MSMFT Training & Clinical Research

The MSMFT Program is dedicated to intervention – making a difference in the lives of families, couples and individuals from all walks of life.

Through research, we scientifically investigate our interventions to better understand the therapeutic process and to develop improved treatments. As one of the leading centers for marriage and family therapy, with a large and diverse client population, The Family Institute and the MSMFT program is uniquely positioned to pursue path-breaking research on families and relationships.

The MSMFT program's clinical research and training activities are focused on the process and determinants of how people change in psychotherapy via the use of the Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change (STIC).

We believe that the field of couple and family therapy lacks empirical understanding of how people change during therapy. If the field of couple and family therapy is ever to be based on a scientific foundation, we must develop an empirically grounded theory of how couples change that can guide and improve our interventions. Thus, the Family Institute’s Psychotherapy Change Project was created to address this need. Students and supervisors in the MSMFT program are helping to advance the development of effective, empirically informed psychotherapy by the clinical use of the STIC in training.