Curriculum Overview

The MFT curriculum has three parts: didactic coursework, clinical practica, and supervised client contact. The minimum total credits required are 48 for the non-thesis option and 51 for the thesis option. Didactic coursework is taken in conjunction with 15 credits of clinical practicum seminars and 9 credits of supervision of clinical work. In the clinical practicum, theory is applied to specific case material, with faculty supervision providing support and oversight of assigned cases.

Clinical Experience

Supervised client contact begins in the student’s first semester. Clinical students are required to gain 500 hours of face-to-face client contact, and 250 of these hours must be relational (with couples or families). The Center for Healthy Families, the couple and family therapy clinic operated by the Department, offers the opportunity to gain these hours. Clinical students receive 100 hours of supervision, both individual and group, for their client contact hours. Supervision in the Department’s clinic is provided through a range of techniques including case discussion, one-way mirror observation, videotape review, co-therapy, and telephone consultation during live sessions. Students may choose to do some of their clinical work in a variety of available externship sites in the local area.

Thesis/Non-Thesis Options

Marriage and Family Therapy students may pursue the thesis or non-thesis option. For thesis option students, 6 semester hours are thesis research credits taken as FMSC 799. The thesis must be approved and then defended in an oral examination. Non-thesis option students take the 3 credit FMSC 789. Non-thesis students must complete a written and oral therapy case presentation.

Course Requirements

Semester I (Fall)
 
•FMSC 600 Family Theories (3)
•FMSC 640 Family Therapy: Theory and Technique
•FMSC 650 Ethical, Legal, and Professional Principles in Marriage and Family Therapy
•FMSC 658 Supervised Clinical Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy

Semester II (Spring)
 
•FMSC 641 Couples Therapy
•FMSC 651 Psychopathology in the Family Context
•FMSC 658 Supervised Clinical Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy
•FMSC 745 Gender and Ethnicity in Family Therapy and Service Delivery

Summer

Session I
 
•FMSC 645 Sexuality: Issues in Family Therapy and Service Delivery
•FMSC 654 Clinical Marriage and Family Therapy Practice
•FMSC 658 Supervised Clinical Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy

Session II
   
•FMSC 658 Supervised Clinical Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy

Semester III (Fall)
   
•Elective
•FMSC 642 Normal and Abnormal Individual and Family Development
•FMSC 652 Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental and Emotional Disorders in Family Systems
•FMSC 658 Supervised Clinical Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy

Semester IV (Spring)
   
•FMSC 610 Research Methods in Family Science
•FMSC 653 Advanced Application of Marriage and Family Therapy Models and Techniques
•FMSC 658 Supervised Clinical Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy

Thesis Option
 
•FMSC 799 Master's Thesis Research
 
Thesis and Oral Examination of Thesis
    
Non-Thesis Option
   
•FMSC 789 Non-thesis Research
 
Written and Oral Case Presentation