Marriage and Family Therapy

Faculty:

Program Director: C. Awosan; Associate Professor: C. Awosan; Assistant Professor: Y. He; Clinical Director and Field Placement Coordinator: M. Fernandez

The Marriage and Family Therapy offers unique and comprehensive MS degree in couple and family therapy. All courses in the department are oriented toward studying human behavior from an intrapsychic, interpersonal, intergenerational, and multicultural perspectives. Graduates of the program are also afforded a firm grounding in family systems theories and techniques as well as strong cultural awareness and ethical foundations.

The program looks to the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE), and the New York State License Laws and Regulations for Marriage and Family Therapy in planning its curriculum.

The program in Marriage and Family Therapy has been registered and approved by the New York State Department of Higher Education and has been given the designation “Licensure Qualifying” by New York State for licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist.

The Marriage and Family Therapy Program was awarded initial accreditation status by Commission on the Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education in 2007. In 2007, the program submitted its first self-study, and in 2009 was granted accreditation through 2015. In 2015, the program applied for reaccreditation and was granted reaccreditation through 2021. In Spring of 2021, the program submitted the self-study for reaccreditation with COAMFTE and completed the COAMFTE site visit in April of 2022. In 2022, the program was reaccredited, and the reaccreditation currently runs through 2025.

The program contributes its services to the surrounding communities. The Iona Family Therapy Center (IFTC), which is run by the MFT program, offers individual, couple and family therapy. The program offers seminars for various professional and community groups.

The MS in Marriage and Family Therapy is geared towards those individuals who desire to work from a systemic/relational perspective. Students are required to become student members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Completion of the MS in Marriage and Family Therapy leads to eligibility for associate membership in AAMFT. By completing additional appropriate clinical experience and supervision after graduation, holders of the MS in Marriage and Family Therapy may qualify for clinical membership in AAMFT.

The MFT academic and clinical graduate training program at Iona maintains its relevance, quality, distinctiveness, rigor, and consistency in departmental offering by adhering to the professional guidelines and outcomes of

These professional guidelines and outcomes allow the MFT program to solidify and maintain its theoretical foundation, which is systemic, relational and biopsychosocial in its training of students to engage in and deliver ethically, culturally responsive and quality mental health services to diverse communities, while considering the ways in which “social, political, historical, and economic forces affect individual and relational problems and decisions about seeking and obtaining treatments” (AAMFT Core Competencies).

Self-of-the-Therapist

Students enrolled in the programs are required to participate in their own growth experience as well as critical awareness of one’s social locations and identities in relations to others. This recommendation is based on the program’s philosophy that the continuous development of such self-awareness when it is relevant to clinical practice is important to provide effective therapy services. It is also based on the belief that firsthand experience as a client bridges the often-existing gap between the intellectual and the emotional understanding of the client experience. Additionally, it is the program’s hope that attention to Self-of-the-Therapist work allows students to be more culturally aware, sensitive, responsive in their clinical development and ethical interactions with clients as well as colleagues.

Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-racism

The MFT program and Iona University is committed to diversity and inclusion. The MFT program takes a multicultural-informed education approach to training its students by creating an environment that allows for a socially-just, inclusive, anti-oppression and anti-racist training program. The program is committed to its “students developing competencies in understanding and applying knowledge of diversity, power, privilege and oppression as these relate to race, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability, health status, religious, spiritual and/or beliefs, nation of origin or other relevant social categories throughout the curriculum” (COAMFTE V12.5 Standard). The mission of the MFT program aligns with COAMFTE Version 12.5 Standard to integrate “practices with diverse, international, multicultural, marginalized, and/or underserved communities, including developing competencies in working with sexual and gender minorities and their families as well as anti-racist practices” throughout the curriculum and training of CFT graduate students (COAMFTE V12.5 Standard).

Clinical Experience and Supervision

Students enrolled in the Marriage and Family Therapy program are being trained as clinical mental health practitioners who will apply family systems theories and techniques in the delivery of professional services to individuals, couples, and families in a variety of settings.

Students enrolled in the program will engage in two years of clinical practicum during the second and third years of training. During this clinical experience it is not recommended to work full time while managing the expectations of an external field placements and working with clients at the IFTC.

Students are expected to complete a minimum of 500 supervised, direct client contact hours with individuals, couples, and families. Up to 400 of these hours must be face-to-face contact with individuals, couples, and families. Additionally, at least 250 of these required client contact hours must be with couples or families. One hundred of the required 500 hours can be designated alternate/equivalent hours with permission of the program.

Students must be supervised while they are doing their clinical work. Students are required to receive at least 100 hours of face-to-face supervision with an AAMFT approved supervisor. All of Iona’s MFT Clinical Supervisors are AAMFT Approved Supervisors and the 100 hours of face-to-face supervision with them is built into the curriculum given the shortage of AAMFT Approved Supervisors at many of the External Internship Placements. At least 50 of the supervision hours will be based on direct observation, videotape, or audiotape of self or classmates. Furthermore, at least 25 of those 50 hours will be based on direct observation or videotape of each student’s clinical work with clients.

Upon completion of the requirements for graduation in the MFT program, students are eligible to apply for the Limited Permit in Marriage and Family Therapy to continue accrue clinical hours towards licensure. Upon completion of the required supervised clinical experience and passing the American Marriage and Family Therapy Regulatory Board examination in Marriage and Family Therapy graduates are granted a license as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of New York. Similar licensing is available in other states. However, graduates who desire to be licensed in another state/jurisdiction other than New York are advised to check with local licensing boards for the requisite state requirements.

Capstone Project and Substitute

A Capstone Project is required of all students for graduation. This project involves a written and oral Clinical Case Study examination that documents the graduate’s ability to integrate theoretical knowledge with clinical skills and apply it to a real clinical situation, as well as video documentation as support for the students’ growing clinical skill.

Matriculated Status

See “Academic Information - Matriculated” in this catalog for requirements to be met, in addition to the following:

Students must meet the professional and clinical criteria established by the department.

Conducting Private Practice While Enrolled in the Program

While enrolled in the program, students may not independently offer mental health diagnosis, counseling, therapy, individual or organizational assessment, consultation services or other professional services for which they are being trained, either gratis or for remuneration.

Professional Conduct

Students in the program are being trained in the most sensitive areas of human interaction. Those who gain from their Iona training and who in turn become capable of helping their clients are those whose emotional health, ethical standards and behaviors signal their ability to develop and maintain the highest of professional attitudes and personal growth.

In view of this fact, Iona reserves the right to place on probation, suspend or dismiss from the program any student who falls short of the required clinical or professional standards of competence and integrity established by the AAMFT Code of Ethics, the MFT program and department.

The decision of the director of the program or a university delegate regarding a student’s status in the program shall be supported by written faculty assessments and recommendations. These shall be guided by the precepts of the latest edition of the Ethical Principles of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and New York State Law.

The program procedures afford the student the opportunity to address concerns raised by the faculty and to take advantage of the appeals process.

Grievance procedures can be found in the Student Handbook.

Graduation Requirements

Completion of 60 credits including the appropriate distribution of credits.
A minimum 3.0 GPA.
Acceptance of the written and presented master’s capstone project.
All professional and clinical criteria established by the department.
Meet the 500 clinical hours and 100 AAMFT approved supervision hours.
The department’s expectation is that all requirements will be completed within three years from the date of admission. The maximum time allowed for completion is five years.

Programs

Master of Science

Marriage and Family Therapy, MS (2104.10)