(BNG 2023) Exploring Consumers’ Perceptions of Competency and Skill to Improve Marriage and Family Education
Jul-31-2023
This mixed-methods survey project explored Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Masters' students' perceptions of the degree to which their education in US-based Masters in MFT programs helped them build competency in distinct clinical skills, abilities, and behaviors. These competencies are found in two categories both of which have been extensively researched in our field: a) Common Factors, namely therapy skills that transcend therapy models and have shown to correlate with effective therapy and positive client outcomes and b) the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy’s list of Core Competencies. Data were collected using a brief, online, descriptive, and exploratory survey with items rated on a Likert Scale and a few open-ended questions requiring a text response. Bivariate and multivariate analysis of the quantitative data and a content analysis of the qualitative data were conducted. With our research, we aimed to understand what US-based students perceive as missing in their current outcome-based MFT education that may be contributing to a dissonance between classroom learning and application in real-world clinical situations.
Presented by : Ashley Hicks and Sofia Georgiadou, The Ohio State University