Marriage and Family Therapy Trainees’ Experiences of Learning and Applying Common Factors in Therapy: A Qualitative Participatory Study With Thematic Analysis

In recent marriage and family therapy literature, there has been increased discussion about the role of common factors in marriage and family therapy training, specifically in advocating for a more prominent role (Karam et al., 2014; Sprenkle, Lebow & Davis, 2009). This article describes a study exploring the marriage and family therapy master’s students’ experiences of learning and applying the common factors approach to their clinical practice. The sample consists of four current marriage and family therapy master’s level students in a Commission on Accreditation in Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE)-accredited training program. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed using thematic analysis. The themes that emerged from our analysis demonstrate that marriage and family therapy students found the common factors approach to positively inform their clinical training.