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Marriage and Family Therapy (MS)

The Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program at Seattle Pacific University is designed to provide high-quality education to students, enabling them to graduate with competence in systemically informed MFT skills and character. The program is fully committed to engaging the culture and changing the world by graduating people of competence and character.

About the Program

The MFT program mission is to provide high-quality education so that students graduate with competence in systemically informed MFT skills and character through ethically responsible relational care to diverse communities of families and clinical populations. The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) and is recognized as a core mental health profession by the U.S. federal government.

Program Goals

Graduates of the Masters of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy (MS) program are prepared to demonstrate the following program goals:

• Application of family systems theoretical models and clinical interventions to therapeutic work with diverse populations of individuals, couples, groups, and families.
• Application of personal and professional values that are integrated into an ethical practice of family therapy.
• Awareness and clinical interventions attending to sociocultural factors and professional trends that influence the practice of family therapy.

Distinctives

The MFT program has a strong self-of-the-therapist orientation and is guided by a faithfully Christian context that respects a diversity of spiritual explorations. The program trains students for supervised service in clinical and agency mental health organizations, educational settings, and private psychotherapy.

Accreditation

The MFT program at Seattle Pacific University holds national accreditation through the Commission of Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). Graduates with post-master's degree experience are eligible to apply for licensure through Washington state's Department of Health.

Curriculum

The program requires completion of 70 quarter credits and can be completed in either a two-year (full-time) or three-year (part-time) sequence. Courses are generally held during mid-afternoon and evening hours, Monday through Thursday, for 10 weeks.

Practicum Sequence

The program provides a seven-quarter practicum sequence that focuses on the development of the therapist and provides fundamental and comprehensive clinical training. This includes:

• Supervised internship at an approved site (500 hours of face-to-face client contact, of which at least 250 hours must be couples or family therapy).
• On-campus small-group supervision and individual/group supervision at an Internship placement site.
• A Clinical Portfolio, presented in the seventh quarter, which is an in-depth application of a theory to clinical practice and the integration of the therapist with their clinical work.

Professional Licensure Disclosure

SPU's MS in Marriage and Family Therapy meets the educational requirements that will allow students to pursue licensure in the state of Washington. Each state has different professional licensure requirements, and eligibility for licensure may involve more than degree completion.

Admission Requirements

• Online application and $50 application fee.
• Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution in any field, with a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 in the last 45 quarter credits of coursework completed before applying for admission.
• Prerequisites, including a course in applied statistics and a course in individual life span development, completed at a regionally accredited institution prior to full admission to the program.
• Testing, including a minimum score of 293 for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or 388 scaled score for the Miller Analogies Test (MAT).
• Letters of recommendation from a person professionally qualified to recommend for a field of this nature, a person qualified to evaluate academic ability, and a personal recommendation.
• Personal statement, typed, demonstrating writing and grammatical skills, explaining career objectives, and providing rationale for seeking the degree.

International Students

• If English is not the first language, students must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and present a minimum score of 550 on the paper-based test or 80 on the iBT, or complete the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with a minimum score of 7.0.
• If not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, students must provide an official confidential statement of financial support covering each year of intended enrollment.

Deadline

• January 11

Admissions Process

The Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Admissions Committee will complete an initial applicant screening process based upon online application materials only. Finalists are invited to meet with members of the committee for an all-day group interview process at the end of March or the beginning of April.

Transfer of Credit

If students wish to apply master's degree level coursework completed at a regionally accredited institution prior to application, they must provide applicable transcripts and/or syllabi. Each course must be at least 3 graduate quarter credits and be equivalent to courses taught in the MFT program at Seattle Pacific University. A minimum grade of B will be needed for transferred work, and a maximum of 9 quarter credits may be transferred.