M. S. in COUNSELING with a concentration in MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY
Mission: "...Producing excellent Marriage and Family Therapists, who bring understandings skills and leadership to address the needs of today's diverse families and a commitment to social responsibility and change in mental health systems serving families and other relationships."
Purpose : The purpose of the Marriage and Family Therapy program is to prepare students to practice as highly competent entry-level MFTs, capable of applying systemic-social constructionist ideas and practices in therapy and related change processes, such as between families and larger systems, in a multicultural society. The MFT program is founded on the beliefs that:
- individuals, couples, and families function within a variety of intersecting social contexts, and
- they struggle with increasingly complex developmental issues, unanticipated stressful events, and sociocultural, economic, and political factors that constrain achievement of successful social participation. Community providers need specialized training and multi-systemic therapeutic approaches to expand their resources for addressing relational problems that emerge from these factors.
Philosophy: The program training is guided by a philosophy that incorporates the following values and commitments:
- A social constructionist-systemic orientation that regards all knowledge as produced through social interaction and as, therefore, subjective rather than objective and true. Thus, therapists hold a tentative and inquiring stance in learning about clients' experiences and in considering the effects of their own perspectives on clients' lives.
- Multicultural/cross-cultural development that invites examination of understandings of difference, language, history, and power and their effects in people's lives and advances the ability to address these factors in therapy and other relationships.
- A community-focus to prepare for serving underserved and poorly served populations.
- Social responsibility and change to consider the therapist's role in relation to social contribution, impact and leadership for growth in mental health systems.
- Personal growth, to support the exploration of one's own storied life, including cultural identities and experiences, consider the effects of experiences in social relationships, and open oneself to new personal behaviors and perspectives.
Learning Outcomes :
- Knowledge of theories, models, and methods of problem development and resolution from systemic and social consructionist perspectives .
- Application of clinical skills based on culturally responsive systemic/social constructionist practices .
- Incorporation of cultural and larger systems foundations into MFT Theory, practice, and research .
- Defining one's role as a therapist in relation to social responsibility and change.
- Reflection and practice of personal growth including developoment of the cultural self of therapist, that supports applying skills in the best interests of the clients.
- Use of research to inform clinical practice.
- Completion of the educational requirements for MFT licensure eligibility as defined by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS).
- Completion of the educational requirements of the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE).
