Mission of the CFT Program
The mission of the CFT Master's program is to prepare competent, effective therapists for clinical practice and advancement of the marriage and family therapy discipline. The program seeks to train professionals who demonstrate superior therapeutic skills, ethical integrity, intellectual curiosity, knowledge of the MFT profession, and a sincere commitment to working with individuals, couples/polyamorous relationships, and families from diverse populations.
Program Goals and Student Learning Outcomes
The following are the Program Goals and associated Student Learning Outcomes for the CFT Program. These Program Goals and Student Learning Outcomes are based on professional marriage and family therapy principles, COAMFTE Core Competencies, the AAMFT code of ethics, the domains included in the AMFTRB National Exam, and state licensure regulations. Each Student Learning Outcome is linked to one of the Program Goals.
- Program Goal 1: To educate and train couple and family therapists that are socio-culturally informed and attuned to responsibly serve diverse communities.
- SLO 1A – Students will have a strong knowledge of the impact of socio-cultural location (e.g., race, culture, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, religion, social class, ability, etc) and intersecting identities on individual and relational functioning.
- SLO 1B – Students will understand how their socio-cultural location and intersecting identities can impact the practice of the profession.
- SLO 1C – Students will apply knowledge of socio-cultural location and intersecting identities to practice in a responsive, culturally attuned way.
- Program Goal 2: To educate and train ethical couple and family therapists that are committed to ethical practice through ethical codes of the MFT profession and pertinent regulatory bodies.
- SLO 2A – Students will be knowledgeable of professional codes of ethics, federal and state laws, and models of ethical decision-making, regarding the practice of couple and family therapy.
- SLO 2B – Students will demonstrate ethical decision-making and adherence to the codes of the MFT profession and pertinent regulatory bodies in professional practice.
- Program Goal 3: To educate and train qualified couple and family therapists to apply a systemic/relational and ecological approach in their professional practice.
- SLO 3A – Students will have a solid knowledge of couple and family therapy models and techniques based on a systemic/relational and ecological approach.
- SLO 3B – Students will apply couple and family therapy models and techniques based on a systemic/relational and ecological approach to assess and treat clinical presenting problems.
- SLO 3C – Students will be able to utilize knowledge about normative and non- normative child, adolescent, adult, and family functioning to assess and treat presenting problems.
- SLO 3D - Students will have knowledge about standardized tests and structured clinical interviews to apply formal diagnostic criteria (e.g. DSM-5TR) in assessing and treating problems in individual family members’ functioning.
- SLO 3E - Students will utilize standardized tests and structured clinical interviews to apply formal diagnostic criteria (e.g. DSM-5TR) in assessing and treating problems in individual family members’ functioning.
- SLO 3F – Students will have knowledge about crisis and case management in couple and family therapy.
- SLO 3G – Students will apply their knowledge about crisis and case management in the practice of couple and family therapy.
- Program Goal 4: To train and educate couple and family therapists to understand and utilize research findings for professional practice.
- SLO 4A – Students will demonstrate an understanding of basic and applied research methods.
- SLO 4B – Students will gain knowledge to assess, critique,and integrate existing research to guide their professional practice.
- SLO 4C – Students will demonstrate knowledge of ethical principles governing human subjects research.
- SLO 4D – Students will utilize research to inform professional practice.
- Program Goal 5: To train and educate couple and family therapists on the CFT profession.
- SLO 5A – Students will be knowledgeable of various roles and jobs, business administration, and organizations in the profession.
- SLO 5B – Students will be knowledgeable of the areas in need of attention for the advancement of the couple and family therapy profession.
- SLO 5C – Students will apply knowledge of the CFT profession to develop their own professional identity and goals.