Counseling: Concentration in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling

The Master of Science in Counseling: Concentration in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling (MFCC) provides the student with a degree that can lead to practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) in California. Marriage and family therapists (MFTs) are counselor specialists trained to provide assessment, diagnosis, and intervention for individuals, couples, families, and groups to achieve more adequate, satisfying, and productive relationship, mental health functioning, and social adjustment. The training curriculum emphasizes a culturally-informed and inclusive approach, and a developmentally-informed systemic-familial-relational orientation to counseling. Graduates of the MFCC program work in public and private mental health agencies, schools, universities, hospitals, private practice, and a variety of community service and advocacy settings. The MFCC curriculum meets all of the educational requirements for LMFT licensure in California. MFCC students who wish to be endorsed by the Department of Counseling as meeting the educational requirements for the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in California must also complete an emphasis in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

1. Human development. To understand concepts of normal development including physical, sexual, emotional, social, cultural, personality, cognitive, and career development; and to understand concepts of abnormal development, including behavior disorders and substance abuse.
2. Theoretical Framework. To understand theories of counseling.
3. Generic Counseling. To provide knowledge and training in individual and group counseling methods; consultation and basic interviewing and helping skills.
4. Socio-cultural Factors. To understand the characteristics and trends related to various cultural, economic, and ethnic groups, including such factors as disability, gender, and life style.
5. Career Development. To provide knowledge of career information, job satisfaction, job-seeking skills, and instruments used to assist career choice.
6. Assessment, Evaluation, and Research. To provide a working knowledge of assessment tools and research findings useful to the practitioner.
7. Professional Development. To provide knowledge about the professional, legal, and ethical foundations of counseling, and to be aware of the community resources and cultures of the various agencies service the public.
8. Personal Growth Factors. To learn the appropriate use of insight into self and others in the development of empathic, helping relationships. The DoC strongly suggest that students consider some kind of counseling hat will enable them to focus upon themselves in a meaningful way.