Post-Master's Certificate Overview

Marriage and Family Therapy is a discipline for people who are interested in providing mental health services to individuals and families from a systems or relational perspective. This program prepares students to be family therapists who are well-grounded in systems theory and who are competent to diagnose and treat mental illness. Students have the opportunity to receive intensive supervision of their clinical work with a broad range of individuals, couples, and families at the Department's Center for Family Services. The post-master’s certificate program is designed for students who already have a clinical master’s degree. Students have the opportunity to take courses to prepare them for clinical membership in AAMFT and for professional licensure. While the program consists of a structured group of courses, each student will determine his or her own needs in order to supplement previous master’s degree programs or to receive AAMFT Clinical Membership or licensure. The MFT post-master’s certificate program encourages diversity. Members of minority groups are highly encouraged to apply.

How to Apply:
Fill out the online application for participation in the certificate program.

Upon processing of the application, you will be contacted
with information about the submission of additional
required materials. Thank you for your interest.

Admission Requirements

Applicants for the Post-Master's Certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy Program must hold bachelor's and master's degrees from an accredited institution and present evidence of ability to do graduate level work, including a quality credit average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Original transcripts, 3 letters of reference and a supplemental application are required in addition to the Virginia Tech on-line application. Potential students must also demonstrate that they have some professional or volunteer experience in a clinical setting.

Course Requirements

COURSEWORK

The program consists of advanced courses in marriage and family therapy and a supervised clinical practicum. A total of 21-24 post-master’s credits must be earned for completion of the program. The program may be pursued on a part-time or full-time basis. Courses are offered during the day.

There are 5-6 academic courses (15-18 hours) required for the Post-Master’s Certificate Program.

The required academic courses are:

HD 5404 Systems Theory and Family Therapy

HD 5434 Clinical Marriage and Family Therapy I (Structural and

Strategic Approaches

HD 5474 Professional Seminar in Marriage and Family Therapy (Ethics)

(this course may be waived if the student has taken a course in

professional ethics in his/her previous graduate work)

Choose three of the following courses depending on areas of interest:

HD 5724 Couples Therapy

HD 5344 Perspectives on Human Sexuality

HD 5424 Life-Span Human Development

HD 5444 Clinical Marriage and Family Therapy II (Constructivist

Approaches)

HD 5454 Clinical MFT III (Diagnosis and Treatment in the Family

Context)

HD 5464 Clinical Marriage and Family Therapy IV (Special Topics in

MFT)

HD 5744 Multicultural Family Therapy

Or any additional department courses available

Post-master's certificate in marriage and family therapy

in addition to the course requirements, 6.0 credit hours of HD 5964 MFT Practicum is required. The internship hours are served at the marriage and family therapy's Center for Family Services clinical facility in Falls Church, VA.