Marriage and Family Therapy, Couple Therapy Specialization, MA

Description of Program

The Masters of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy (MAMFT) degree program is focused on developing the skills and personal and professional growth that are required for effective practice in the field of Marriage and Family Therapy. The program is designed to provide an integrated learning experience for adult students seeking specific training in the profession of Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT). Students in this program will critically analyze a broad range of theories and practical knowledge in MFT. Degree requirements also include involvement in ongoing clinical work and supervision. This training prepares students for therapeutic and educational work in a variety of settings including mental health centers, public service agencies, correctional institutions, industry, medical settings, and private practice. Additional program description, requirements, policies, and procedures are further described in the MFT Program Handbook and the Clinical Training Handbook.

Graduates of the master’s level program will be well prepared to begin the process of seeking licensure in their home state or area.

**Note: Program availability may vary by state - please contact the Enrollment Office for more information**

Learning Outcomes

The goals (referred to as Student Learning Outcomes) of the (MAMFT) program are:

1. Employ competence in working with diverse populations in clinical settings. (SLO #1)
2. Students/graduates** will evaluate family systems oriented clinical skills across a variety of contexts. (SLO #2)
3. Examine family systems theory oriented models of therapy (SLO #3)
4. Formulate a decision-making process for ethical dilemmas congruent with the AAMFT Code of Ethics. (SLO #4)

The MAMFT degree is structured to assist students to seek licensure in the state or jurisdiction of their choice. To allow this, courses can be added to the standard 45 credit program (up to a total program requirement of 60 credits) to assist with meeting licensure requirements. Eligible transfer credits can be applied to the program to support the respective state licensure requirement.

A core goal of the Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy (MAMFT) degree is to qualify students to become licensed as Marriage and Family Therapists and pursue a career within this field. NCU recognizes that today’s professionals are much more likely to move, live, and work in multiple states during their professional careers. With over 25% (n=15) of states now requiring 60 credit hour degrees to qualify for MFT licensure, and with more states proposing this change, It is recommend that students consider a degree plan and electives that maximize portability of the degree throughout the U.S.

NCU recognizes that a majority of states do not yet require 60 credit hour degrees and thus desire to allow students to keep the cost of their education as low as possible while still balancing the need of having a degree that allows for transportability between states during their professional career. Due to the nature of the MFT profession and differences that exist today in state licensing requirements, NCU allows students the ability to select additional electives above the required 45-credit degree plan, up to 60 credits.

Basis for Admissions

In addition to evidence of a conferred bachelor’s and/or a conferred master’s or doctoral degree from a regionally or nationally accredited academic institution, applications for admission to the Department of Marriage and Family Sciences Master’s programs require prior to the first date of attendance:

• Current resume or CV
• Statement of Intent
• Licensure plan (not required for applicants with an existing MFT license)
• Statement of professional ethics and conduct
• List of clinical site possibilities in the area of residence
• Course transfer/waive request (if applicable)
• Interview with an MFT faculty member
• Background check - All students in the MFT program that currently live or who have ever lived in the United States are required to complete a background check through NCU’s designated provider prior to acceptance in the MFT program. International students and students holding a current MFT license are exempt from the requirement. Some students will do this as part of the application process, all students will have this completed before starting work in their clinical placements. (See the MFT application packet for further details)

Degree Requirements

The MAMFT degree requires a minimum of 45 credit hours at the graduate level beyond the bachelor’s degree. While not required for graduation, students who need to complete a program requiring more than 45 credits and up to 60-credits or who need specific additional courses for their state licensure requirements will be allowed to complete optional elective courses to meet these requirements, which will constitute the total credit requirements for graduation from the program.

The University may accept a maximum of 15 semester credit hours in transfer toward the master’s degree for graduate coursework completed toward a non-conferred graduate degree at an accredited college or university with a grade of “B” or better. Transfer credit is only awarded for course work that is evaluated to be substantially equivalent in content to the required course work in the MAMFT program. Transfer credit is only awarded for course work that is evaluated to be substantially equivalent in content to the required course work in the MAMFT program. See the Transfer Credit Policy  for additional information.

The MAMFT program has the following graduation requirements:

• A minimum of 36 credit hours of graduate instruction must be completed through NCU
• Successful completion of all required degree program courses with a Grade Point Average of 3.0 (letter grade of “B”) or higher
• Official documents on file for basis of admission: a conferred bachelor’s degree from an accredited academic institution
• Official transcripts on file for all transfer credit hours accepted by the University
• All financial obligations to the University paid in full

Beyond these standard graduation requirements, the MAMFT program has the following degree requirements:

1. Online Video Conferencing – In order to complete some of the course requirements and to participate in the online supervision process that is used during the practicum and internship courses, students are required to participate in several online video conferencing meetings throughout their time in the program. In order to participate in these video conference sessions, students are required to own or otherwise have access to a computer, a web cam, a headset, a video recording device, and a high-speed internet connection.
2. Client Contact – MAMFT students will be required to complete 500 hours of direct client contact, which includes conducting face-to-face therapy with individuals, couples, families, and groups. At least 250 hours of client contact must be relational (e.g., couple or family). For more information, please read the practicum and internship course descriptions or the Clinical Training Handbook.
3. Supervision – In conjunction with client contact, MAMFT students must receive a total of 100 hours of supervision, at least fifty (50) of which must be individual, in-person supervision conducted by an AAMFT Approved Supervisor, AAMFT Supervisor Candidate, or state-approved supervisor.  At least 50 of supervision must also involve the supervisor’s review of the student’s therapy with clients via video/audio recording or live observation.  In some cases, students may be required to pay for local supervision.  This will depend on the clinical placement location and/or local supervisor they contract with to complete their practicum and internship requirements. The decision and responsibility to pay for local supervision is entirely up to the student and not a requirement of NCU.
4. Liability Insurance – Prior to beginning any clinical experience, students are required to submit proof of professional liability insurance. This is included with a student membership in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (for California students it is also included in the student membership in the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists).
5. Clinical Hours Tracking – the MAMFT program uses a web-based system to document completion of clinical hours. Students, local approved clinical supervisors and NCU faculty supervisors all have access to the system in order to support the successful completion of the clinical training requirements for the program. Students will be provided with an authorization code.

Time to Completion

NCU allows 6 years to complete Master’s programs requiring more than 36 credit hours.

Students who are unable to complete a degree program within the stated time limits (6 years) are dismissed. If a student believes they have extenuating circumstances they may document the circumstances and send a request for consideration to their respective School Dean or designee. Exceptions to the policy are determined on a case-by-case basis and are granted only once.

Normal time to completion for this program is 59 months.

Time to completion varies depending upon the pace at which a student completes courses and the number of transfer credits accepted. As most NCU students are working adults balancing educational, professional, and personal commitments, our academic and advisors will work with you to develop a program schedule that works best for your needs.

The normal time disclosed above reflects the experience of students who may have entered under different program requirements. In the quest for continuous improvement, academic leadership has revised the program to optimize curriculum and pace, facilitate student learning, and improve chances for success. Therefore, the program is now designed for students enrolling today to take advantage of these revised course structures, lengths, and schedules. New students following the preferred schedule designed by the Dean for this program, and applying no transfer credits, can expect to finish in as little as 33 months.

Practicum Information

MA in Marriage and Family Therapy

Marriage and Family Therapy Master’s students must complete at least two practicum courses (3 credits each) and three internship courses (1 credit hour each). Students are eligible to begin clinical training after completion of the ninth course (students in the MAMFT-CA program are encouraged to begin after the twelfth course). Prior to enrolling in the first practicum course, students must complete the Practicum Preparation Process (PPP) and receive clinical readiness approval. As part of the PPP, students will be required to secure a local clinical placement as well as a local supervisor who is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor (or Supervisor Candidate) or who meets state requirements for supervision of post-graduate (or, if stated by state licensure law, student requirements) MFTs seeking state licensure within their state. In order to finish the practicum requirements and continue on to the internship, students must meet weekly via videoconference in the practicum courses. It is recommended that students complete 10-12 direct client hours per week, or approximately 100 hours per course. By the end of the second practicum course, students should have close to 200 hours. Students who have significantly fewer hours than that will be asked to meet with the Director of MFT Clinical Training and may be required to complete an Internship extension course prior to registering for MFT-6995 . Students must also receive satisfactory evaluations from their local site supervisor and their Northcentral faculty supervisor in order to complete the practicum sequence. Students must complete the required number of hours in order to graduate; additional practicum and internship classes are available to students who need additional time to complete the clinical hour requirement.

The practicum courses for master’s level degree seeking Marriage and Family Therapy students are MFT-6951  and MFT-6952 . Additional details can be found in the course descriptions.

Non-degree students who need an MFT Practicum course can enroll in MFT-6951 , MFT-6952  (3 credit hours each) or those needing an internship course can enroll in MFT-6991 , MFT-6992 , and MFT-6995  (1 credit hour each) as needed. Additional details can be found in the course descriptions.

Practicum Pre-requisite Courses (completed at NCU or an equivalent program):

Foundations Courses

• MFT-5101  - Foundations for Graduate Study in Marriage and Family Therapy 
• MFT-5104  - Treatment Planning and Traditional Family Therapy 
• MFT-5105  - Recovery-Oriented Care and Postmodern Family Therapy 

Fundamental Courses

• MFT-5102  - Legal, Ethical and Professional Development in Marriage and Family Therapy 
• MFT-5103  - Systemic Evaluation and Case Management 
• MFT-6102  - Psychopathology, Diagnosis, and Systemic Treatment 

Internship Information

MA in Marriage and Family Therapy

Marriage and Family Therapy master’s students must complete 9 credit hours of clinical training – including practicum (6 credit hours) and internship (three 1-credit hour) courses over a minimum of 52 weeks. The primary requirement of this master’s level internship is to continue the clinical work that began in the practicum courses and complete the minimum total required 500 hours of direct client contact, 250 of which must be relational. In conjunction with client contact, master’s students must complete 100 hours of supervision, 51 of which must be direct individual or group supervision with the approved local supervisor in the same physical location. Also, within the total supervision hours, at least 50 hours of supervision must include direct observation of the student’s clinical work through live observation, co-therapy, or review of video or audio recordings of the student’s clinical sessions. In many cases, these hours of observation-based supervision can be completed with both the direct local supervisor and the NCU faculty supervisor (depending on the state licensure regulations). Students must participate in local supervision during every week they are actively seeing clients. Additionally, students must meet for 2 hours each week via videoconference for NCU Group Supervision with an NCU faculty supervisor during the practicum and internship courses. Per COAMFTE standards, students only count therapy hours during weeks that they receive AAMFT-approved supervision.

Students who need additional time to accrue therapy and/or supervision hours may be required to enroll in additional Internship courses prior to enrollment in the final Internship and Capstone course.

In addition to these client contact hours, students must take the AATBS practice exam online and submit the results to NCUOne. This is a practice exam for the national licensing exam or the California licensing exam. Information about preparing for and taking this practice exam is provided in the applicable course syllabus.

As a final requirement of MFT-6995 - MFT Internship and Capstone Presentation , the student must prepare and give a presentation detailing his or her preferred model of therapy. This presentation will be given in an online video conference and must include video clips from actual therapy sessions in which the student demonstrates how he or she uses the presented theory of therapy with her/his clients. Students must pass the Final Case Presentation in order to graduate.

Course Sequence

Basic 45-credit hour Program (this is the basis for all degree plans except California)

• Foundation Courses

• MFT-5101 - Foundations for Graduate Study in Marriage and Family Therapy
• MFT-5104 - Treatment Planning and Traditional Family Therapy
• MFT-5105 - Recovery-Oriented Care and Postmodern Family Therapy

• Fundamental Courses

• MFT-5102 - Legal, Ethical and Professional Development in Marriage and Family Therapy
• MFT-5103 - Systemic Evaluation and Case Management
• MFT-6102 - Psychopathology, Diagnosis, and Systemic Treatment

• Specialization and Research Courses

• MFT-5106 - Research Methods and Evidence Based Practice
• MFT-6101 - Human Development and Family Dynamics Across the Lifespan
• MFT-6103 - Cultural Diversity, Gender, and Family Development
• MFT-6105 - Couple and Sex Therapy
• Specialization/Elective Course 1
• Specialization/Elective Course 2
• Additional Elective courses as needed for state licensure

• Clinical Experience Requirements

• MFT-6951 - MFT Practicum I
• MFT-6952 - MFT Practicum II
• MFT-6991 - MFT Internship I
• MFT-6992 - MFT Internship II
• MFT-6995 - MFT Internship and Capstone Presentation

Specializations

Obtaining a specialization at the master’s level offers students the opportunity to focus their studies in a specific content area. By focusing on this specialized area, students gain both content and application knowledge that enables them to become an “expert” in the particular area.

Students in the MAMFT program may elect to complete a specialization in one of the six areas described below. The following requirements must be met to receive the selected specialization:

1. All courses required for licensure in the selected state
2. Completion of the customized research course (MFT -5106 )
3. Completion of the two specialization courses as listed below
4. Completion of at least 100 hours of client contact with clients focused in the selected specialization (supervised by a qualified MFT supervisor)

Note: Students may receive a certificate if all coursework is completed but the 100 hours of supervised experience cannot be completed.