Marriage counselors treat individuals in the context of their relationships to evaluate difficulties and establish resolution plans. They work with issues like adolescent problems, bereavement, depression, domestic violence, infertility, infidelity, and marital difficulties. Marriage counselors typically need a master's degree and license, and employ techniques like active listening and emotionally focused therapy.

1. Marriage Counselor
By Nick Centofanti

2. History of Marriage
Counseling
• Marriage Counseling originated in Germany in the 1920’s as
part of the eugenics movement.
• Later introduced in the USA during 1950’s by activists such
as Margaret Sanger (created first birth control clinic, now
known as Planned Parenthood)

3. What is a Marriage
Counselor?
•Marriage and family counselors treat individuals within the
context of their relationships. By dissecting the family
structure, a marriage counselor or family therapist can
evaluate where the difficulties lie and establish a plan for
resolution.
•Many Marriage Counselors also serve as Family Counselors

4. What kind of situations
do they work with?
•Adolescent behavioral problems
•Bereavement
•Depression
•Domestic violence
•Infertility
•Infidelity
•Marital difficulties
•Substance abuse

5. Schooling/Licensing
•Marriage counselors typically need a masters degree in
counseling.
•A bachelor degree with supporting counseling courses is
acceptable in some states.
• Most programs also require students to complete supervised
clinical experience.
•Many marriage counseling students complete internships
while attending school to gain practical experience.

6. Licensing
•All states require marriage counselors to be licensed.
•Licensing requirements vary by state and employer.
•Marriage counselors must also complete continuing education
courses every year to maintain their license, and many do so
by participating in graduate studies, conferences, and
workshops.

7. Active Listening
•Active Listening requires the listeners to understand, interpret, and evaluate what
they heard. It improves personal relationship through reducing conflicts,
strengthening cooperation, as well as fostering understanding.
•When interacting, people often are not listening attentively to one another. They
may be distracted, thinking about other things, or thinking about what they are
going to say next, (the latter case is particularly true in conflict situations or
disagreements).
•Active listening is a structured way of listening and responding to others. It focuses
attention on the speaker. Suspending one’s own frame of reference and suspending
judgment are important in order to fully attend to the speaker.

8. Emotionally Focused
Therapy
•Emotionally focused therapy proposes that emotions
themselves have an innately adaptive potential that, if
activated, can help clients change problematic emotional
states or unwanted self-experiences.
•It helps people to manage their emotions in experiences
outside of therapy.

9. Average Salary

10. My Interview
• David B. Trindle, LPC
• Family/Marriage Counselor
• Approaches: Cognitive Therapy, Gestalt
Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy