Re: Marriage therapy: recommended approaches? - Are all such counselors the same?...

[Guest guest]

CJ and all...

It's the same general area of counseling practice. As I indicated in the acronym unraveling, every state has different standards for the work because entry into the field with resultant state licensing comes from work in many counseling disciplines. In some states, one can merely indicate specialization in fields with nothing more than a bachelor's degree and some post-degree supervision by an already licensed professional. Washington State allows this, and having less well educated allowed to practice as licensed professional counselors is one way states with lower numbers of advanced degree counselors permit access to practitioners via third-party insurance coverage schemes.

Once you get down to recognizing how many unqualified counselors there are "out there," you begin to see how much of the state licensing and examining board schemes are insurance business and personal income schemes that have wormed their way through state legislatures. Not to say there's anything wrong with that, but this is what makes yellow pages listings and low cost repeat running ads in alternative throw-away free media so alluring to less-than-competent counselors. It's also what has led to consumer/user ratings on the Internet, because the counseling professions themselves have very poor disciplinary oversight except when you get into much more restricted fields requiring far higher levels of education and clinical supervision prior to hanging out your practice shingle.

N. Meyer

Re: Marriage therapy: recommended approaches?

, do you know how a LMFC differs from a MFT or MFCC? It seems like they serve the same populations, no?So many acronyms....Best,~CJ

LMFC

Licensed Marriage and Family Counselor. Every state's licensing requirements differ, although the American Counseling Association has a professional interest group with its own journal, professional ethics and standards, and best practices group. The state might defer to that group or organization in establishing its practice standards and educational prerequisites.

N. Meyer