Marriage, Couple and Family Therapy Program

This program is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), and is designed to meet the standards of the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE).

Program Coordinator: Dr. Teresa McDowell
teresamc@lclark.edu
Clinical Coordinator: Dr. Andraé Brown
albrown@lclark.edu
Adjunct Faculty: Steven Berman, Tatiana Melendez, Marisol Garcia

The Master of Arts MCFT program at Lewis & Clark College is designed to prepare graduates for eventual employment as marriage, couple and family therapists in settings that focus on family/relational based interventions. Therefore, in addition to the common core curricular experiences in counseling, all students are required to demonstrate knowledge and skill in areas specific to marriage, couple and family therapy, which are acquired through didactic courses and supervised clinical experience. The curriculum for the MCFT program helps students build the knowledge base and skills necessary to provide high-quality, effective therapy. It prepares students to use an active, positive approach to therapy that will help individuals, couples, and families build on their strengths, improve their relationships, and generate solutions to relational problems.

There is also a Master of Science option for the Marriage, Couple and Family Therapy program. This degree is for students who have demonstrated interest and potential in research. Students pursuing a Master of Science degree fulfill all the requirements for the Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology in MCFT, with the additional requirement of completing a thesis project. Students wishing to pursue this degree concentration are initially admitted to the Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology Program. Students are only admitted to the Master of Science after successfully completing the following: CPSY 530 Research Methods and Statistics I and CPSY 531 Research Methods and Statistics II; formation of a thesis committee; and approval of the thesis proposal at a proposal meeting.

MCFT is a distinct profession with its own history, theories, models, professional organizations and journals. Students are introduced to and invited to join the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and the International Family Therapy Association (IFTA). They are also expected to be familiar with the body of family therapy literature, including the field’s leading journals, i.e., Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Family Process, Journal of Systemic Therapies, Contemporary Family Therapy, Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, and American Journal of Family Therapy.

The program is generally designed to take full-time students three years and part-time students four years to complete.