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M.A. Degree in Clinical-Counseling Psychology
Marriage and Family Therapy Program
La Salle's Marriage and Family Therapy Program is granted COAMFTE Accreditation
The Marriage and Family Therapy Master’s program is very pleased to announce that it has achieved candidacy status with the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). This accreditation is a measure of the program’s excellence. With it comes national recognition as one of the nation’s premium MFT training programs.
AAMFT’s Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) is the nationally recognized accrediting agency that accredits Master's degree, doctoral degree, and post-graduate degree clinical training programs in marriage and family therapy throughout the United States and Canada.
What is Marriage and Family Therapy?
Marriage and Family Therapy is an approach to mental health care which seeks to help people within the context of their families and their relationships, using family systems theories and interventions. Its practitioners hold a common assumption that if the individual is to change, the context must change. Therefore, the unit of treatment is no longer the person, even if only a single person is interviewed. It is the set of relationships in which the person is embedded.
Who are Marriage and Family Therapists?
Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) are mental health professionals trained in psychotherapy, family systems, and relationship issues. They are licensed to treat mental and emotional disorders within the context of individuals, couples, marriage and family systems.
What do Marriage and Family Therapists do?
Marriage and Family Therapists evaluate and treat mental and emotional
disorders and other health and behavioral problems, and address a
wide array of relationship issues within the context of the individual and/or the family
system.
Some of the problems that Marriage and
Family Therapist help people with are:
- Communication between family members, intimate partners, friends, coworkers or others.
- Parental concerns such as learning effective approaches to discipline and how to effectively deal with children and/or adolescent’s behavior and emotional difficulties.
- Marital or couple discord
- Sexual difficulties and concerns
- Feelings of depression, anxiety or loneliness
- Unmanageable anger, hostility or violence
Marriage and Family Therapists are widely employed as clinicians
and consultants in mental health clinics, hospitals, schools, drug
and alcohol centers and a variety of other settings. Trained marriage
and family therapists, are also used to conduct or direct research.
What is the Program?
It is a 48 credit hour program which is normally completed in three years, however can be completed in two.
It helps to prepare students for employment in professional setting
with special training in marriage and family therapy.
It has been designed to fulfill the basic educational requirements
for clinical membership in the American Association for Marriage
and Family Therapy.
It is excellent preparation for those students planning to pursue
doctoral studies in marriage and family therapy.
It prepares students for licensure as Marriage and Family Therapists
in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and most other states.
How does the Program progress?
The MFT program progresses from a knowledge base of core courses
in systems theory and psychology, to a sequence of skills courses
in assessment and intervention, to actual clinical practice, completed
in a 12 month clinical placement in the final year.
Why study Marriage and Family Counseling At La Salle?
La Salle has been training counselors and therapists since 1979.
Its faculty is highly qualified and posses a wide range of disciplinary
expertise. Its resources are extensive, including:
- La Salle's Marriage and Family Therapy Program is COAMFTE Accredited
- Connelly Library – a state-of-the art library with extensive holdings in counseling and psychology.
- An Assessment Laboratory that contains a wide variety of testing materials and resources
- A Counseling Laboratory containing videotaping equipment and rooms with one-way mirrors for observation
- Affiliations with many nationally recognized agencies and clinics in the Philadelphia area, which is especially rich in its mental health resources. Sites include:
- Aldie Counseling Center (Doylestown, PA)
- Arcadia University Counseling Center (Glenside, PA)
- Behavioral Health Center for Older Adults (Langhorne, PA)
- Catholic Charities (Camden & Trenton, NJ)
- Center for Families & Relationships (Philadelphia, PA)
- Eagleville Hospital (Eagleville, PA)
- Drexel University Counseling Center (Philadelphia, PA)
- Intercommunity Action (Philadelphia, PA)
- Lehigh Valley Community Mental Health Center (Allentown, PA)
- Lenape Valley Foundation (Doylestown & Bristol, PA)
- Northern Home (Philadelphia, PA)
- NHS Human Services (Philadelphia & Lansdale, PA)
- Today, Inc. (Middletown Twp, PA
Location
A noteworthy feature of La Salle's Marriage and Family Therapy Program, as well as the is that they are offered in their entirety at three campuses
Admission Requirements
Ordinarily students will be accepted into the program three times
a year - to begin their studies in the fall, spring or summer semester.
To be eligible, students must present:
- Evidence of successful completion of a four year baccalaureate
degree program, preferably in marriage and family studies or psychology, with a GPA of 3.0 or
higher
- Above average scores on either the Graduate Record Exam or the
Miller Analogies Test. If an applicant has a GPA of 3.5 or higher, this requirement is optional.
- Two letters of recommendation from former faculty members or
supervisors
- Statement of intent - a short statement of career goals and why you are choosing La Salle University for your graduate study
- A minimum of 15 credits in marriage and family studies or psychology (this requirement
may be met by taking additional graduate courses)
Life experience is valued and therefore some preference will
be given applicants who present relevant work experience, either
paid or volunteer
Required Courses
PCMF 500 Counseling Theories
PCMF 502 Counseling Laboratory
PCMF 503 Psychopathology
PCMF 504 Development
PCMF 505 Introduction to Systems
PCMF 506 Research & Statistics
PCMF 602 Advanced Counseling Laboratory
PCMF 603 Human Sexuality
PCMF 619 Ethnic/Gender & Family Issues
PCMF 602 Advanced Counseling Laboratory
PCMF 614 Working with Families
PCMF 619 Ethnic/Gender & Family Issues
PCMF 624 Marital Therapy
PCMF 628 Introduction to Relationships
PCMF 634 Addictions and the Family
PCMF 680/81/82* MFT Internship
PCMF 690/91/92* MFT Professional Seminar
* The Professional Seminar is taken in conjunction with the practicum
internship for a total of 9 credits
Addictions Minor:
Students in the MFT Program have the option of minoring in Addictions.
Post-Master’s Certificate Program:
While students are pursuing clinical hours for licensure, they can take remaining courses needed to reach 60 credit hours needed for licensure in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Click here for a list of the courses in the certificate program.
 Donna A. Tonrey, Psy.D., LMFT
Director, Marriage and Family Therapy Program
Phone: 215.997.0188
Fax: 215.951.5140
tonrey@lasalle.edu
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