Background
AAMFT, members, and marriage and family therapists continue to make
great strides in gaining mainstream acceptance. Marriage and family
therapists are gaining increased recognition in the global marketplace
(Best Jobs in America, CNN) and in
recent years, AAMFT and members have appeared in numerous media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Brides Magazine, and the New York Times.
However, imagine a potential client learns about the benefits of marriage and family
therapy through an article and seeks your
services—only to discover that as an MFT, you can no longer practice
independently and they must seek services elsewhere. You lose the
opportunity to help a client in need not because of your qualifications,
but because a licensing board, possibly with no MFTs, has taken away
your right to practice independently.
With success comes perceived threat. While we can enjoy the success
of increased recognition, others perceive this success as a threat to
their scope of practice, livelihood, and position in the behavioral
healthcare market. The collective whole of AAMFT must remain
vigilant in protecting that for which we have long fought. We must
continue to knock down barriers to employment as we have with the VA,
become eligible for participation and payment among all third party
payers, and develop career opportunities on par with
other behavioral healthcare professions.
Purpose
This fund will be used to help pay for items related to serious threats to the profession and for major initiatives, particularly concerning threats to the MFT scope of practice. It may also be utilized for opportunities to advance the practice and scope of practice.