January is synonymous with ambitious — and fleeting — resolutions, but for students in CFT 150: Personal Growth, self-improvement is practically guaranteed.

What started as a workshop within the Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) program eventually evolved into a class thanks to popularity. “It's like its own little self-help course,” explains Matthew Jordan, a CFT instructor. 

For students navigating their independence and launching their careers, the class provides a foundation for personal growth and self-discovery. “It's a really good exposure to adult living in addition to higher education and college life,” says Jordan.

The Course: CFT 150 - Personal Growth

The central theme of the course is to teach students the principle of self-authorship: The ability to independently develop your internal value system to make your own decisions.

“It's an idea of taking your values and education up to this point and making a solid marker, then providing new information on what growth is, cataloging that experience across the semester, and then having that work to reflect on in the future,” says Jordan.

The course work facilitates self-awareness and understanding, helps students build meaningful relationships and resolve interpersonal conflicts, promotes physical and psychological health, and gives students the chance to examine and expand their life goals.

Who’s taking it

The course has become a popular choice for those looking to balance personal growth with academic success. 

“I think it’s great for freshmen and it’s great for first-generation students,” says Jordan but it's also become a foundational course for student athletes. 

To better support the students in his classes, Jordan collaborates closely with UNLV Athletics, developing assignments that help them manage what could become an overwhelming extracurricular schedule.

Who’s teaching it:

Jordan, an instructor at UNLV for six years, is a family therapist who brings a broad scope of professional experiences to the class. With a background in juvenile justice, he’s worked in areas ranging from wilderness therapy to assisting children during their first contact with the judicial system to creating an entire behavioral health department for a county in Texas.

What students might be surprised to learn 

Many students enroll in the course expecting an easy A, but leave with something far more valuable. Jordan says, “I'll be really honest about it. It's not difficult work. But [the students] actually get something out of it. I watch as, over the course of the semester, their discussions get longer and more in-depth. They end up putting more effort into it than they thought they were going to.” 

The result: students who have a clearer grasp on their personal, academic, and professional goals, equipped with the ability to evaluate their situation and decide where they want to go next.

What excites instructors the most about this class

For Jordan, the most rewarding part of teaching Personal Growth is seeing the transformation in his students. One of the first assignments in the class has students participate in an activity outside their comfort zone and reflect on it. Karaoke is a popular choice, but even something as simple as dining alone or going on a solo road trip can have a profound effect.

Reading about those experiences — and others, as the semester goes on —  is deeply fulfilling for Jordan. “I always look forward to the feedback that I get at the end, hearing what people have gotten out of their journey,” he says.

What even laypeople should know from this course: 

Self-authorship can change anyone’s life. “I think a lot of us get into these things where we know that something's off," says Jordan. “But we really don't know how to question what it is that we're feeling. There's no structure provided for that; and this course definitely provides a more structured approach to how you're going to question your own involvement with your self-authorship.”

The reading list

For those interested in their personal growth this year, Jordan suggests starting with a Google search on self-authorship. 

“I think we do our best work when we're guiding ourselves, rather than saying, Here, read these things," he says. "If you're discovering your own resources, you're certainly more likely to get something out of them.”