MA in Clinical Psychology: Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT)
Mission Statement
The MFT program is dedicated to the education and training of competent, self-aware, and culturally sensitive family therapists. Using a foundation in Christian faith, a systemic family psychology approach, and an integration of theories of psychotherapy, students explore personal, ethical, and social values as they prepare to serve the needs of their communities.
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) Option
The MFT program offers one additional course that provides for students interested in dual licensure as an LPCC and an MFT. Coursework meets California education requirements for both licenses.
Gottman Couples Therapy Level 1 Certificate
The Couples Therapy course includes the completion of Gottman Level 1 training, which equips students with new insight into couples’ struggles using research-based assessments and effective interventions based on the Gottman Sound Relationship House Theory. Students receive a certificate of completion and are then eligible to take the Level 2 training.
Substance Use Disorders Certificate
Upon completion of the MFT program, students may choose to take 11 additional units that fulfill the requirements for a certificate in substance use disorders. This certificate allows students to establish a competency that historically has been afforded only to those working in the substance use disorders field. As primary care physicians, mental health providers, and substance use treatment providers coalesce into whole-person care, you will be a part of cutting-edge treatment.
Program Goals
Diversity
Students will recognize the importance of diversity and its impact on clinical practice. Students will be equipped with awareness of beliefs and customs of diverse cultural groups and how to implement this knowledge when treating clients and interacting with agency personnel.
Identity Formation
Students will articulate their personal narrative inclusive of values, beliefs, behaviors, and traditions of faith that inform their worldview.
Ethical Practice
Students will understand the ethical guidelines and legal requirements within the field of marriage and family therapy. Students gain knowledge of when to use resources and seek consultation if faced with ethical or legal dilemmas in the context of therapy.
Competency
Students will be trained to become practitioners in marriage and family therapy with professional competencies in relationship, intervention, diversity, integration of faith and practice, and systemic family psychology.
Admission
Admitted students typically begin in the fall semester. To be considered for fall enrollment, the deadline for submission of a completed application is March 1. Students who apply earlier will be given priority consideration for admission.
Applicants may also apply to begin in the spring semester. The deadline for submission of a completed application for spring enrollment is October 1. Applicants for the spring semester will be considered based on space available at the Azusa campus and the Orange County, San Diego, and Inland Empire regional campuses.
Admission to the program does not guarantee that students will obtain a license or credential in marriage and family therapy or as an LPCC. Licensure and credentialing requirements are set by agencies that are not controlled by or affiliated with Azusa Pacific University and requirements can change at any time. For example, licensure or credentialing requirements can include evidence of the right to work in the United States (e.g., Social Security number or taxpayer identification number) or successfully passing a criminal background check. Students are responsible for determining whether they can meet licensure or credentialing requirements. Azusa Pacific will not refund tuition, fees, or any associated costs to students who determine, subsequent to admission, that they cannot meet licensure or credentialing requirements.
Application Requirements
- To be admitted into the program, students must hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited university or college (or an equivalent degree from a college or university in another country) with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. At the discretion of the university, a higher professional degree such as an MD or DC may be accepted as a substitute for the bachelor’s degree.
- Students who enter the program with a bachelor’s degree in a major other than psychology will be required to take Abnormal Psychology with a grade of B or better before beginning the program. Prerequisites may be waived on an individual basis.
- International applicants whose first language is not English must submit an iBT (internet-based TOEFL) score of 90 minimum; the minimum subsets are: Reading 22, Speaking 22, Listening 22, and Writing 24. Students may also submit results of the Test of Written English (TWE) and the Test of Spoken English (TSE). Because written and verbal English language skills are crucial to the education, training, and practice of psychology, further testing for spoken and written English will be required for all international students upon entrance to the program or as deemed necessary at any point in the program. If applicants do not meet the minimum requirement, they must first go through an English training program to raise their proficiency. Students may be mandated to do this if they are not meeting the language and writing standards for the program.
Personal and Group Psychotherapy
During the course of the program, students must complete 40 hours of individual psychotherapy. Students have the option of completing 20 sessions (40 hours) of group therapy in lieu of 20 of the 40 required individual psychotherapy hours.
Clinical Placement
Students develop therapeutic skills through required hours of direct clinical experience. Clinical placements may range from 12-30 months depending upon course track sequences.
While students are responsible for securing a placement site, assistance is provided by the director of clinical training, site directors, and in the Introduction to Clinical Practice courses. In addition, students receive support from and opportunities to discuss clinical issues and problems with supervisors and faculty in clinical placement and supervision courses.
For students seeking licensure, the clinical placement sequence meets MFT and LPCC requirements in California. To ensure the highest quality in clinical placements, the director of clinical training maintains contact with offsite supervisors and evaluates the student’s experience. Any violations of professional ethics codes may be grounds for dismissal from the degree program.
Students are required to obtain 300 hours of direct client experience for the MFT license, and 300 hours of direct client experience for the LPCC license. To meet graduation and licensure requirements, the student must receive one hour of individual or two hours of group supervision for every five hours of direct client experience. These hours count toward the 3,000 hours required for MFT licensure in California. Hours for the LPCC license begin postgraduation.
Comprehensive Examination
As a final evaluative component of the MFT program, each student must pass the Comprehensive Examination, which includes two elements:
- A law and ethics exam
- A clinical exam
Failure to pass the Comprehensive Examination may prevent graduation from the program.
Program Locations
The Department of Marriage and Family Therapy offers its master’s degree program on APU’s Azusa campus as well as at the Orange County, San Diego, and Inland Empire regional campuses. More information may be obtained by contacting the program director, the local site administrator, or a program representative.
Azusa Campus
Azusa Pacific University
PO Box 7000
Azusa, CA 91702-7000
(626) 815-6000, Ext. 5523
Orange County Regional Campus
1915 Orangewood Ave., Suite 100
Orange, CA 92868-2046
(714) 935-0260
San Diego Regional Campus
5353 Mission Center Rd., Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92108-1306
(619) 718-9655
Inland Empire Regional Campus
Program Director: Hilary Catling, MA, LMFT
hcatling@apu.edu
375 W. Hospitality Lane
San Bernardino, CA 92408
(909) 888-9977
Course Requirements
The degree must be completed in a minimum of two years and a maximum of six. Any extensions beyond six years must be requested as an exception to APU policy and must be submitted in writing on an Academic General Petition. A three-year course of study is recommended for most working students. The program is composed of 63 units of coursework. A maximum of 12 units of selected coursework, which meet the following criteria, may be transferred:
- Taken within the past eight years and completed with a grade of B or better
- Obtained at a regionally accredited institution
- Received from a graduate program in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, or marriage and family therapy
- Acceptable for California MFT licensing requirements
- Approval by the program director
Students in the program must maintain a 3.0 GPA with no course grade lower than a C-. Course resulting in grades lower than a C- will be retaken. In order to graduate, students may not have more than two instances of a C+/- on their transcript. If a student receives a third C+/-, the student will be required to retake one of the courses and receive a B- or better.
A student who receives two NO CREDIT grades in a CREDIT/NO CREDIT course (e.g., PPSY 593) will be referred to the Clinical Training Committee (CTC), which will meet to review the student’s situation and issue a recommendation. The CTC recommendation may include: 1) academic and/or clinical probation, 2) postponing clinical placement, 3) a recommended leave of absence, or 4) dismissal from the program.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Program Requirements | ||
| PPSY 510 | Psychotherapy and Cultural Diversity | 3 |
| PPSY 511 | Addictions, Assessment, and Interventions 1 | 3 |
| PPSY 512 | Legal, Ethical, and Moral Issues in Therapy | 3 |
| PPSY 525 | Crisis and Trauma in Community Mental Health | 3 |
| PPSY 533 | Christian Spiritual Formation and Psychotherapy | 3 |
| PPSY 551 | Theories of Psychotherapy | 3 |
| PPSY 552 | Human Sexuality and Sex Therapy | 3 |
| PPSY 557 | Couples Therapy | 3 |
| PPSY 558 | Advanced Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| PPSY 561 | Child and Adolescent Therapy | 3 |
| PPSY 563 | Psychopathology | 3 |
| PPSY 571 | Family Therapy | 3 |
| PPSY 572 | Research Methodology | 3 |
| PPSY 577 | Psychological Assessment | 3 |
| PPSY 580 | Introduction to Clinical Practice: Basic Skills | 3 |
| PPSY 581 | Introduction to Clinical Practice: Advanced Skills | 3 |
| PPSY 582 | Group Skills | 3 |
| PPSY 585 | Psychobiology and Psychopharmacology | 3 |
| PPSY 592 | Introduction to Clinical Placement | 1 |
| PPSY 593 | Clinical Consultation 2 | 1 |
| PPSY 595 | Special Topics 3 | 1 |
| PPSY 597 | Clinical Placement I | 3 |
| PPSY 598 | Clinical Placement II | 3 |
| Optional Certificate in Play Therapy | 9 | |
| Choose three of the following: | ||
| PSYC 536 | Play Therapy: History, Theories, and Interventions | 3 |
| PSYC 538 | Jungian Therapy and Sandplay | 3 |
| PSYC 539 | Play and Play Therapy Across the Lifespan | 3 |
| PSYC 540 | Gestalt Play Therapy and Interventions | 3 |
| PSYC 541 | Play Therapy with Special Populations | 3 |
| PSYC 545 | Play Therapy with Bereaved Children and Families | 3 |
| Optional Certificate in Substance Use Disorders 1 | 11 | |
| PPSY 513 | Substance Use Disorders II: History, Support, and Promising Practices | 3 |
| PPSY 514 | Substance Use Disorders III: Co-Occurring Disorders, Co-Morbidity, and Integrated Treatment | 3 |
| PPSY 515 | SUD IV: Families and Other Special Populations; Confidentiality and Evidence Based Practices | 3 |
| PPSY 516 | Legal and Ethical Issues in Substance Use Disorders | 1 |
| PPSY 517 | Motivational Interviewing with the SUD Population | 1 |
| Optional Electives | 0-5 | |
| PPSY 555 | Career Development Theories and Techniques | 3 |
| PPSY 786 | Global Psychology 4 | 2 |
| Total Units | 63-90 | |
- 1
Students who elect to take the optional concentration in substance use disorders must complete the master’s degree prior to enrolling in the concentration coursework. Additionally, PPSY 511 must have been completed with a grade of B- or better, and students must have completed their practicum at an APU-affiliated substance use disorder clinical placement site. Upon completion of the concentration, students receive a Substance Use Disorders Certificate.
- 2
Students who have not completed their hours of experience must enroll in this course until their hours are completed. This course may be taken up to three times. Students who have already completed their hours of experience are not required to take this course.
- 3
This course must be taken twice during a student’s course of study, with different special topics.
- 4
To participate in this course, students must apply and be accepted to it. Due to international requirements, other policies may be applicable.
Admission
University graduate admission and program-specific requirements must be met before an application is complete (see Admission to the University). Program-specific application requirements are available online.
International students should contact Graduate and Professional Admissions for application procedures.