The marital and family therapy examination program: a survey of participants

Participants in the Examination in Marital and Family Therapy between November 1994 and May 1996 were surveyed to ascertain who took the examination, how they prepared for it, whether they thought that it was fair, and how these variables related to scores. Two-thirds of the respondents were female. Most were taking the examination for the first time, were relatively young, were Caucasian, and spoke English as their primary language. They primarily practiced marital and family therapy and had completed master's level university programs in marital and family therapy, counseling, and psychology. Most were sitting for the examination relatively soon after completing their training in marital and family therapy. Individual study was the preparation method of choice for half of the sample. Demographic variables had a modest but ambiguous effect on test score. Educational background had none. However, a relatively short latency between graduation and examination was related to a higher score, as was the use of multiple preparation procedures. With regard to fairness, the participants largely agreed that the examination was moderately difficult, but that the problems were realistic and they had enough time to complete the test.