More than any other approach to mental health, marriage and family therapy looks at people in the context of their relationships and helps to change that context. Trained in psychotherapy and family systems, MFTs focus on understanding their clients' symptoms and the interaction patterns with family and friends that may contribute to the problem. MFTs will typically ask questions about roles, patterns, rules, goals, beliefs and stages of development. The marriage and family therapist then works with the individual, couple and/or family to change interaction patterns so that the problem can be resolved.