Choices of family therapy intervention methods and therapeutic skills: their relationship to family therapists' academic backgrounds

A continuing debate in the family therapy field revolves around the issue of the academic backgrounds of therapists. Is family therapy a separate discipline learned in programs of Marriage and Family Therapy or a discrete set of skills acquired during clinical training in diverse academic and training settings? A survey of 345 student, associate, and clinical members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) was conducted to examine the relationship between their academic backgrounds and their preferences for particular intervention methods and skills. Subjects rated their preferences for 50 therapeutic skills on a revised, self-report form of the Family Therapist Rating Scale (FTRS). When their scores were analyzed across the five scales of the FTRS (Structuring, Relationship, Historical, Structural/Process, and Experiential Behaviors), no significant differences were found across academic backgrounds, age groups, or AAMFT membership status. There was a tendency for the therapists who had more years of clinical experience to show less preference for the more directive skills on the Structural/Process Behaviors Scale. The best discriminator of therapists' choices for intervention methods and skills was their specialized training in specific models of family therapy.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Family and Child Development

Department dc:contributor.department

Family and Child Development

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1986

Author dc:creator

• Ruth, Diana Ross

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/91151

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/91151