MFT And Ceus

							Title:
MFT And Ceus

Word Count:
1167

Summary:
Flipping on the evening news or rea
ding the morning paper is all that
it takes to make it glaringly obvio
us that the need for good Marriage
and Family Therapists is not likely
 to decrease any time soon. Family
dynamics are changing. Situations t
hat would have been unlikely to ari
se even 15 years ago are not uncomm
on now. The idea of a family consis
ting of a man, woman, and children
is being constantly challenged. Par
ents are living longer and needing
long-term care. Chronic i...


Keywords:
ceus, mft, education, social work


Article Body:
Flipping on the evening news or rea
ding the morning paper is all that
it takes to make it glaringly obvio
us that the need for good Marriage
and Family Therapists is not likely
 to decrease any time soon. Family
dynamics are changing. Situations t
hat would have been unlikely to ari
se even 15 years ago are not uncomm
on now. The idea of a family consis
ting of a man, woman, and children
is being constantly challenged. Par
ents are living longer and needing
long-term care. Chronic illnesses a
nd financial stressors strain relat
ionships. All of these events have
a very real effect on families and
individuals. Now, more than ever, i
t is important for MFTs to be infor
med and well trained to be effectiv
e in their work.

Ongoing education includes a variet
y of courses. There are a wide vari
ety of beneficial ceus available. T
hese include;

Aging and Long Term Care:

Nobody wants to think about being a
 burden on their children. Grown ch
ildren don’t want to consider the f
uture and taking care of aged paren
ts who are unable to care for thems
elves. This is happening more often
, however, as medical care improves
 and lives are prolonged. Unfortuna
tely, the quality of that life is n
ot always ideal. As grown children
are forced to make decisions regard
ing aged parents the stress on the
family can prove daunting. Addition
ally, Alzheimer’s, short term memor
y loss, uncontrolled diabetes, debi
litating arthritis and other physic
al conditions can make limit the op
tions available. Guilt about the in
ability to care for loved ones, fru
stration about expenses, sorrow ove
r the loss of relationships...all c
an be overwhelming burdens. Learnin
g the dynamics and choices that rev
olve around long term care for aged
 loved ones is important for a MFT.
 This will help you to offer inform
ed suggestions to your clients. You
 will understand the processes and
procedures that should be followed
and be capable of explaining these
options to your clients.

Being a Good Listener:

While it may seem obvious that to b
e a good Marriage and Family Therap
ist you need to be a good listener,
 this isn’t always as easy as it wo
uld seem. A good listener is effect
ive in ‘reading between the lines’
as it were. People generally have a
 hard time saying what they want to
 say. A good listener is able to in
terpret, accurately, what people ar
e trying to say. This is only the b
eginning of effective listening. A
good listener is able to listen to
what is being said and then repeat
what was said to verify that they a
re understanding. The key to this i
s that you need to be able to do th
is without sounding patronizing or
redundant. Repeating everything som
eone says to you is going to get re
ally annoying very quickly. You nee
d to learn to repeat it is a manner
 that comes across as attentive, no
t annoying.

Behavioral Problems and Disabilities
 in Children:

Parents never plan to have a disabl
ed or problem child. Generally they
 are excited about the upcoming bir
th and the joys and challenges surr
ounding parenthood. When reality hi
ts, however, and a child with menta
l, emotional, or physical disabilit
ies becomes part of the family, out
side help may be needed to offer su
ggestions, options, and emotional s
upport. A MFT may be just the perso
n for this job. In order to be effe
ctive as this, however, the MFT nee
ds to be up to date on the latest m
edical treatment options, organizat
ions, support groups, etc. availabl
e for a wide variety of situations.
 Dealing with a child with autism,
for example, is going to be much di
fferent than dealing with a child w
ith Attention Deficit Disorder. Dea
ling with a child with a physical h
andicap is going to take a differen
t set of skill than dealing with a
child with a learning disability. O
ngoing education in these areas kee
ps you up to date on the latest tec
hniques in a variety of settings. A
s you increase your knowledge, your
 ability to be a great MFT will als
o increase.

Assessment of and Treatment for Chi
ld Abuse or Neglect:

Knowing what to look for and how to
 respond to possible child abuse or
 neglect situations is imperative.
You need to be in a position that y
ou can protect the child, teach the
 parents, and assess the situation.
 You may find yourself in a situati
on where the parents are unaware th
at their child has been abused. Bei
ng able to look at the bigger pictu
re and then explain this horrible r
eality to the parents is very impor
tant. Ceus in this area are designe
d to arm you with information, laws
, and options for abuse and neglect
 situations. Additionally, as a MFT
 you will need to be sensitive to t
he home situation for the child. Yo
u need to understanding the myriad
of emotions that a child experience
s when the abuse or neglect comes f
rom someone who is supposed to prot
ect them. Ongoing education is crit
ical for providing the best care an
d support to these children that is
 possible.

Substance Abuse and Addiction:

Often substance abuse is the cause
of family strife. Addiction will de
stroy not only the individual who i
s addicted, but the stability of th
e entire family. Financial stabilit
y is affected as jobs are lost and
savings are spent to feed addiction
s. Ceus in this area educate you on
 the latest threats in addictive su
bstances. You will also be informed
 as to the options available for me
dical treatment. You will learn tec
hniques for helping families adjust
, quit focusing on blame and start
focusing on solutions.

Pornography:

Pornography can be an addiction. Pe
ople can feel a sense of shame and
betrayal. Spouses may feel anger, f
rustration and embarrassment. A MFT
 can help the family evaluate their
 feelings and provide possible solu
tions. With technology advancing at
 such a rapid pace, ongoing educati
on keeps the MFT abreast of the lat
est threats to family stability in
regards to pornography that is acce
ssible via the Internet.

Suicide Intervention:

Often suicide attempts are a cry fo
r help from individuals trying to f
ind peace in their life. Families o
f suicidal people feel anger that t
he person would threaten such drast
ic measures. They may also feel gui
lt that they are not able to ‘make
their loved one happy’. The MFT nee
ds to be able to offer treatment op
tions for suicidal ideation. There
are many medications available to a
ssist therapists in their treatment
 of suicidal individuals. They also
 need to be able to reassure family
 members that they are not to blame
 for the suicidal thoughts of their
 loved one. Ceus in suicide interve
ntion will teach you current techni
ques for treating both the suicidal
 individual as well as helping stre
ngthen the family structure.

The classes mentioned above are jus
t a small sampling of the types of
courses available for Marriage and
Family Therapists to continue their
 education. The critical issue is n
ot which classes are taken, but tha
t you maintain the highest standard
s of care for your clients. The onl
y way to ensure this is to be vigil
ant in researching and taking ceus
that would be beneficial to your pr
actice.