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Marriage and Family Therapy, M.A.

Program Description

Students earning a Master of Arts degree in in Marriage and Family Therapy will meet the education requirements for licensure as Marriage and Family Therapists. The MFT Master's Program is COAMFTE Accredited.

Diversity Statement

Diversity includes many areas, and addressing it involves understanding the importance of an appreciation for differing world views. Non-discrimination policy is stated in the opening section of this catalog.

The MFT program at La Salle University are committed to diversity, inclusivity, and social justice. This is accomplished through courses and coursework, internship and clinical experiences, professional activities, and developmental opportunities.

Issues of diversity and social justice are addressed and integrated throughout the MFT curricula.

Statement on Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Discrimination

The Marriage and Family Therapy Program harassment, sexual misconduct, and discrimination policy is in accord with the La Salle university policy on harassment, sexual misconduct, and discrimination, aligned with the La Salle mission and the Student Guide to Resources, Rights, and Responsibilities to establish an environment where students, faculty and staff can function, work and learn, safely and with respect.

The MFT Program publishes a Diversity statement in its Student Handbook and a diversity statement is listed on all MFT Course syllabi. La Salle’s MFT Program is committed to understanding and appreciating diversity among all individuals, and to the principle that there shall be no discrimination in the treatment of any person.

Student’s Guide to Resources Rights and Responsibilities contains the university’s policy on Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Discrimination. This can be found online: https://www.lasalle.edu/students/dean/divpub/manuals/studentguide/

Mission

In keeping with this Lasallian tradition, the Marriage and Family Therapy Program strives to prepare professionals with the abilities and competencies requisite for the practice of marriage and family therapy. The curriculum emphasizes a conceptualization of the role of an individual in primary relationships, such as couple, marriage and the family. Students are provided with course work and clinical experiences, which encourages them to examine the complex interplay of all forces (scientific, interpersonal, emotional, mental, and spiritual) that coexist within and exert influence on an individual and on a family system. The goal is to prepare marriage and family therapists who will competently develop and implement comprehensive interventions, acquire a holistic perspective to health care, understand the complexity of addressing the overall, long-term well-being of individuals, their families and their relationships; evaluate and treat mental and emotional disorders, and address a wide array of relationship issues that will best meet the needs of clients within the context of a relationships and the family system.

Program Goals

Program Goal #1: The program will follow the Lasallian tradition of developing the whole person, encouraging students’ professional and personal growth; offering a learning environment that reflects care and concern, prioritizing students and their learning needs; maintaining a faculty who demonstrate excellence in teaching and mentorship.    

Program Goal #2: The program will create and structure learning opportunities so that students can demonstrate foundational, ethical, and legal knowledge in working with individuals, families, and couples so that they can be prepared to pass an examination for licensure as a marriage and family therapist. 

Program Goal #3: The program will emphasize clinical skill training and experiential learning, enabling students to develop therapeutic relationships, demonstrate clinical competency in their clinical skills, and effectively deliver therapeutic interventions. 

Program Goal #4: The program will prepare students for employment in a culturally diverse environment by facilitating self-reflective learning experiences for students to understand how their own sociocultural identitiesareessential to providingculturally sensitive therapy. 

Program Goal #5:While offering multidisciplinary learning opportunities to students, the program will train students in marriage and family therapy professional identity, ethics, law, and the importance of using research to engage in evidenced-based practice.