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Program Description
The Doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy (D.M.F.T.) is a practitioner oriented
terminal degree. The primary emphasis of the D.M.F.T. degree program is specifically to
produce professionals whose chief contributions will be in the clinical and supervisory.
The D.M.F.T. is a 78 credit-hour program designed for individuals holding master's degrees
in a mental health field. The program prepares students for careers as private
practitioners, agency administrators, clinical supervisors, and senior clinicians. The
D.M.F.T. program is designed to expand and enhance a student’s existing clinical skills in
order to become top level practitioners, while at the same time demonstrating the place of
program/clinical research in this pursuit.
To this end, the D.M.F.T. degree requires students to complete an Applied Clinical Project
(ACP). The APC requires a student to conceive, propose, implement, and evaluate the
effectiveness of a particular clinical program under the supervision of a faculty committee.
The clinical program under review should be grounded in a systems based approach to
family psychotherapy, yet may include large educational and/or consultation components.
The Department of Family Therapy has full and part time faculty and supervisors that
represent diversity in race, cultural, gender, age, sexual orientation, and religion. The
student body reflects the rich cultural diversity of the University and South Florida as far
as race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and age.
Students entering the D.M.F.T. program are required to have the following core curriculum
or closely related equivalent courses
prior
to entering this advanced systems program.
When students need to take any of these prerequisites, these courses must be completed
prior to beginning the core D.M.F.T. curriculum.
Introduction to Marriage and Family Therapy
Legal, Ethical and Professional Issues in MFT
Theories of Marital and Family Therapy
Human Development across the Life Cycle
Theories of Personality and Psychopathology
Human Sexuality and Gender
Diversity and Psychosocial Skills
Research in Marriage and Family Therapy
Assessment in Marital and Family Therapy
The 78 credit hour program integrates systemically oriented theory, clinical practice,
qualitative, and quantitative research. The core curriculum includes:
Educational Outcomes
The DMFT program has identified Education Outcomes which include Program Outcomes,
Student Learning Outcomes, as well as Faculty Outcomes.
Program Outcomes:
PO1) The DMFT program demonstrates a commitment to issues of cultural and sexual
diversity, inclusion, social justice.
PO2) The DMFT Program in Family Therapy demonstrates a commitment to servicing the
community especially with culturally and sexually diverse populations as well as other
marginalized groups.
