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Marriage Counseling Associations

Marriage counseling associations are professional groups for therapists and other helping professionals who specialize in work with couples. Often these associations include family and general couples counseling practitioners as well. There are associations at the national and state level and those affiliated with particular religions.

  1. The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT)

    • The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) is the primary professional association for marriage and family therapists in the United States and abroad. Over 50,000 members strong, the AAMFT's mission is to educate, accredit and support member counselors and to connect clients to qualified therapists in their area. The AAMFT hosts an annual conference and offers accreditation at the master's, doctorate, and other post-graduate levels.

    The American Counseling Association

    • The American Counseling Association is an education source and professional organization for American mental health counselors of all specialties, including marriage counselors. The ACA offers continuing education programs for licensed counselors and regularly updates ethics standards that marriage counselors, as well as other professionals, adhere to in the United States.

    American Association of Christian Counselors

    • The American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) is an educational organization for both professional and nonprofessional individuals who work in a counseling capacity in and around the Christian church. The AACC offers counselors and lay practitioners courses in applying Christian theology to their counseling. The AACC has a specific subgroup for marriage counselors called the Marriage and Family Network. The MFW is open to counselors already registered with the AACC who have a particular interest in marriage and family therapy.

    State Associations

    • U.S. states often have their own association for marriage, couples and family counselors. The Massachusetts Association for Marriage and Family Therapy is the professional and educational organization for that state's marriage counselors, as well as the Massachusetts arm of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Like state associations in other states, such as Texas and Washington among many others, the MAMFT lobbies its state congress on behalf of legislation that will benefit counselors. These groups also carry out public relations campaigns to encourage citizens and other health professionals to seek out marriage and family counseling when it is needed and to promote the field as a discipline unto itself.

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