Description Degree Offered Admission Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy Contact Info

Description

The master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy prepares students to work in private practice, agencies and other settings as marriage and family therapists. Graduates of the program are expected to have a sense of professional identity, acquire requisite skills and knowledge to work with couples and families, attain licensure and become leaders in the profession.

Degrees Offered

Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy

Admission

For information on general UCF graduate admissions requirements that apply to all prospective students, please visit the Admissions and Registration section of the Graduate Catalog. Applicants must apply online. Please be sure to submit all requested material by the established deadline(s).

In addition to the general admission requirements, applicants to this program must provide:

• Three letters of recommendation
• A resume or statement of goals
• Official scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), which must have been taken within the last five years (in lieu of the GRE, a GMAT score of 500 or higher may be used for admission consideration)
• For applicants from countries where English is not the official language, or for an applicant whose bachelor’s degree is not from an accredited U.S. institution, an official score of at least 220 (computer-based test; or equivalent score on the paper-based test) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required.

Applicants are expected to have a minimum cumulative GRE score of about 1000 or an undergraduate GPA of about 3.0. However, the final admission criteria will normally be more stringent because of the competitiveness of the application process.

A formal interview is required and will be scheduled after the College of Education admission requirements are met. Interviews are conducted on the second Friday in March and the second Friday in October.

This program can accommodate only a limited number of students; therefore, there is a possibility of being denied admission even when all criteria are met.

The College of Education reserves the right to refuse student entrance or terminate a student after admission to the Marriage and Family Therapy Program, if in the judgment of the faculty the student demonstrates unacceptable personal fitness to work in the field with children, youth, and/or adults.

Application Due Dates

All students applying for fellowships must apply by the Fall Priority deadline date.

U.S. Applicants

Program(s)	Fall Priority	Fall	Spring	Summer
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy	Jan 15	Mar 1	Oct 1

International Applicants

Program(s)	Fall Priority	Fall	Spring	Summer
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy	Jan 15	Jan 15	Jul 1

International Transfer Applicants

Program(s)	Fall Priority	Fall	Spring	Summer
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy	Jan 15	Mar 1	Sep 1

Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy

Minimum Hours Required for M.A.—63 Credit Hours

Area A: Core—6 Credit Hours

• EDF 6155 Lifespan Human Development and Learning (3 credit hours)
• EDF 6481 Fundamentals of Graduate Research in Education (3 credit hours)

Area B: Specialization—45 Credit Hours

• MHS 5005 Introduction to the Counseling Profession (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6430 Family Counseling I (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6431 Family Counseling II (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6440 Couples Counseling (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6070 Diagnosis and Treatment in Counseling (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6220 Individual Psychoeducational Testing I (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6400 Theories of Counseling and Personality (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6401 Techniques of Counseling (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6420 Counseling Special Populations (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6450 Counseling Substance Use and Abuse (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6480 Human Sexuality and Relationships (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6500 Group Procedures and Theories in Counseling (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6702 Ethical and Legal Issues (3 credit hours)
• SDS 6347 Career Development (3 credit hours)
• Elective approved by adviser (3 credit hours)

Area D: Professional Clinical Experiences—12 Credit Hours

• MHS 6803 Practicum in Counselor Education (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6803 Practicum in Counselor Education (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6830 Counseling Internship (3 credit hours)
• MHS 6830 Counseling Internship (3 credit hours)

Note: Courses should be taken in the following sequence: MHS 5005, 6400, 6401, 6500, 6803, and 6830.

Portfolio and Exit Examination

In lieu of comprehensive exams, students must also complete a portfolio and defend it during their final internship classes. Portfolio requirements are described in the Graduate Student Handbook for the Counselor Education Program. Students must also take an exit examination.

Graduation Requirements

Besides the 51 semester hours of normal course work, students must complete two separate semesters of Practicum MHS 6800 and two separate semesters of Internship MHS 6830 bringing the total hours to 63. During practicum, students see clients under supervision in the Community Counseling Clinic where they must accumulate 100 contact hours. In addition, 900 more contact hours are required in the two Internship classes so that the student gains a total of 1000 hours of experience in a clinical experience.

Financial Support

Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans. For more information, see Financing Grad School, which describes the types of financial assistance available at UCF and provides general guidance in planning your graduate finances. The Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog is another key resource.

Key points about financial support:

• If you're interested in financial assistance, you're strongly encouraged to apply for admission early. A complete application for admission, including all supporting documents, must be received by the priority date listed for your program under "Admissions."
• You must be admitted to a graduate program before the university can consider awarding financial assistance to you.
• If you want to be considered for loans and other need-based financial assistance, review the UCF Student Financial Assistance website at http://finaid.ucf.edu and complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form, which is available online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. Apply early and allow up to six weeks for the FAFSA form to be processed.
• UCF Graduate Studies awards university graduate fellowships, with most decisions based on nominations from the colleges and programs. All admitted graduate students are automatically considered in this nomination process. To be eligible for a fellowship, students must be accepted as a graduate student in a degree program and be enrolled full-time. University graduate fellowships are not affected by FAFSA determination of need.
• Please note that select fellowships do require students to fill out a fellowship application (either a university fellowship application, an external fellowship application, or a college or school fellowship application). For university fellowship applications, see Financing Grad School.
• For information on assistantships (including teaching, research, and general graduate assistantships) or tuition support, contact the graduate program coordinator of your major.

Contact Info

Mark Young, Ph.D. , Professor
Phone Number: 407-823-3063
counsel@mail.ucf.edu