ABSTRACT
Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling and Therapy (MFC) developed in response to the emphasis upon individual intrapsychic mechanisms in Freud’s original model of psychotherapy. Family counseling and therapy have been most affected by the theory of systems. Systemic thinking is the foundation of the MFC specialization within professional counseling. Systems theory originated in modern approaches to planning and implementing regulatory systems, such as the self-correcting heuristics by which rockets reached their destinations. Counseling to promote secure attachment is a modern approach to improving capacity for intimacy in adults and closeness in committed relationships. International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors (IAMFC) is a division of the American Counseling Association, chartered in 1989 to represent the needs of professional counselors who specialize in work with couples and families. IAMFC sponsors a quarterly peer-reviewed professional journal: The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families. IAMFC produced a Code of Ethics to complement the standards of the American Counseling Association.
