Journal of Marital and Family Therapy Award Winners

Each year, the editor of Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, in consultation with the advisory council, selects an article to honor as the “Article of the Year.” This year, two articles have been selected. Article reviewers consider impact, originality, and quality of the scholarship in each manuscript. 2022 Award Winners Article of the Year [...]

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All Hands on Deck: Let Us Serve With Those Who Serve

“Thank you for your service” is a statement that those currently serving, or who have served, in the U.S. military receive from family, friends, and strangers. Additionally, Thank You For Your Service is the title of a movie that was released in 2017, which depicts U.S. soldiers returning home from Iraq and their struggles to [...]

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Maybe I Was Overreacting: A MedFT’s Role with Autism Spectrum Disorder

One in 44 children was diagnosed with autism in 2020 (Maenner et al., 2021), or approximately 1.7% of children in the United States (Bridgemohan et al., 2019). Despite increasing autism awareness, parents still express dissatisfaction with care from their primary care physician (PCP; Carbone et al., 2010). One-third of parents expressed concerns with the diagnostic [...]

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What Is “Science-based” Therapy and How Do I Practice It?

After a decade of working with clients, there are important questions I’m asking myself. Why do I use the theories I use? What makes therapy effective? Why do some clients fail to meet treatment goals? And how do I practice science-based therapy? These questions are related, but the very last question is the one I’ll [...]

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Dangerous Patients and You—Terminating a Contentious Relationship

Treating dangerous patients who represent a risk to themselves or others can often trigger worrisome ethical issues—What constitutes a reportable danger? Does a specific person have to be threatened? How specific does the threat have to be? Who must be informed of the threat? These are common but complex issues that are frequently discussed in [...]

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Making Social Justice “Stick”

Social justice is a term that is frequently heard in marriage and family therapy (MFT) training programs. However, there is evidence that suggests that even when social justice is taught and discussed in the learning environment, it doesn’t end up in practice later (Bell, 2007; Almeida et al., 2008; Nixon et al., 2010) How can [...]

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Increasing Belongingness for the Future of MFT Programs, the Field, and Our Association

Social, environmental, and contextual stressors can lower students’ academic pursuit for post-secondary education and professionals’ engagement with the field and AAMFT, and often create barriers to success. I [NI] believe within the field of marriage and family therapy, the question of “why it matters who the services come from?” needs to be addressed in depth [...]

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Indigenizing the Workforce and Workplace

When I was a newly licensed therapist, nearly 20 years ago, it was even rarer to have access to an Indigenous mental health provider. As a marriage and family therapist, I often heard comments like: “It is so easy to talk to you,” “You understand me,” and “You are not judging me.” These comments were [...]

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Growing Diversity in the Field of Marriage and Family Therapy

Marc Fernandez, an internship coordinator for Iona University's Marriage and Family Therapy Program, as well as an adjunct professor, and Christiana Awosan, associate professor, recently sat down for a discussion about growing diversity in the profession and, in general, ways in which they have seen an increase in the diversity of their student populations. A [...]

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