Jessica Fountas, in fulfilling the requirements for a PhD in Couple and Family Therapy at Antioch University New England, has written and published a dissertation titled, How Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Programs Awaken, Develop, and Teach Clinical Intuition: A Hermeneutic Qualitative Phenomenological Study.
Informed by a social constructionist stance, Fountas’ research explores how clinical intuition is awakened, developed, and taught within marriage and family therapy (MFT) graduate programs. Using criterion-based and snowball sampling methods, she conducted a two-phase hermeneutic phenomenological study involving semi-structured interviews and a follow-up focus group with six licensed MFTs engaged in clinical practice, supervision, education, and the use of intuition.
The study surfaced 14 key themes, including bodily knowing, sensing, and self-trust; integration of theory; relational attunement and connection; supervision and supervisors’ use of self; decolonizing therapy and awakening critical consciousness; and clinical intuition as relational. These findings illustrate how MFT programs can intentionally cultivate clinical intuition through reflective practice, critical consciousness, and relational learning. Fountas recommends developing a critically conscious curriculum to guide supervisors in nurturing clinical intuition and proposes a conceptual framework for integrating this focus into MFT graduate education.
Fountas is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing in New York and Connecticut, a Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and a faculty member in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Mercy University. Guided by a critical social justice feminist perspective and informed by a social constructionist stance, her clinical orientation emphasizes collaborative, dialogic practices that honor lived experience. She centers the therapeutic relationship as the primary catalyst for transformation, supporting clients in reconnecting with inner wisdom, restoring self-trust, and accessing their intuitive knowing.
Read and download Fountas’ dissertation, How Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Programs Awaken, Develop, and Teach Clinical Intuition: A Hermeneutic Qualitative Phenomenological Study, here.
