M.A. in Counseling: Marriage Couple and Family Counseling

Program Overview

The M.A. in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling is a 60-semester hour program that focuses on developing a deep understanding of family systems, couple dynamics, and the various theoretical and practical approaches to therapeutic work in these areas. It prepares graduates for professional counseling roles, specifically focusing on helping individuals, couples, and families navigate relational challenges, communication issues, and life transitions. The program integrates core counseling concepts with specialized knowledge in marriage and family therapy, ensuring graduates are well-rounded and prepared for diverse clinical settings. Successful completion of this program fulfills the educational requirements for Pennsylvania state licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and qualifies graduates to take the National Certified Counselor (NCC) examination, which is often a prerequisite for state licensure.

CACREP Accreditation: A significant advantage of Kutztown University's Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling program is its full accreditation by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). This accreditation is a testament to the program's adherence to stringent national standards for counselor education. It assures prospective students and employers that the program meets rigorous criteria for curriculum content, faculty qualifications, student support, and program outcomes. CACREP accreditation also enhances the mobility of graduates, often facilitating licensure reciprocity across different states.

Curriculum: The 60-credit curriculum is structured to provide a thorough education in both general counseling principles and specialized family and couple therapy. Core counseling courses include professional orientation and ethics, intercultural issues in counseling, fundamentals of counseling, career counseling, group processes, and counseling theories. The program also incorporates essential research skills with courses in tests and assessment in counseling and research methods in counseling. Program core courses cover human growth and development and diagnosis and treatment planning. Specialty area courses delve deeply into marital therapy, contemporary issues in marriage and family counseling, counseling and family systems, and specific therapeutic modalities like structural and strategic family therapy. A critical component of the program is the extensive supervised clinical experience, totaling 700 hours of field experience, including a practicum and supervised internships, providing invaluable hands-on training.

Research Focus: Kutztown University's counseling department emphasizes the integration of research into clinical practice. Students are encouraged to develop strong assessment and research skills, enabling them to critically evaluate counseling interventions and utilize evidence-based practices in their work. Faculty members are engaged in various research endeavors, and opportunities often exist for students to participate in these projects, present at conferences, and contribute to the ongoing development of the counseling profession. The program's commitment to scholarly inquiry ensures that graduates are informed practitioners who can contribute to the evolving knowledge base of marriage, couple, and family therapy.

Industry Engagement: Kutztown University maintains robust connections with the professional counseling community and relevant organizations. The department utilizes Counseling Program Advisory Committees, composed of alumni, practitioners, site supervisors, and community partners, to gather feedback and ensure that the curriculum remains current and relevant to the evolving needs of the mental health workforce. This strong industry engagement facilitates high-quality practicum and internship placements for students, providing them with invaluable real-world experience and networking opportunities in various settings such as community mental health agencies, private practices, and family service centers.

Global Perspective: The Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling program at Kutztown University inherently incorporates a global perspective through its emphasis on "Intercultural Issues in Counseling." This foundational course ensures that students develop multicultural competencies, an understanding of the impact of power and privilege, and the ability to work effectively with diverse populations. Recognizing that families and couples come from a multitude of cultural backgrounds, the program prepares counselors to approach therapeutic work with cultural humility and sensitivity, acknowledging the global tapestry of human relationships and the unique challenges and strengths that different cultures bring to family dynamics. This focus ensures graduates are prepared to serve a broad spectrum of clients in an increasingly interconnected world.