The M.S. in Family Therapy is designed to help students develop clinical excellence and prepare for careers as marriage and family therapists. Students are prepared to assume professional positions in private practice, employee assistance programs, managed care and health care organizations, child care and child development systems, family service agencies, schools, churches, hospitals, and other clinical and organizational settings.
The 60-credit hour degree program consists of coursework and clinical practice. Training is concentrated on brief, interactional models of family therapy, preparing our graduates to practice in a time sensitive, cost-effective manner. The M.S. in Family Therapy has full accreditation with the:
The M.S. in Family Therapy is offered on-campus on NSU's Main Campus.
Students may enter the M.S. program in the Fall or Summer trimester. Students may enroll full or part time, taking six to twelve credit hours per trimester. Students who begin in the Summer trimester may be part time for that trimester. Classes typically meet 3-6 pm and 6- 9 pm with the exception of practicum.
Students who attend full-time can expect to complete the program in 2 years approximately. Part-time students will complete the program in 3 years or less depending on the pace of study. Summer attendance is required.
Master's students are provided NSU computer accounts including email and Blackboard, but must obtain their own Internet service providers, use their own computer systems and have a usable web camera. Online students use the web to access course materials, announcements, email, distance library services, subscription library databases, and other information, and for interaction with faculty and fellow students. Online, interactive learning methods are based on the use of Blackboard as a course management system. Online activities facilitate frequent student-to-faculty and student-to-student interaction. They are supported by threaded discussion boards, white boards, chat rooms, email, and multimedia presentations. In addition, Blackboard enables students to submit assignments online in multimedia formats and to receive their professors' reviews of assignments online in the same formats.
The Master's Program in Family Therapy strives to educate and train students to become competent Couples and Family therapists with the ability to work with culturally and sexually diverse populations and marginalised groups in individual, couple, family, group and organisational settings. Our program further strives to uphold all professional standards in the field.
The Master's Program in Family Therapy provides training using a relational/systemic theoretical lens in work with individuals, couples, families, groups and organisations. The program curriculum emphasises the ethical and professional practice of Couples and Family Therapy, offering professional and scholarly services to the community including culturally and sexually diverse populations and other marginalised groups. Through these practices, the program demonstrates a commitment to issues of cultural and sexual diversity, inclusion, and international sensitivity. The program provides a global perspective of research, scholarship and service and participates in reflective practices through self-evaluation and input from our communities of interest as we strive to maintain the highest professional standards.
Criteria for acceptance into the M.S. in Family Therapy include a major emphasis on applicants who are familiar with and interested in learning systemic theories and therapies. They also attend to applicants' comfort with cultural and sexual diversity and their ability to connect to people in crisis. Applicants who demonstrate significant ability to listen to others, engage in conversation, and learn from dialogue will be best prepared for admission. The admissions essay must include specific citations of family therapy literature to provide a rationale for the applicant's decision to pursue a career in marriage and family therapy.
The Master of Science in Family Therapy degree program requires 60 hours of graduate coursework and clinical practical. Training is concentrated on brief, interactional models of family therapy, preparing our graduates to practice in a time-sensitive, cost-effective manner. The program fulfils the academic requirements for state licensure in Florida and for clinical membership in AAMFT; additional post-master's clinical experience is required for both credentials.
Required Courses
To complete the M.S. in Family Therapy, students must complete 500 hours of client contact, 250 of which must consist of relational hours with couples and families. Students also must accumulate at least 100 supervision hours, 50 of which must be based on direct observation and videotape. They are responsible for documenting clinical and supervision hours, using the forms provided on the CAHSS website under student resources. Students are required to keep a copy of all documentation pertaining to both Internal and External Practicums. This includes their clinical and supervision hour forms, contracts, and clinical evaluations. A student's first two Practicums are at the Brief Therapy Institute, Family Therapy Clinic; therefore, they are called Internal Practicums. Students must pass the first two Internal Practicums to be eligible to continue clinical training in two External Practicums. Students may elect to take more than two Internal Practicums to better hone in their clinical skills prior to moving into their External Practicum setting.
The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) calls family doctors "our rising stars of the future". This reflects WHO’s renewed commitment to build family medicine as a specialty across all regions. Strengthening family medicine has been recognized as a key component of achieving Universal Health Coverage as part of the Sustainable Development Goals to which every country committed at the last United Nations General Assembly. This degree aims to build on this momentum for strengthening primary care by developing competent family physicians who are empowered to become leaders and advocates for the future of the profession.
The University of Edinburgh provides high quality postgraduate medical education in through an online distance learning format. Students are from a variety of countries across the world, each bringing their unique experiences to create a vibrant global learning community. The programme will give doctors the essential medical knowledge and management skills for the common presenting health issues and explore management within the context of the principles, processes, and practices of family medicine. The programme will equip students with the skills to become expert family physicians whose approach will provide continuous, coordinated, comprehensive and cost effective care build around an understanding of the patient in the context of the family and the community.
The degree is awarded by the University of Edinburgh and is taught in partnership with the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. Experienced members of the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA) are also involved in delivering teaching and supervising students.
This blended distance learning programme is delivered via the Moodle platform with the support of our partner institution CMC Vellore, India. Students have access to comprehensive learning materials as well as the University of Edinburgh’s library resources. Online tutorials are delivered regularly by experts in the field.
There are seven compulsory courses and a dissertation. Courses cover:
The dissertation provides the opportunity for the student to undertake an extended piece of scholarship in an area of personal interest and is undertaken in the last few months of the programme.
The online teaching is complemented by a two week period of face-to-face teaching each year. This builds on the online content and provides practical clinical training. This teaching is currently delivered in four sites across the world: India, Nigeria, Uganda and Egypt. Attendance provides the unique opportunity to travel and view the practice of Family Medicine in other countries whilst meeting and learning from fellow students.
In addition there is the opportunity to participate in a 30 days clinical internship following completion of the Masters qualification. This is an optional activity aimed at providing additional clinical experience to those who have completed the course.
The programme is aimed to provide doctors with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to become effective Family Physicians. It is relevant to doctors of all backgrounds and experience from early career doctors to those established in other specialities.
The programme provides a high quality Masters level qualification in Family Medicine and builds on the skills already gained by the student in their post graduate clinical training. It is not a recognised vocational training course and cannot be used for direct entry to clinical practice as a Family Physician.
The Postgraduate Certificate in Systemic Practice covers the first two years of family therapy training and combines both Foundation and Intermediate level training in systemic practice. Each level of training is accredited by the Association of Family Therapy.
The programme is multi-disciplinary and covers aspects of working with families in clinical settings, as well as wider applications of systemic thinking and practice. It is suitable for professionals working in psychology, nursing, psychiatry, social work, counselling, voluntary organisations and related fields.
The programme is accredited by the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice and successful completion meets the training requirement for application to the qualifying course in Systemic Family Therapy leading to UKCP registration.
More information
The Leeds Family Therapy and Research Centre has been training therapists for over 20 years to help individuals, couples and families find ways of tackling their problems.
You can study this subject at other levels:
This course is accredited by the Association for Family Therapy and as such fulfils the training requirements for Foundation and Intermediate Level training in Systemic Practice. Read more on the Association for Family Therapy website.
The programme runs over two years, combining the Foundation course in Family Therapy and Family Therapy Intermediate programmes.
In the first year, at Foundation level, you will be introduced to key theoretical approaches in family therapy and the skills and techniques associated with them.
The second year, at Intermediate level, builds on your knowledge and use of theory and practice in systemic family therapy and concentrates on the development of your therapeutic skills with families, couples and individuals, and the application of systemic ideas in your work context. You will be required to undertake 60 hours of systemic therapeutic practice in your own work agency. In the second year themes are followed each term, with an initial focus on your personal and professional development as a systemic practitioner, followed in the second term by further study of the theory of systemic practice and related skills. The final term considers the application of systemic theory and practice in a range of health and social care settings and to your own therapeutic practice. Throughout the programme you will be encouraged to develop a commitment to actively promote ethical, anti-discriminatory practice and to highlight and critique culturally-based assumptions in their practice.
The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures and practical teaching followed by theory and application discussions and skills practice in small groups facilitated by qualified family therapists.
The programme runs on approximately 20 Wednesday evenings each year (5pm to 8.30pm) in September-June, plus up to three full days. It takes place on the University's main campus.
Year 1 Compulsory modules
Year 2 Compulsory modules
For more information on typical modules, read Systemic Practice PGCert in the course catalogue
You’ll be taught through lectures, practical classes, and group tutorials. We make extensive use of IT and a wide range of material to enable students to study at their own pace and in their own time to enhance and extend the material taught formally. In the second year you will develop your learning in systemic skills and practice based upon your systemic practice in your own work setting.
We monitor your progress through attendance, participation in lectures and tutorials, feedback on written assignments, exam (second year) and a learning log. You will be required to complete 60 hours of systemic practice and provide evidence completion.
Students who complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Systemic Practice training can describe themselves as Systemic Practitioners. This is not a formal qualification but is a recognised professional development indicating the knowledge and skills development in this training.
Past students have progressed to training on MSc in Systemic Family Therapy programme. Students who complete the MSc in Systemic Family Therapy are eligible to register with the UKCP as Systemic Psychotherapists and to practise in the public and voluntary sectors, as well as privately.
We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.
The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
Family business is the most prevalent model of business in existence, accounting for between 65-90% of all businesses
and existing across different countries, continents and geopolitical boundaries. The MBA Family and Smaller Enterprises starts from the premise that anyone working in a family business requires at least two forms of expertise: business expertise and the ability to consider the family dimension. By studying some general business modules, and others that focus directly on the family dimension, this MBA prepares students for careers working in the family business or within the business advisory community. You will complete a project with a focus on a family business or a smaller enterprise.
You will attend lectures and seminars, work in groups and carry out independent learning. You will be expected to participate in discussions, develop ideas and engage with experiential learning. Assessment methods will include management reports, essays, exams, reflection on practice, and group work with presentations. A unique aspect of the course is the challenge to design, lead and reflect upon a project that focuses on an external business partner. A central part of the course experience is the regular involvement of industry through specific visits, guest lectures, scenario planning and project opportunities. Class sizes are normally 10-30 students.
Modules studied on-campus require you to attend classes and carry out independent work. Attendance requirements at QMU will depend on which module you are studying and whether you are full or part time. In most instances the taught elements of the full-time course occur on Tuesday, Wednesday (AM) and Thursday. Part-time students have the option to select different routes each year. Links with industry/professional bodies QMU is an Approved Centre of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), the only professional body in the UK dedicated to promoting the highest standards in management and leadership excellence. As an approved centre, we are working towards facilitating CMI professional qualifications within our postgraduate awards. The MBA involves a number of guest lecturers and visits to industry, for example Diageo, New Lanark Heritage Centre, Nairn’s, Glenkinchie Distillery, and Luca’s.
All MBA students, will study the following core modules:
International Marketing/ Human Resource Management/ Directing Strategy for Value Creation/ Financial Management/ Business Economics
All MBA students will then take three further modules in their specific area, for example: Family Business Insight (FASE)/ International Tourism Management (Tourism)/ Operations and Supply Chain Management (General MBA)/ Global Issues and Challenges for Hospitality Managers
(Hospitality). You will also complete a 60 credit project (Business Impact and Practice) focused towards your specialism in partnership with an external organisation. This is your opportunity to discover, propose, plan, lead and deliver an externally driven project, whilst developing your skills of reflective practice and personal development planning.
Our postgraduate courses are designed to enhance your career prospects by opening up a wide range of global opportunities. Our graduates take with them enhanced employability and confidence whether they obtain a position with a multinational organisation, work within the public sector, create their own business, gain employment in the third sector or go on to further studies.
There is a practical project instead of a dissertation. Students are challenged to research, plan, manage and evaluate a project in conjunction with an external business or organisation, allowing them to develop career-enhancing skills, confidence and opportunities.
Reflecting contemporary working practice, our teaching and assessment takes a strong group and team focus.
Class sizes are beneficially small: this enables students to work closely with fellow students from diverse backgrounds and allows lecturers to develop strong relationships with the students. The smaller cohort of students also allows for participation in regular visits and events.
The family business route of the MSc will allow you to focus your studies on the most prevalent type of business in existence, accounting for between 65-90% of all businesses and existing across different countries, continents and geopolitical boundaries. The importance of leadership in this route starts from the premise that anyone working in a family business requires at least two forms of expertise: business/ leadership expertise and the ability to consider the family dimension. By studying some general business leadership modules and others that focus directly on the family dimension, this route prepares students for careers working in a family business or within the business advisory community.
You will study a range of general business and family business modules and complete a project with a family or smaller enterprise focus.
You will attend lectures and seminars, work in groups and carry out independent learning. You will be expected to participate in discussions, develop ideas and engage with experiential learning. Assessment methods will include management reports, essays, exams, reflection on practice, and group work with presentations. A unique aspect of the course is the challenge to design, lead and reflect upon a project that focuses on an external business partner. A central part of the course experience is the regular involvement of industry through specific visits, guest lectures, scenario planning and project opportunities. Class sizes are normally 10-30 students.
Modules studied on-campus require you to attend classes and carry out independent work. Attendance requirements at QMU will depend on which module you are studying and whether you are full or part time. In most instances the taught elements of the full-time course occur on Tuesday, Wednesday (AM) and Thursday. Part-time students have the option to select different routes each year. Links with industry/professional bodies QMU is an Approved Centre of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), the only professional body in the UK dedicated to promoting the highest standards in management and leadership excellence. As an approved centre, we are working towards facilitating CMI professional qualifications within our postgraduate awards. The MBA involves a number of guest lecturers and visits to industry, for example Diageo, New Lanark Heritage Centre, Nairn’s, Glenkinchie Distillery, and Luca’s.
All MSc students will study the following core modules:
Contemporary Issues in International Management/ Strategic Thinking/ International Marketing/ Introduction to Management Accounting and Finance/ Organisational Behaviour All MSc students will then take three further modules in their specific area, for example:
Events Leadership in Action (Events)/ Family Business Governance (FASE)/ International Leadership Power and Policy (General)/ Critical Issues in Hospitality and Tourism Leadership (Hospitality/ Tourism) You will also complete a 60 credit project (Community Impact and Practice) focused towards your specialism in partnership with an external organisation. The project is designed to have a positive community outcome and could be based within the commercial, public or third sector. This is your opportunity to discover, propose, plan, lead and deliver an externally driven project. whilst developing your skills of reflective practice and personal development planning.
Our postgraduate courses are designed to enhance your career prospects by opening up a wide range of global opportunities. Our graduates take with them enhanced employability and confidence whether they obtain a position with a multinational organisation, work within the public sector, create their own business, gain employment in the third sector or go on to further studies.
There is a practical project instead of a dissertation. Students are challenged to research, plan, manage and evaluate a project in conjunction with an external business or organisation, allowing them to develop career-enhancing skills, confidence and opportunities.
Reflecting contemporary working practice, our teaching and assessment takes a strong group and team focus.
Class sizes are beneficially small: this enables students to work closely with fellow students from diverse backgrounds and allows lecturers to develop strong relationships with the students. The smaller cohort of students also allows for participation in regular visits and events.
The course is aimed at professionals working with children and young people with mental health issues. The course has been developed by a multi-professional team to provide new insights into working with complex family mental health issues in the community. The perspectives of practitioners from health, social care and education is integrated into the delivery of both modules.
The first module provides you with the framework for assessment of children and young people and the factors which impact on their emotional health. During this module attachment, family dynamics, concepts of risk and resilience are examined in depth.
The second module presents the aetiology of mental disorders and their management and treatment. You build your knowledge and skills in diagnostic tools, cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing, solution focused therapy, family therapy, sensory assessment/integration and psychotherapy through role play and personal research.
All practitioners are required to demonstrate extended specialist knowledge in their chosen speciality when they are applying for career progression. Completing this course allows you to demonstrate your extended knowledge in caring for children, adolescents and families with mental health issues. This course enables you to contribute to the workforce transformation agenda as you apply these skills in your workplace.
Core modules
Focused upon early years: neuro/cognitive/physical development; attachment; family relationships; risk/resilience, parenting; etc.
Focuses on disorders and interventions/strategies that arise from childhood into adolescence, and how these impact upon the whole family and the community at large.
Modules can be undertaken as stand-alone, or as part of the PgCert and the credits awarded can then be transferred to further awards (PgDip, MSc Advanced Professional Practice) as appropriate.
Assessment
Written assignments and production of health promotion resource
Upon completion of a postgraduate certificate, you are able to complete your postgraduate study to Masters level, via PgDip and Masters route, through the Advancing Professional Practice MSc.
The MSc Advancing Professional Practice is an existing flexible route offered in the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing that provides the opportunity for students to transfer their postgraduate credit while continuing to advance their practice through completion of modules that are relevant to their practice context.
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