Public policy and systemic family therapy for couples

This chapter makes a case for the importance of public policy for couple therapy and other relational therapies and calls for us to use systemic skills to make unique contributions to society, government, and culture. It describes how state and federal policies, which were developed in response to broad social changes, came to regulate the profession of marriage and family therapy, making systemic therapies a legitimate form of clinical practice and stimulating reimbursement for services provided by marriage and family therapists. This history is marked by ongoing challenges to make couple therapy a valued and reimbursable treatment in the healthcare system and for marriage and family therapists to be included as Medicare providers. To demonstrate how systemic family therapists have a largely untapped potential to contribute to society through policy and cultural change interventions, the author describes his own experience in the advocacy domain and how he has used systemic/relational skills to promote positive social change in today's fragmented and polarized society.