About Us

The Virginia Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (VAMFT) is the Virginia division of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), an international professional organization which was founded in 1942.

VAMFT is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting the well-being of families, couples, individuals, and businesses through the advancement of the profession and practice of marriage and family therapy in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

VAMFT is a multidisciplinary organization made up of Virginians who are clinical, student, and associate members of AAMFT. They include marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, clinical nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, professional counselors, substance abuse counselors, and other professionals in allied fields.

VAMFT promotes and helps maintain high professional standards of ethics and practice for its members. It encourages continued professional education, and works cooperatively with the Virginia Board of Counseling to upgrade qualifications for licensure.

VAMFT seeks to work cooperatively with other mental health professional organizations in Virginia, and is a member of several multiprofessional coalitions including Allied Professions and Virginians for Mental Health Equity. Caring for the Commonwealth is the official VAMFT newsletter. It is published at least three times a year.

Here are some interesting facts about MFT:

# Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) originated about 50 years ago when health care clinicians began to seek more effective and comprehensive ways to treat disorders such as schizophrenia, anorexia, and alcoholism.

# MFT is one of the five core mental health disciplines (along with psychiatry, psychiatric nursing, psychology, and social work) recognized by the National Institutes of Mental Health. (42 U.S.C. 242a)

# MFT is recognized by the U.S. Public Health Service's Health Resources Services Administration as a core mental health profession (along with psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurse specialists, and counselors). (42 CFR Part 5)

# Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) work with organizations, groups, families, couples, and individuals.

# MFTs view relational systems as frequent sources of stress and symptom formation.

# MFTs frequently treat anxiety, depression, substance abuse, adjustment disorders, marriage and family conflict, and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents.

# MFTs look at the client's relationships within systems (friends, family, school, work, and culture) as a way of understanding the development of problems.

# MFTs focus on the power of relationships within systems as an instrument of change and healing.

# MFTs pioneered brief, solution-focused, family-centered treatment, which seeks to pinpoint problems and complete therapy as soon as specific, concrete, measurable, and attainable therapeutic goals are met.

# MFTs recognize that while disorders have relational consequences, sometimes treatment must also include medical consultation, psychiatric consultation, medication, psychological testing, and individual psychotherapy, and make appropriate referrals for such treatment when it is indicated.

# MFTs come from a wide variety of backgrounds, such as medicine, psychology, psychiatry, nursing, counseling, and social work.

# MFTs in Virginia became a licensed profession in 1995.

# Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about MFT are answered in our MFT FAQ.

# You can find some general questions about MFT at AAMFT's FAQ's About MFT web page.