Post-Master of Science in Counseling: Marriage and Family Therapy Certificate
Online: 8 weeks
Overview
Enhance Your Career in Marriage and Family Therapy
The Post-Master of Science in Counseling: Marriage and Family Therapy Certificate is designed for professionals who hold a master's degree in counseling or other behavioral areas and desire to advance their career in counseling. The marriage and family therapy program provides you with the knowledge and essential skills to assess and address marriage and family-related issues, including, but not limited to, communication issues, parent-child relationships, family system dynamics and couple's issues.
Requirements include a master's or doctorate degree in counseling, substance abuse counseling, clinical or counseling psychology, marriage and family therapy, behavioral health, social work, nursing or psychiatry medicine.
Earning this certificate in marriage and family therapy within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences is an excellent pathway to enhance your critical thinking skills of marriage and family systems, grow your knowledge base in behavioral health therapy and develop techniques to treat problems related to these areas.
Degree Outcomes
Continue Your Education in Counseling and Behavioral Health
Upon earning a post-master certificate in marriage and family therapy, you will have increased knowledge in counseling and behavioral health, which encompasses advanced family systems theory, couples and family dynamic processes, diversity in family systems and family systems affected by addictive disorders.
This marriage and family therapy certificate program engages you in all aspects of traditional and nontraditional family and couple relationships with emphasis on the role, value and benefit of family systems therapy. At the forefront of this certificate program is the comprehension of systems theory and examining deficiencies in families, along with the effects of other issues such as divorce, substance use and domestic violence.
What You Will Learn
Engage in Couple Relationships and Family Systems Theory
Course topics include:
- Introduction to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in relation to the field of counseling
- Researching and utilizing community resources
- Examining historical and theoretical perspectives of couples and family dynamics
- Identifying the development of problems
- Exploring counseling and therapy techniques and addressing treatment
- Evaluation of biopsychosocial perspectives of family and family systems
- Study of diverse family dynamics, such as multiracial, blended, step, single-parent, adoptive, foster, etc.
Career Outcomes
Become a Leader in Behavioral Health
A post-master certificate in marriage and family therapy equips you with advanced knowledge and the skillset to accelerate your continuing education in professional counseling and behavioral health. The program is based on best practices specially aligned toward the counseling and behavioral health fields and other related areas. Earning this certificate provides you with leadership qualities and an in-depth understanding of counseling theories and family dynamic processes to succeed in diverse settings.
Course List
Program Core Courses
Course Description
This survey course provides an introduction to the graduate certificate programs in childhood and adolescence disorders, marriage and family therapy, substance use disorders and addiction, and trauma. Students are introduced to the University policies and procedures, the learning management system, the library, and proper APA formatting for academic writing. In addition, students are introduced to the current DSM and how the information relates to the field of counseling. Students also learn about researching and utilizing community resources, and becoming certified in specializations.
Course Description
This course examines the dynamic processes of traditional and nontraditional family and couple relationships and the role, value, and benefits of family systems therapy. The biopsychosocial perspectives of family and family systems are evaluated along with the foundational development of marriage and family therapy. Assessment and treatment of couples and families are also addressed.
Course Description
This course examines the development of problems within the family of origin, and the historical and theoretical perspectives of couples and family system dynamics. It addresses the dynamics of the parent/child relationship, family of origin influences, partner selection, and premarital therapy. Family roles and interactional patterns are examined, as are parenting and changes in the parental relationships across the lifespan, resilience, and divorce. Skills and techniques relevant to couples, premarital counseling, family therapy, parenting, and lifestyle transitions are explored.
Course Description
This course examines the dynamic processes of diverse family systems, including multicultural families, blended families, same-sex parents, grandparents as primary caregivers, single-parent families, adoptive, foster, transitional families, and separated families.
Course Description
This course examines the impact of substance use and addictive disorders on family systems. Various treatment interventions are discussed. The treatment roles and responsibilities of addicted individuals and their families are also examined.
Program Locations
Online
Evening
* The Department of Education defines how an institution must calculate a program's On-Time Completion rate for federal disclosure purposes. The On-Time Completion rate is based on a program’s published required number of months to complete all degree requirements as provided in the institution’s catalog. Completion statistics are updated every January and are based on the cohort of students who graduated between 7/1 – 6/30 of the preceding year. The On-Time Completion rate is determined by the number of students in the cohort who completed the program within the published program length divided by the number of students in the cohort who graduated.
Online and Evening program disclosures (11 month program)* Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Program subject to change.