A Survey of North American Marriage and Family Therapy Practitioners: A Role Delineation Study

Abstract

A comprehensive licensing examination is an integral part of the process used by states and jurisdictions to regulate the profession of marriage and family therapy. The examination was initially developed by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB), an organization representing various licensing boards that regulate marriage and family therapy. AMFTRB periodically updates the examination using a number of well-established psychometric procedures which include the use of a role delineation survey. The results of one such survey recently sponsored by AMFTRB are reported. Using a stratified random sampling procedure potential participants from North America (United States and Canada) were mailed the AMFTRB survey which netted a grand total of 473 respondents. A composite description formulated from data obtained in the survey indicates that a marriage and family practitioner is most likely to: have a Masters’ degree, be a Caucasian/non-Hispanic female aged 51 to 60, work as a private practitioner, be licensed as a marriage and family therapist (but not to have taken an examination), work mostly with individual clients, and theoretically rely upon behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy, or Bowen family systems.

Leslie M. Williams currently works as a compliance specialist for Youth Villages in Atlanta, Georgia.