Family therapy training in clinical psychology programs

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology Training
• Family Therapy Education

Background:

• Family therapy is a crucial component of mental health treatment.
• Assessing the integration of family therapy into clinical psychology graduate programs is essential for training future therapists.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the current status of family therapy training within Ph.D. and Psy.D. programs in clinical psychology.
• To determine the extent of family therapy faculty representation and course availability.

Main Methods:

• A national questionnaire survey was distributed to graduate programs in clinical psychology.
• Response rate was 79% (102 programs).
• Data collected on faculty orientation and course offerings related to family therapy.

Main Results:

• 10% of faculty identified as primarily family therapy oriented.
• 32% of programs had no family-oriented faculty.
• 18% of psychotherapy courses were family therapy courses, and 21% of programs offered no family therapy course.
• Perceived importance of family therapy training correlated positively with the proportion of family therapy courses, not the absolute number.

Conclusions:

• Significant variability exists in family therapy training across clinical psychology graduate programs.
• The integration of family therapy into curricula may be more influenced by the percentage of dedicated courses rather than the total number of courses available.
• Further efforts may be needed to enhance family therapy training to meet the demands of comprehensive mental healthcare.