Master of Family Therapy (MFT)

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Drexel’s Master of Family Therapy (MFT) program is designed to prepare the next generation of couple and family therapists for the workforce. Students are trained to work in diverse, inter-professional health care environments and to address the complex public health issues that impact individuals, couples and families. The program has a particular focus on working with couples and families impacted by trauma and addiction. Students are trained in modern, post-modern and evidence-based therapy approaches. Faculty have expertise and certifications in an array of treatment models, including attachment-based family therapy, emotionally focused couples therapy, sex therapy and self-of-the-therapist frameworks.

This 22-month, full-time, graduate degree program meets the minimum educational requirements for MFT license eligibility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The program is accredited by and subject to approval by the Commission for Accreditation of Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE).

Program Format

22-month, full-time graduate degree program
Nine-month, required clinical practicum during first year
Meets Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requirements for MFT license eligibility
Accredited by the Commission for Accreditation of Marriage and Family Therapy Education

Program Deadlines

The deadlines below are the dates by which applications must be submitted and all application requirements received.

Fall (Domestic) – Priority: Jan. 1; Regular: June 1
Fall (International) – Priority: Jan. 1; Regular: May 1
No Spring or Summer intake

HOW TO APPLY PROGRAM CONTACT VISIT OUR DEPARTMENT

Program Overview

Drexel University's Master of Family Therapy (MFT) graduate program is designed to prepare the next generation of couple and family therapists for the workforce. Our COAMFTE-accredited MFT program educates students for a range of careers across interprofessional health care environments where they address the complex public health issues that impact individuals, couples and families. Our MFT program has a particular focus on working with couples and families impacted by trauma and related difficulties, including addiction. We educate students to work with varied populations, including couples, adolescents at risk for suicide and families coping with addiction. Students learn to use classical, postmodern, and evidence-based therapy approaches in their work. Program faculty have expertise and certifications in an array of models, including Attachment-based Family Therapy, Emotionally-focused Therapy, Sex Therapy and the Self-of-the-Therapist model.

Learning Outcomes

Program Goal 1:
To graduate students who have acquired the theoretical knowledge and clinical skills to practice in the field of marriage and family therapy

SLO 1: Employ a systemic/relational perspective to identify, assess and treat clinical and mental health issues using traditional and psycho-diagnostic categories
SLO 2: Identify, assess and understand individual and family development across the family life cycle and its related influence on clinical, physical and mental health issues

Program Goal 2:
To graduate students who can identify and execute the legal and ethical responsibilities to practice in the field of marriage and family therapy

SLO 3: Maintain a professional couple and family therapy identity and ethical conduct to support future MFT licensure credentialing
SLO 4: Identify ethical and legal issues and responsibilities related to the practice of couple and family therapy

Program Goal 3:
To graduate students trained to identify cultural and contextual differences, to use their self in the therapeutic process and who serve diverse peoples and communities in the practice of couple and family therapy.

SSLO 5: Identify and utilize foundational and current, contemporary directions to couple and family therapy practice
SLO 6: Understand, respect and maintain understanding of cultural differences in couple and therapy practice

Program Goal 4:
To graduate students who can consume and apply the marriage and family therapy research literature

SLO 7: Demonstrate knowledge of traditional and contemporary research practices in couple and family therapy
SLO 8: Identify ethical responsibilities in couple and family therapy research practices

Clinical Practicum

Clinical practicum provides students with an intensive, clinical experience working with varied individuals, couples, families and groups from a systemic perspective. Individual and group supervision is required during the duration of clinical practice and is designed to facilitate the student's integration of theory and practice.

All students are required to complete a nine-month, continuous program clinical practicum during year 1 of the program and a 12-month, continuous clinical practicum during year two of the program prior to graduation, in alliance with COAMFTE accreditation requirements.

Clinical practicum graduation requirements

Mandatory Clinical Orientation – Prior to the start of the fall term of the first quarter of clinical activity.
Passing CFTP 539 Clinical Readiness Seminar – Required to move forward with your clinical placement.
Passing Clinical Practicum Supervision courses (CFTX 530-536) and concurrent Group Supervision Practicum Courses (CFTP 561-564) sequentially over the course of 7 quarters of clinical practicum.
Completing a minimum of 500 direct client contact hours – 250 must be working with couples or families.
Completing a minimum of 100 hours of supervision – 50 of the 100 must be observable [video or audio], 25 of the 50 observable hours must be of the student.

The degree meets the minimum education requirements for MFT licensure in the state of Pennsylvania. Upon completion of the program, students are prepared to practice in the field as marriage and family therapists.

Download List of Clinical Placement Sites (PDF)

Download List of Clinical Supervisors (PDF)

Clinical Compliance Requirements

All students in the Masters of Family Therapy program are required to complete clinical compliance annually. Some of these steps may take significant time to complete; please plan accordingly. Students who do not complete compliance by the required due date will be unable to engage in clinical practice until they achieve compliance.

Please review Clinical Compliance information provided by the Drexel College of Nursing and Health Professions.

Our Commitment

Health disparities and inequities impact every human interaction and community. The root causes of inequity that drive disparities are perpetuated by individuals, groups, organizations and governments, and are directly responsible for individual and collective stress, trauma, negative health outcomes, and premature mortality. Drexel University recognizes health disparities and inequities are historic, ongoing, and embedded in every institution and health service system which you may enter as a graduate of the Master of Family Therapy (MFT) program. We are dedicated to improving health access, reducing barriers to care and promoting fair health practices that dismantle health disparities and inequities. Our commitment is intrinsic to our identity as people and vital to all aspects of our work as mental health practitioners, including education, practice, and research. We recognize that ongoing self-interrogation is paramount to the process of individuals, communities and societies moving from inaction to action, from ally to activist, to create a truly just, equitable world.

The Master of Family Therapy program offers students unparalleled opportunities to gain in-depth knowledge of and excel in the rewarding fields of behavioral health counseling and family therapy. Students are prepared to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation or to pursue advanced degrees. Our students fully integrate theory and practice as they advance into people-centered clinicians and researchers.

Drexel’s internationally recognized and clinically experienced program faculty educate the next generation of successful clinicians and researchers. MFT program graduates go on to meet the national demand for competent mental health and addictions treatment professionals across a wide range of career sectors.

Program Faculty

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences faculty are dedicated educators as well as leading clinical and cognitive scientists whose diverse body of scholarship advances the frontlines of academics, discovery and practice.

Recent Faculty Publications

Click on each faculty member’s profile to learn more about their areas of expertise and research interests.

	Faculty Member	Expertise
	Veronica Carey, PhD, MHS, CPRP, CDE^® Associate Clinical Professor; Former Assistant Dean of Culture, Climate and Belonging vdc22@drexel.edu	Psychiatric Rehabilitation Vocational Rehabilitation Behavioral Healthcare Implementation of Mental Health Services
	Jessica Chou, PhD, LPC, LMFT Associate Professor jlc563@drexel.edu	Substance use disorders Women and Families Trauma Family Therapy Family-Centered Treatment
	Ronald C. Comer, DSW Associate Professor Emeritus rc37@drexel.edu	Social work
	E. Stephanie Krauthamer Ewing, PhD, MPH Associate Professor 288 Stratton Hall ek469@drexel.edu	Attachment Parenting Emotion Regulation Depression Suicide Risk Pre-School Adolescence
	Christian Jordal, PhD, LMFT, CST-S Clinical Professor Stratton Hall 3201 Chestnut Street, Room 206 Philadelphia, PA 19104 cj396@drexel.edu	Marriage and family therapy Clinical supervision and therapist development Sex therapy and sexual well-being Interprofessional education and training Behavioral health workforce development Suicide prevention Substance use and family systems
	James R. Muruthi, PhD Assistant Professor jm5243@drexel.edu	Health Psychology Stress and Resilience Aging and Lifespan Development Social Relationships and Health Black Men's Health Cardiometabolic Health Prostate Cancer Disparities
	Rikki Patton, PhD Research Professor; Program Director, PhD in Couple and Family Therapy Stratton Hall, Room 267 – Research Lab rap362@drexel.edu	Substance use Stigma Trauma Couple and Family Therapy Contextual Family Therapy Interprofessional education and collaboration Workforce development
	Phyllis A. Swint, PhD Associate Clinical Professor; Director of Clinical Training (COFT) Stratton Hall, Room 204 pas35@drexel.edu	Clinical training education curricula Workforce development Advancing contextual family therapy practice Family therapy practice and incarceration Mental health and addiction Equitable healthcare and family policy development in the field of MFT (Marriage Family Therapy)
	Marlene F. Watson, PhD Associate Professor Emerita mfw24@drexel.edu	Couple and Family Therapy