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What is Marriage and Family Therapy?

A family's patterns of behavior influence the individual and therefore may need to be a part of the treatment plan. In marriage and family therapy, the unit of treatment isn't just the person - even if only a single person is interviewed - it is the set of relationships in which the person is embedded.

Marriage and family therapists regularly practice short-term therapy; 12 sessions on average. About half of the treatment provided by marriage and family therapists is one-on-one with the other half divided between marital/couple and family therapy, or a combination of treatments.

Today, more than 50,000 marriages and family therapists treat individuals, couples and families nationwide. This growth is a result, in part, of renewed public awareness of the value of family life life and concern about the increased stresses on families in a rapidly changing world.

Program Mission at Forest Institute

The mission of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program is to graduate competent, ethical professionals who are eligible to pursue licensure as Marriage and Family Therapists. The philosophy of the program is that competent entry-level therapists should be well-grounded in systems theory and its application to clinical practice in serving diverse populations of couples, families, and individuals.

Program goals are:

1. Broad and General Marriage and Family Therapy Knowledge -To provide education grounded in systems theory,
2. Effective Marriage and Family Therapy Practice - To provide systemic training in marriage and family therapy clinical practice,
3. Diversity, Acceptance, and Social Justice - To prepare graduates to competently address the needs of diverse populations of couples, families, and individuals, and
4. Professional Engagement - To socialize graduates to develop an identity as a marriage and family therapist and engage in life-long professional development.

The emphasis of this program is teaching students the clinical skills needed in the profession and practice of marriage and family therapy. As part of the program, students are exposed to a variety of systemic family theories that will help them assess and treat couple and family systems as well as individuals. The MFT Program and Forest Institute are dedicated to promoting and infusing diversity into every facet of the learning experience including academic and clinical practice settings. Diversity is defined as variety in group presence and interactions. This includes, but is not limited to, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, gender, age, race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, and body type.

The Educational Outcomes include the Faculty Outcomes (FOs), Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), and Program Outcomes (POs) for the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at Forest Institute.

Curriculum

The curriculum requires the completion of 54 credit hours. A sample educational plan for a fall start is below.

Year	Fall		Spring		Summer (1 session)
1	Life Span Development	3	MFT Ethics	3	MFT Practicum I	2
1	Human Diversity	3	Psychopathology I	3	Psychopathology II	3
1	Family Intervention	3	Research Design	3	Adult Development	3
1	Relationship and Interview	3	PrePracticum	0	Family Assessment	3
1	Clinical Risk Management	1
33		13		9		11
2	MFT Practicum II	3	MFT Practicum III	3
2	Specific Interventions in Family Therapy	3	Thesis	1
2	Research Seminar in MFT	1	Specific Interventions in Couple Therapy	3
2	Elective	3	Advanced Family Therapy	3
2	Thesis	1
21		11		10
Overall Credits (54)		19		22		7

Forest's Degree Program

The Master of Arts in MFT (MAMFT) is a degree-granting program that is separate from other degree programs at Forest Institute and follows application procedures as detailed by the COAMFTE. Students enrolled in the MAMFT program may not be enrolled in another master’s program at Forest, but may be simultaneously enrolled as MA/PsyD students. Though a separate degree, the MAMFT is still administered through the academic and clinical training milieu at Forest Institute. Required coursework and supervision in the MAMFT program are led by the faculty at Forest, who represent areas of expertise in marriage and family therapy as well as faculty who represent areas of expertise in the specific required coursework. This partnership is seen as a strength for both students in the MAMFT program and for students enrolled in other programs at Forest.

MA in Marriage and Family Therapy

Students seeking a terminal MA in Marriage & Family Therapy should plan on completing the Standard Curriculum requirements as they are described below. They may also elect to complete additional coursework, if desired, but this is not required for the MA in Marriage and Family Therapy. Practicum requirements include 500 client contact hours, including 250 relational hours plus 100 hours of supervision.

The program currently meets the requirements for coursework and initial supervision for licensure as a marriage and family therapist in most states, but prospective students are strongly encouraged to review the licensing regulations in any state in which they would anticipate practicing. Most full-time master’s students require two years to complete this program.

View admissions requirements for acceptance into the MFT program or apply for the program now.