M.S. with Specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy

You’ll submit the following materials:

• Graduate School application
• Unofficial transcripts
• Three letters of recommendation
• Statement of purpose
• Current resume

Letters of Recommendation

Select recommenders who will provide strong support for your decision to become a marriage and family therapist.

We recommend that at least one letter come from a professor who supports your ability to complete graduate-level work.

If you have worked or volunteered in a setting that provides patient care, then a recommendation letter from a supervisor is valuable in communicating your passion for helping others and your ability to relate to clients.

Statement of Purpose

The statement of purpose allows you to express your ideas, self-awareness and professional goals, and helps the faculty involved in the decision-making process get to know you and understand your interest in and commitment to the program. It also illustrates your ability to organize your thoughts and communicate effectively — essential skills for success in the program and as a marriage and family therapist.

Your statement of purpose should be typed, double-spaced and no more than eight pages in length. It should be composed of the following sections:

• Personal philosophy: Discuss your personal philosophy of life and the ideas, values and preferences that guide you, as well as people and/or experiences that have had an influence on your life.
• Marriage and family therapy: Discuss the factors and/or experiences that motivate you to become a marriage and family therapist, as well as what you see as the most important qualities of a successful marriage and therapy therapist. Discuss your professional goals and where you see yourself five and 15 years after graduating.
• Education: Discuss what attracted you to our program and why this is a good time in your life to pursue graduate-level education. Describe how you learn effectively and your ideal learning context.

There are no course prerequisites for admission to the specialization, but you’re expected to have successfully completed an undergraduate course in each of the following areas:

• Introduction to family relationships (HDFS 284 or equivalent)
• Child development or human development (HDFS 230 or 280, or equivalent)
• Theories of child development or family theories (HDFS 432 or 484, or equivalent)

We’ll review your transcript and let you know in your acceptance letter if you’ve met these requirements. Courses from other universities and majors (such as psychology) are often accepted.

Ideally, you would complete any deficient courses before beginning the program. However, you may complete them in your first semester in the program, at NIU or another institution.

No-cost proficiency exams are also available for HDFS 230, 280 and 284 at the NIU Testing Center.

• Demonstrate the ability to understand and apply theories of human development, family relationships, and human ecology to individual and family development across the lifespan
• Demonstrate the ability to apply ethical and reflective approaches to the study of and practice with individuals, couples and families
• Show proficiency in professional oral and written communication skills and the use of empirically-based information on human development and family sciences
• Demonstrate the ability to understand, apply and synthesize research related to the study of human development and family sciences
• Demonstrate the ability to work with a diverse set of families and individuals by using culturally-relevant research, theory, skills and approaches
• Demonstrate an understanding of human development across the individual life span and the family life cycle and the ability to integrate theories of development into their clinical work
• Display a comprehension of systems theory, including classic and contemporary CFT theories, with the capacity to employ systems theories in therapy with couples, families and individuals
• Show proficiency in the interpersonal and therapeutic skills essential to the successful practice of couple and family therapy
• Make effective use of clinical supervision including openness to supervisory feedback, active participation, diligent preparation for supervision, ability to evaluate their own work and implementation of recommendations into clinical work with clients
• Exhibit sensitivity to cultural diversity and awareness of the contextual factors that impact clients along with the ability to skillfully integrate this cultural awareness in therapy with diverse individuals, couples and families
• Demonstrate a beginning-level knowledge of MFT research; an understanding of the research conducted by the CFT Clinic and the capacity to use this research in their therapy with clients
• Display a comprehension of the AAMFT Code of Ethics and legal issues pertinent to couple and family therapists
• Demonstrate the capacity to assess and to apply an ethical decision-making model to ethical and legal issues in clinical work

Accredited: December 1, 1983
Advertised program length*: Two Years

Graduation Rate is the program's Advertised Length of Completion which is how long the program is designed to complete as written.

Job Placement Rate is the percentage of graduates from the cohort year that are employed utilizing skills learned in the COAMFTE accredited program.

Licensure rate is the percentage of graduates from the cohort year that have achieved any level of MFT licensure. For master's programs only, COAMFTE has established a benchmark of 70% licensure rate for each cohort.