MA Program for MFT and LPCC Licenses

Students working toward the State of California’s Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) license are assisted and required to study in the core subject-matter areas required for the license. This includes mastering content in all subject matter areas required by the State of California, including psychopathology, human development, marriage and family counseling theory and techniques, research methodology, psychotherapeutic techniques, human sexuality, cross-cultural counseling, psychological testing and therapeutic appraisal and assessment, psychopharmacology, and professional ethics.

Students work individually with faculty and receive faculty guidance in doing readings in each area that provides the student with a foundational overview of that area as well as an opportunity to focus on those topics of greatest interest to the student. The student writes a paper in each subject matter area, and faculty help students to identify and pursue paper topics address issues, methods or concepts that are of strong interest to the student, and help prepare the student in his or her areas of anticipated professional specialization.

In addition, WISR’s coursework is also designed to meet the State of California’s academic requirements to become a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC). Students pursuing the LPCC license must also study Career Development and Group Counseling. MFT students not interested in obtaining the LPCC license do not have to pursue studies in the areas of Career Development and Group Counseling, although it is strongly recommended that they do so anyway.

While this material is incorporated in individualized study, students are also required to participate in two Saturday class sessions each month for a minimum of 24 months. During that time students participated in seminars that explore the various core areas, and which also meet the State’s minimum classroom hour requirements in: child abuse assessment and reporting, alcoholism and chemical dependency/substance abuse, human sexuality, aging and long-term care, and spousal and partner abuse (domestic violence), as well as for students also pursuing the LPCC license, crisis and trauma counseling.

As a new option, beginning September 1, 2011, the required seminars will be available by telephone conference call, supplemented by web-based online sharing of documents and notes in real-time. Students who live too far from our Berkeley site to travel here twice per month may call into a phone conference line that will be connected with a speaker phone in our seminar room. Students and faculty on site at WISR and those students on their phone line, off site, will be able to interact and discuss issues, ideas and questions with one another. At a future date, some sharing by video conference may be also available from time to time. Students living outside the area are expected to attend some seminars on site two or more times per year, in order to further develop their collegial relationships with faculty and fellow students.

MFT students must have at least 306 hours of supervised experience in a practicum that meets State requirements. Also, students discuss their practicum experiences with their faculty adviser(s), and write two papers critically analyzing insights from these experiences.

Evaluation sessions are provided to support MFT student learning at three stages: (1) after six months or the completion of three areas of study and three major papers, to assess the student’s readiness for entering the practicum; (2) approximately at the midpoint of the student’s Master’s program; and (3) when the student has completed all requirements except the thesis. Each session is conducted by two core faculty members, at least one of whom holds the MFT License, with a student peer. The student’s work in the practicum is evaluated as well. Evaluations are intended to offer constructive suggestions, to help students strengthen weak areas, and to support growth where the student shows strength.

Students conduct a Master’s thesis on a topic of strong personal interest, and are guided in designing a thesis that will build bridges for the student into the areas of professional practice that they anticipate in their post-Master’s internship and beyond to their years as a licensed MFT.

More details on the MA program leading the MFT license, as well as the LPCC license, can be found in WISR’s “OFFICIAL PROGRAM DESRIPTION: MASTER OF ARTS IN PSYCHOLOGY, DESIGNED TO LEAD TOWARD THE MFT LICENSE AND ALSO THE LPCC LICENSE, Revised, July 2011.”

Prospective MFT students are also encouraged to read WISR’s most recent “School Performance Fact Sheet for WISR’s MFT Program, December 2011.” This sheet gives information on the successes of WISR MFT students in completing the MA program, and then on how they fare on going on to become licensed and practicing professionals.