What is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist?


Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs) focus on understanding client symptoms and interaction patterns within their existing environment. LMFTs can work with an individual, a couple, or an entire family while holding the lens of understanding on the broader sociocultural systems.

The methods used by LMFTs are based on the research and theories that individuals are social creatures and do not exist in a vacuum. LMFTs hold a therapeutic view that it is important to attend to the individual and family’s larger systems – community, school, and work – rather than individual pathology.



LMFT's offer treatment for a variety of clinical issues including, but not limited to:

  • Anxiety
  • Child-parent relations
  • Childhood and adolescent behavioral and emotional disorders
  • Depression
  • Grief and loss
  • Life transitions
  • Relationship enhancement
  • Relationship issues including divorce, remarriage, and co-parenting
  • Sexual and domestic violence
  • Spirituality
  • Stress
  • Substance abuse



Who are LMFT's?

  • Licensed mental health practitioners
  • Educated with a master’s or doctoral degree and are trained with a minimum of 2 years and 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience
  • Mental health providers with specific clinical training in working with couples and families
  • One of the 5 core mental health professionals recognized in Texas
  • In a client satisfaction survey conducted by the U.S. Census, MFT services were rated good or excellent at a rate of 98.1%



Where do LMFT's practice?

  • LMFTs practice in (but are not limited to): schools, hospitals, inpatient psychiatric facilities, community agencies, not-for-profits, juvenile justice departments, and private practices.
  • Due to their clinical training in understanding and working with systems, LMFTs are uniquely suited to work within a multitude of practice settings.


Sources: American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) at www.AAMFT.org, U.S. Census Data, & CSAT Practice Research Network Survey

Austin Association for Marriage and Family Therapy ©

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