Marriage & Family Therapy (MFT)

MFT 500  Counseling Theories & Skills I  
Reviews theories, principles, and methods of a variety of psychotherapeutic orientations and skills associated with these theoretical orientations. Established schools of thought, the recovery model, and evidence-based practices are all reviewed. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.
Grade Mode: Letter, Credit/No Credit, Audit  
Semester Hours: 3  
MFT 501  Counseling Theories & Skills I  
Prerequisite: MFT 500  
Reviews advanced counseling theories, principles, and psychotherapeutic techniques, including the application of counseling constructs assessment and treatment planning, clinical interventions, therapeutic relationships, psychopathology, and other related topics. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.
Grade Mode: Letter, Credit/No Credit  
Semester Hours: 3  
MFT 502  Professionalism, Ethics, and Law in Counseling  
Reviews current professional issues, laws, legal systems, and ethical guidelines, including California law, relevant to counseling and marriage and family therapists. Develops professional awareness and identity. Areas of focus include, but are not limited to, the requirements of mandated reporting, suicide assessment and interventions, and the limits of confidentiality. Additionally, students review statutory, regulatory, and decisional laws related to the MFT's scope of practice, including privilege, family law, and the treatment of minors. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.
Grade Mode: Letter, Credit/No Credit, Audit  
Semester Hours: 3  
MFT 503  Human Development  
Reviews developmental issues from infancy to old age, including normal and abnormal behavior. Examines effects of developmental issues on individuals, couples, and family relationships. Explores a variety of cultural understandings of human development. Addresses biological, social, cognitive, and psychological aspects of aging. Reviews the psychological, psychotherapeutic, and health implications of developmental issues and their effects. Promotes understanding of human development within the social context representative of a variety of cultures found within California. Explores impact of a variety of stressors and contexts on human development across the lifespan. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.
Grade Mode: Letter, Credit/No Credit  
Semester Hours: 3  
MFT 504  Multicultural Counseling and Competency  
Reviews cultural competency and sensitivity, including providing familiarity with the racial, cultural, linguistic, and ethnic backgrounds of persons comprising the various cultural groups in California. Explores multicultural development and cross-cultural interaction, including experiences of race, ethnicity, class, spirituality, sexual orientation, gender, and disability, and their incorporation into the psychotherapeutic process. Examines the effects of socioeconomic status on treatment and available resources. Explores cultural self-awareness, self-identify, and beliefs. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.
Grade Mode: Letter, Credit/No Credit, Audit  
Semester Hours: 3  
MFT 505  Diagnosis of Mental Health Disorders  
Reviews diagnosis, assessment, prognosis, and treatment of specific clinical disorders, including severe mental disorders, along with their relevance to counseling, and dysfunctions within marital and family relationships. Applies current DSM for marriage and family therapists. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.
Grade Mode: Letter, Credit/No Credit  
Semester Hours: 3  
MFT 506  Community Mental Health & Systems of Care  
Reviews community mental health systems of care. Explores concepts/constructs of community resources, and public and private support services for the severely mentally ill. Examines the effects of socioeconomic status on treatment and available resources. Reviews the personal and community qualities that enable persons to cope with various stressors and promote resilience. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.
Grade Mode: Letter, Credit/No Credit  
Semester Hours: 3  
MFT 507  Research and Evaluation Methods for Mental Health professionals  
Examines qualitative and quantitative research methods used in counseling and marriage and family therapy. Includes experimental and descriptive approaches, single and multiple subject designs, outcomes assessment, and program evaluation. Includes the use of research to inform evidence-based practice. Sensitivity to issues of diversity in research is emphasized. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.
Grade Mode: Letter, Credit/No Credit  
Semester Hours: 3  
MFT 509  Psychopharmacology  
Current information on the use of medications in the treatment of psychological disorders is provided. Consideration is given to the special needs of certain populations (e.g., the elderly, substance abuse patients) when psychotropic medications are prescribed. Students develop skills in case management when referral to physicians or neuropsychologists is part of therapeutic practice. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.
Grade Mode: Letter, Credit/No Credit  
Semester Hours: 3  

MFT 510 Family Therapy

Reviews theories and techniques of family therapy from a family systems perspective and applies them to diverse family systems, populations, and cultural settings. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 3

MFT 511 Couples Therapy 

Reviews current theories and methods of couples/marriage therapy. Application, assessment, and interventions of several theoretical models used in couples therapy are provided. Reviews developmental patterns and diverse types of couple relationships. Legal and ethical issues pertaining to couples therapy are integrated into treatment considerations. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 3

MFT 512 Violence and Abuse in Family Systems

Reviews historical, psychological, and family systems' perspectives on domestic violence, physical and sexual child abuse and neglect, elder abuse, and other patterns of familial violence. Course meets California BBS licensure requirement for training in child abuse assessment and reporting. Course also meets California BBS licensure requirement for training spousal/partner abuse detection, assessment, and intervention. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 3

MFT 513 Group Therapy & Counseling

Reviews theories and techniques of group counseling and their applications for individual, family, and couple groups. Includes in-class group experience and information about principles of group dynamics, group process, and developmental stages. Current research and literature, methods, and evaluation of effectiveness are reviewed. Ethical, legal, and professional issues in groupwork are addressed. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 3

MFT 514 Substance Abuse Counseling

Reviews etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of various types of substance abuse, including alcohol, prescription medications, and controlled substances. Addresses impact of substance use and abuse on individuals, families, couples, and special populations. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 3

MFT 515 Psychological Assessment & Testing

Provides broad understanding of assessment, appraisal, and testing of individuals, including basic concepts of standardized and non-standardized testing and other assessment techniques, norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessment, and statistical concepts.
Emphasis is on developing skills in selecting, administering, interpreting, and applying assessments and psychological tests commonly used for family and individual assessment. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 3

MFT 516 Child and Adolescent Therapy

Provides an understanding of the broad range of childhood and adolescent problems and disorders. Various approaches towards child and adolescent therapy are presented with the aim of students developing knowledge of basic child and adolescent therapy skills, assessments, and treatment strategies. The impact of developmental aspects, family dynamics, social environments, and multicultural issues are also addressed.  Reviews legal and ethical issues in working with children and adolescents. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 3

MFT 517 Trauma Response & Counseling

Reviews crisis theory, multidisciplinary responses to crises, emergencies, or disasters. Explores cognitive, affective, behavioral, and neurological effects associated with trauma. Reviews brief, intermediate, and long-term approaches to assessment and treatment of trauma. Attention is paid to understanding the issues of diversity and its impact on client welfare. Content includes detection, assessment, and intervention strategies related to crisis and trauma. This course meets the California BBS licensure requirement related to suicide risk assessment and intervention. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 3

MFT 520 Practicum I

PREREQUISITES: Must receive Advanced Standing to enroll. First part of a year-long practicum course for MFT students. Provides training and supervision that augments and enhances the training students receive at their approved practicum sites. A review of current ethical issues, including law and ethics related to telehealth, is included. Training in psychotherapeutic skills and techniques, psychological assessment, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment planning, treatment of diverse persons in various contexts and settings, health and wellness promotion, documentation of services, development of treatment plans, writing of progress notes, and connecting clients with needed services, resources, and supports, are emphasized. Students must complete a minimum of 280 direct face-to-face hours by completion of the year-long practicum experience. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 3

MFT 521 Practicum II

Second part of a year-long practicum course for MFT students. Provides training and supervision that augments and enhances the training students receive at their approved practicum sites. A review of current ethical issues, including law and ethics related to telehealth, is included. Training in psychotherapeutic skills and techniques, psychological assessment, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment planning, treatment of diverse persons in various contexts and settings, health and wellness promotion, documentation of services, development of treatment plans, writing of progress notes, and connecting clients with needed services, resources, and supports, are emphasized. Students must complete a minimum of 280 direct face-to-face hours by completion of this course. Students who do not complete the hours requirement by completion of this course must enroll in MFT 525. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 3

MFT 522 Aging & Long-Term Care

Reviews normal aspects of the aging process as well as special issues, theories, and treatment with an older adult population including grief, loss, and end-of-life. Includes instruction on assessment and reporting of, as well as treatment related to, elder and dependent adult abuse and neglect. For MFT students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 1

MFT 524 Human Sexuality

Examines human sexuality including physiological, psychological, and sociocultural variables associated with the development of sexual identity, sexual behavior, and sexual disorders. For MFT students and school counseling students only. Not challengeable.

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 1

MFT 525 Practicum Continuation

Continuation of MFT 521 under program direction. For MFT students only. Not challengeable. May be taken multiple times for credit. May be taken for credit/no credit only.  

Grade Mode: Letter, Credit / No Credit

Semester Hours: 0