Marriage and Family Counseling Track
A dual master’s and specialist program for students interested in working with diverse families through counseling agencies, providing couples counseling for people desiring a higher functioning relationship, or serving children in need of advocacy and support.
The Marriage & Family Counseling/Therapy program specialization emphasizes an eco-systemic approach to understanding human problems and generating solution opportunities: Students learn to moderate solution-oriented conversations among interested parties (i.e., stakeholders) who are invited to seek “double descriptions” of mutual concerns and problems, to listen carefully to each other, to entertain and invent multiple solution possibilities, and to construct new narratives of cooperation and commitment.
The M.Ed./Ed.S. and M.AE./Ed.S. program in Marriage and Family Counseling is designed to equip students with the pre-professional competencies required for Registered Intern status and, following 2 years of post-degree supervised clinical experience, licensure in the State of Florida as Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT) and/or Mental Health Counselors (LMHC). The 72-credit hour entry-level program prepares entry-level Marriage and Family Therapists for careers in public and private social service agencies, hospitals, churches, businesses (e.g., Employee Assistance Programs), and independent practice settings.
The Marriage and Family Counseling program faculty are committed to helping students (a) develop knowledge and skill as “empirical practitioners”, that is, practitioners who can deliver effective clinical and psycho-educational services and can use a variety of research methods to evaluate the impact of clinical and psycho-educational practice; (b) enhance the breadth and depth of their professional competence; (c) utilize both individual clinical-developmental theoretical perspectives and systemic multi-cultural social-ecological theoretical perspectives in the design of mental health interventions and programs; and (d) gain in-depth exposure to a variety of modes of mental health intervention and service delivery.