Chair's Welcome

The Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) Program is part of UNLV's School of Medicine and resides in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. For a brief overview of the UNLV CFT program, please check out some of the fast facts about the program.

The program offers a full-time master's degree. The master's degree prepares students for a profession as a marriage and family therapist as well as a mental health counselor by integrating components of couple and family therapy theories as well as mental health diagnoses. The degree also qualifies students to apply for licensure in the state of Nevada and sit for the national Marriage and Family Therapist licensing exam.

Dr. Sara Jordan, Program Director

Mission Statement

The mission of the Couple and Family Therapy Program at UNLV is to provide quality training in the theory and practice of marriage and family therapy. We are committed to helping students become competent couple, marriage, and family therapy professionals through developing greater self-awareness, embracing diversity, and learning the importance of becoming critical consumers of research. We model ethical and professional behavior, and develop skilled practitioners who take an active role in leading and serving their communities.

Program Goals

  • Diversity: Students will be multiculturally informed and practice inclusivity as part of their professional identity.
  • Knowledge, Practice and Ethics: Students will obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to ethically practice marriage and family therapy.
  • Research: Students will be informed consumers of research and utilize evidence-based principles in their clinical practice.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Diversity Knowledge: Students will understand the importance of cultural and contextual factors when working with diverse populations.
  • Diversity Practice: Students will demonstrate an awareness of cross-cultural issues in their treatment of clients.
  • Knowledge: Students will pass the AMFTRB national licensing exam.
  • Ethics: Students will identify, define, and attend to ethical issues, legal responsibilities, and liabilities of clinical practice relating to the CFT profession.
  • Practice: Students will develop the skills to assess and treat individuals, couples, and families from a systems perspective.
  • Research Knowledge: Students will understand research methodology and exhibit critical thinking skills in reviewing systemic scholarship.
  • Research Practice: Students will synthesize research and distill it into clinically diverse practice settings.

Accreditation

In December of 2007, we were officially granted candidacy status by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Education. To find out more about the accreditation process, visit the COAMFTE website.

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