Couple, Marriage and Family Therapy, MA
Office: Lawrence Street Center, 701
Telephone: 303-315-6300
E-mail: academicservices@ucdenver.edu
Website: https://education.ucdenver.edu/
Overview
Degree
The Master of Arts degree in Couple & Family Therapy program prepares professionals to provide services to help individuals, couples, and families to increase mental health and relationship satisfaction in settings such as mental health centers, non-profit agencies, private practices and hospitals. This program follows Colorado state licensure requirements for licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT).
The program requires 300 hours of clinical work, 100 of which must be relational (couple and/or family therapy) clinical hours, with no distinction between practicum and internship in the collection of these clinical hours. The master’s degree is a two and a half to three and a half-year program, including a 12-16 months of practicum and internship.
The program is accredited by COAMFTE, the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education.
Admission Requirements
Successful applicants to the Couple and Family Therapy program will have obtained a minimum 2.75 undergraduate GPA. Also, applicants will submit a current resume, a letter of intent, three letters of recommendation, and additional required materials. Applicants meeting these minimum standards may be invited to a half-day group interview that involves program orientation, small group interviews, and a group exercise.
Application materials are available at https://education.ucdenver.edu/academic-services/admissions. All materials must be submitted online by the appropriate deadline: September 1 for spring semester and February 1 for fall semester.
Faculty
Rashmi Gangamma, PhD, LMFT Program Director, Associate Professor
Robert Allan, PhD, LMFT, LPC, Associate Professor
Tom "YiLe" Su, PhD LMFT, Clinical Assistant Professor
Chélynn Randolph, PhD, LMFT, Clinical Coordinator, Clinical Assistant Professor
Program Requirements
Students in the Couple and Family Therapy program are required to maintain at least a B (3.00) grade point average in all coursework attempted while enrolled.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| CMFT 5150 | Foundational Family Therapy Theories | 3 |
| CMFT 5160 | Individual and Foundational Family Therapy | 3 |
| CMFT 6180 | Family Issues: Multicultural Intersectional Systems through the Lifespan | 3 |
| CMFT 5151 | Contemporary Family Therapy Theories | 3 |
| CMFT 5161 | Individual and Contemporary Family Therapy | 3 |
| CMFT 5330 | Professional Identity & Relational Ethics | 3 |
| LDFS 6200 | Human Development Over the Life Span | 3 |
| RSEM 5120 | Introduction to Research Methods | 3 |
| CMFT 5180 | Therapy with Couples/Relationships | 3 |
| CMFT 6160 | Advanced Assessment and Treatment in Family Systems | 3 |
| COUN 6250 | Mental Health Diagnosis | 3 |
| CMFT 6140 | Counseling/Therapy with Children, Adolescents, and their Parents | 3 |
| CMFT 6170 | Family Issues: Addiction and Trauma | 3 |
| CMFT 6000 | Introduction to Sex Therapy | 3 |
| CMFT 5910 | Practicum and Individual Supervision | 3 |
| CMFT 5911 | Practicum and Group Supervision | 3 |
| CMFT 5930 | Internship in CFT | 6 |
| Total Hours | 54 | |
Couple, Marriage and Family Therapy (CMFT) Courses
CMFT 5150 - Foundational Family Therapy Theories (3 Credits)
This course offers an introduction to foundational family therapy theories and intervention strategies. Emphasis is on historical development of systems theories. Restriction: Restricted to CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade with IP
Restriction: Restricted to CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development.
CMFT 5151 - Contemporary Family Therapy Theories (3 Credits)
CMFT 5160 - Individual and Foundational Family Therapy (3 Credits)
This didactic and experiential course presents an overview of foundational techniques and theories in family therapy. It will help students continue to develop a theoretical framework for engaging in foundational theory driven therapeutic interventions via practice of individual relational and family therapy role plays. Restriction: Restricted to CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development.
CMFT 5161 - Individual and Contemporary Family Therapy (3 Credits)
This didactic and experiential course presents an overview of contemporary techniques and theories in family therapy. It will help students continue to develop a contemporary family theoretical framework for engaging in theory driven therapeutic interventions via practice family therapy role plays. Prereq: CMFT 5150 and CMFT 5160. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
CMFT 5180 - Therapy with Couples/Relationships (3 Credits)
This course is didactic and experiential dealing with therapeutic techniques applied to the improvement of intimate/couple relationships. Emphasis is placed on empirically based assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of couple/relationship problems. This is a survey course covering different approaches working with couples/relationships. Prereq: CMFT 5150, 5151, 5160 & 5161. Restriction: Restricted to CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Prereq: CMFT 5150, 5151, 5160 5161. Restriction: Restricted to CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
CMFT 5330 - Professional Identity & Relational Ethics (3 Credits)
This course addresses the professional identity and ethics of couple and family therapists. It concentrates on couple and family therapist’s ethical and legal responsibilities and liabilities as described in mental health and family law, insurance claims, and private practice management. Prereq: CMFT 5150 & CMFT 5160. Restriction: Restricted to CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
CMFT 5830 - Special Topics in Couple & Family Therapy (1-6 Credits)
Topics vary from semester to semester. Restriction: Restricted to COUN and CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.
Restriction: Restricted to COUN and CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development
CMFT 5910 - Practicum and Individual Supervision (3 Credits)
Supervised counseling practice in the counseling lab and appropriate settings with individual supervision experience (towards 150 clock hours required for graduation). Emphasis on individual and couple and family counseling techniques and therapeutic intervention strategies. Coreq: COUN 5911 or CMFT 5911. Prereq: CMFT 5150, 5151, 5160, 5161, 6810, 5330, 5180, 6160, 6140, and COUN 6250 Restriction: Restricted to COUN and CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade with IP
Coreq: COUN 5911 or CMFT 5911. Prereq: CMFT 5150, 5151, 5160, 5161, 6810, 5330, 5180, 6160, 6140, and COUN 6250 Restriction: Restricted to COUN and CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
CMFT 5911 - Practicum and Group Supervision (3 Credits)
Supervised counseling practice in the counseling lab and appropriate settings with group supervision experience (towards 150 clock hours required for graduation ). Emphasis on individual and couple and family counseling techniques and therapeutic intervention strategies. Restriction: Restricted to COUN and CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development. Must be taken concurrently with COUN or CMFT 5910. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade with IP
Coreq: COUN 5910 or CMFT 5910. Restriction: Restricted to COUN and CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
CMFT 5930 - Internship in CFT (3-6 Credits)
Supervised internship of 600 clock hours. Intern performs activities of a regularly employed professional in an approved community site. Prereq: CMFT or COUN 5910 and 5911. Restriction: Restricted to COUN and CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development. Max hours: 12 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade with IP
Repeatable. Max Credits: 12.
Prereq: CMFT or COUN 5910 and 5911. Restriction: Restricted to COUN and CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
CMFT 6000 - Introduction to Sex Therapy (3 Credits)
Provides an overview of human sexuality over the life cycle, addressing social, psychological, and physiological aspects of human sexuality. Etiology of human sexuality diagnoses and treatment of problems related to human sexuality are addressed. Prereq: CMFT 5150, 5151, 5160 and 5161. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
CMFT 6140 - Counseling/Therapy with Children, Adolescents, and their Parents (3 Credits)
This is a didactic and experiential course dealing with therapeutic techniques applied to the improvement of child functioning, and parent-child relationships. Emphasis is placed on play therapy, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of childhood and adolescent disorders, parent education, crisis intervention. Prereq: CMFT 5150, 5151, 5160 and 5161. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
CMFT 6160 - Advanced Assessment and Treatment in Family Systems (3 Credits)
This is a didactic and experiential course focusing on family assessment instruments and their use in family therapy. Emphasis is placed on the role of assessment in family therapy, the relationship of assessment to treatment planning and evaluation, gaining familiarity with a variety of assessment instruments and learning to apply assessment skills to real-world clients. Prereq: CMFT 5150, 5151, 5160, 5161, 5330, 6180, RSEM 5120, and COUN 6250. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall.
CMFT 6170 - Family Issues: Addiction and Trauma (3 Credits)
This is a family studies course that is both didactic and experiential. It is designed to assist you to become more informed about addiction, trauma and other contemporary family issues that affect beginning practitioners, their clients, and society. Prereq: CMFT 5150, CMFT 5151, and CMFT 6180. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Spring.
CMFT 6180 - Family Issues: Multicultural Intersectional Systems through the Lifespan (3 Credits)
This is a family studies course designed to assist you to become more informed about multicultural and social justice issues that affect you, your clients, and families in society. The course addresses multicultural theories and critical consciousness such as decolonization theories, liberation theories, and intersection family life cycle. Restriction: Restricted to CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to CAFT majors within the School of Education and Human Development.