Individual and Family Therapy
The Center for Individual and Family Therapy doesn’t fall short on its available options for strengthening relationships and families. They’re the largest Christian counseling service in Southern California and display impressive prowess with their ability to address contemporary issues. They have multiple locations as well, so if you’re a couple in the area, there are multiple options for finding the services needed.
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Counseling California
Counseling California connects users to over 8000 professionals throughout the state to create one of the most impressive networks one could imagine for locating the best professional for their relationship. Inclusion on the site requires a minimum of a master’s level and at least 3,000 hours of supervised experience, so individuals can always be sure they’re getting a high quality of guidance.
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Guttman & Pearl Associates
The impressive team at Guttman & Pearl Associates helps marriages become stronger and instill trust in one another again. From relationship seminars for couples to professional workshops, their multifaceted approach to marriage counseling sets them apart.
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Michelle Scharlop, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Michelle Scharlop specializes in a large amount of areas pertaining to couples and knows how to help overcome these diverse obstacles. Her blog makes a great supplementary tool as well for couples.
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Emotionally Engaged
As a uniquely situated organization for assisting brides with the many different stresses often realized in the face of planning a wedding, Emotionally Engaged helps women work through issues they may be having in the lead-up to getting married. They help address apprehensions and personal problems to make a relationship stronger for life.
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Lisa Herrick, Ph.D.
Lisa Herrick is a founding member of The West Falls Psychotherapy Group and has been in practice since 1988, giving her an impressive background in therapy and marriage counseling. One of the best resources on her site is her “Guide to Telling the Children About Divorce”, which presents concepts in a way that avoids blame and helps to comfort kids.
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Lindsey Hoskins & Associates, LLC
Lindsey Hoskins & Associates uses a gentle approach that helps others work through relationship problems in an optimistic and uplifting environment. The site’s blog touches on some of the most important issues facing couples today, making it one of the best free resources available.
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Aaron Airozo, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Aaron Airozo is a licensed marriage and family therapist that helps address personal problems that may be at the root of disturbances in relationships. He has experience in early childhood education as well, so is great at working with children.
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The Family & Marriage Counseling Directory
The Family & Marriage Counseling Directory was started in 2003 and has since grown into a well-known guide for finding therapists around the country, receiving online counseling, and they even have a great selection of articles to choose from.
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Couples Therapy Directory
Couples Therapy Directory explains the circumstances in which a relational therapist would be advised and even has a great directory for locating therapists across the country. With content guides on infidelity, sexual health, domestic violence, and more, it’s a great place to start getting information on prospective therapy options.
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Adam M. Moore, PhD, LMFT
Adam M. Moore understands the problems that families face and as a husband and father himself, he has the experience and expertise to address these issues. His blog posts and articles also make an engaging resource for checking out.
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Barbara Massey
Barbara Massey works with people to show them how to enrich their relationship by working through emotive subjects. She’s based in Medford, Oregon and provides some of the most intriguing work in the Pacific Northwest.
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Real Hope
Real Hope is based in Los Angeles and has an incredibly impressive display of subjects that underline their expertise across the field. They’re active in seminars in the LA area and are incredibly capable of helping work through conflicts.
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Marriage and Family Matters
Marriage and Family Matters knows the most important parts of our lives are the relationships between our significant other and families. Through a doctrine of Christian values, they cater to the diverse needs of couples and families to help strengthen them permanently.
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Marriage Builders
Marriage Builders is useful way to get started in fixing potential holdups in a marriage. From sections on various emotional needs to conflicts, couples can pinpoint exactly what help they need and fix problems to situate themselves for long-term prosperity together.
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Couple Communication
Couple Communication is an incredibly effective program that was started in the 1970s for the purpose of enabling couples to drive the destiny of their own relationships and empower them to work through issues they may be having. The program has been so effective, it’s been translated into other languages and helped over 700,000 couples.
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Couple Enrichment
Couple Enrichment is a retreat program that applies therapy with an environment more intuitive for pinpointing the underlying causes of issues in relationships. Run by a married couple of relationship therapists, they have some of the best first-hand experience for relationship problems.
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Maya Kollman
Maya Kollman is well-known for her innovative workshop titled, Getting the Love You Want and Keeping the Love You Find. She’s developed her practice significantly based on the pillars of his presentation and it has come with renown from the couples she’s worked with.
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Dr Kathy & Co
Dr. Kathy & Co helps couples identify worries and problems and then find an approach that facilitates dialogue capable of creating lasting solutions. The site emphasizes their ability to prevent divorce, ending feuds, and work out extramarital problems.
Publications
While many publications covering psychology, psychiatry, social work, and counseling feature articles about marriage and family therapy, there are a few scholarly journals that focus almost entirely on MFT related research.
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Couple, Family and Sex Therapy 2014
This is a great resource of titles and books for marriage counselors. There are several titles on domestic abuse, LGBT relationships, communication, and other issues that come up in counseling.
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The American Journal of Family Therapy
The American Journal of Family Therapy is one of the most notable publications for relationship therapists and the availability of free articles online makes it very accessible for all. Articles touch on all sorts of topics across the field, providing consistently renewed use.
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Contemporary Family Therapy
If you’re a therapist wondering what a good publication is for refining your counseling skills, Contemporary Family Therapy is a great read. They give a background on theory and trace various socio-economic factors back to relationship problems.
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Journal of Marital and Family Therapy
The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy is a well-regarded publication that helps to make the field of family therapy stronger as a whole. They’re a quarterly publication that helps to make sure all therapists working have the best material on hand to refine their skills at the job.
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The Family Journal
The Family Journal is a professional publication based out of Mississippi College and promotes research, theory, and practice of marriage counseling and therapy. They cover a very impressive amount of information across the field, so professionals should be sure to utilize this when working on research endeavors.
General MFT Tools & Websites
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National Credentialing Academy
The National Credentialing Academy ensures that only the highest quality counseling professionals make their way into practice. The site has information on the process, standards, and certification.
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Therapy Worksheets
Therapy Worksheets offers a potentially useful hands-on tool for therapists to use in session. There are worksheets on depression, grief, anxiety, addiction, and many other topics that help discuss issues and bring clients into the conversation.
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Where the Client Is
Where the Client Is is a tool to help counselors build their practice. There are advice posts, tips on promoting your business, and posts about how to grow and be successful.
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NY Marriage and Family Therapy License Requirements
This site is dedicated to the stipulations and requirements for receiving a marriage and family therapy license. The list is lengthy and includes a passed examination, all required coursework completed, completed internship under the supervision of a licensed counselor, and payment of all fees.
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Missouri State Committee of Marital & Family Therapists
The Missouri Division of Professional Registration helps license and renew licenses for family therapists and behavioral health professionals. Their site also lists regulations, statutes, and licensure information.
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NC Marriage and Family Therapy Licensing Board
The licensure board in North Carolina was established to review the qualifications for all those wishing to practice therapy in the state. This board is responsible for issuing certificates so that individuals can practice counseling, as well as issuing any renewal certificates.
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Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board
The Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board is a State agency responsible for the regulation of counselors, social workers and marriage and family therapists in the State of Ohio. Their site offers info on renewal, needed forms, rules, laws, and more.
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Kentucky Board of Licensure for Marriage and Family Therapists
The purpose of the Board of Marriage and Family Therapy examine and license all eligible candidates for entry into the profession of marriage and family therapy. They also enforce all laws pertaining to practicing, ensure diversity and equality, and exist for consumers to have a place to file formal complaints.
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Better Marriages
Better Marriages was founded in 1973 with the sole purpose of helping couples build strong, healthy relationships. A pioneer in the field of marriage education and enrichment, Better Marriages serves thousands of couples around the world with events and resources.