What is MFT?

A degree in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) is an applied degree that will give you excellent training to use the power of relationships to help your clients. Students are trained to help individuals, couples, and families use their personal and relational resources to address a wide range of issues, including:

• Relationship distress, conflict, and communication
• Anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders
• Trauma-related issues
• Children and adolescent mental health and behaviors
• Sexual problems or concerns
• Chronic illness and other life stressors
• Grief and loss
• Compulsive and other problematic behaviors
• Premarital counseling
• Couple relationship education

Why MFT and USU’s MFT program (MS/MMFT) in particular?

• Research has proven MFT effective for treating the issues listed above
• MFT training gives you in-depth experience in doing therapy and being supervised, which means you graduate as a more competent therapist.
• We are accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) and meet all Utah licensure requirements.
• We are student-centric. We focus on YOU and YOUR development. That means we are committed to your success and work to identify opportunities that align with your specific interests and goals.
• We have a strong commitment for students to become great therapists and consumers of research.
  • Students receive in-depth training in such specialized topics as sex therapy, collaborative healthcare, psychopharmacology, neurobiology/neuropsychology of relationships, play therapy, addiction, trauma and more!
• Our graduates have a very strong reputation regarding their clinical effectiveness, with many employers in the State of Utah
• We can help you become a great researcher, too.
  • Each of our students who have opted to go on for a PhD have had multiple options for their programs (whether they did a thesis or not).

About Our MFT Program

The USU MFT program begin in the early 1990’s. Our mission is to prepare students to serve others as practicing marriage and family therapists. We provide a wealth of diverse and practical experiences, research opportunities, and attentive supervision. Our focus is to inspire students to excel academically, professionally, and personally. We aim to create culturally competent, ethical, and effective therapists who strive to make valuable contributions to the MFT profession and their communities. We work hard to make our program challenging, enjoyable, and effective in helping you achieve your personal and professional goals.

Funding:

• Our Master’s students typically find two major sources of funding. These include assistantships (mostly teaching but some research). A 20-hour assistantship pays our master’s students $7,000 per semester. Thus far, we have been very successful in finding assistantships for our master’s students for both Fall and Spring semesters of their first year. However, these are not guaranteed.
• In addition, students also typically begin working at an Advanced Practicum Site at the end of their second semester in the program. Many of these sites are paid, with pay typically ranging from $15-$25/hour. Students typically work at these sites on Thursdays and Fridays for 6-8 hours each day.
• Department, college, and university scholarships (varied amounts) are available to students in their second year.
• For PhD funding, please go to PHD Admissions and Finacial Assistance.

Link to Master's Curriculum:

If accepted into the MFT Master’s program, you’ll have TWO choices:

1. MS in Human Development and Family Studies, MFT Specialization (Plan A, Thesis option)
2. MMFT, Master’s in MFT (non-Thesis option)

Both of these options complete the requirements to be a Marriage and Family Therapist. This specialization provides professional and research development for students who are primarily interested in marriage and family therapy as a career. Other than the thesis, the requirements and coursework for both options are identical.