The Master of Science in Marital and Family Therapy (MSMFT) Program is a comprehensive two-year program that combines the academic excellence of Northwestern University, a major research university, with the clinical expertise of The Family Institute, a nationally-recognized center for clinical training in marriage and family therapy.

This multifaceted program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and offers a degree from The Graduate School of Northwestern University. Program faculty, practicing clinicians with a comprehensive understanding of marital and family therapy, facilitate instruction in small interactive classes throughout the MSMFT Program.

The MSMFT Program is designed to fully prepare students for rewarding careers in marital and family therapy, a growing and respected profession in the mental health field that focuses on the treatment of families, couples, individuals and groups from a relational and contextual perspective.

In the MSMFT Program students are taught a systemic, integrative and problem-centered approach to psychotherapy that was pioneered at The Family Institute. This approach specifically aims to address clients' emotional, behavioral and interpersonal problems by considering the influences of family and other relationships in a biopsychosocial context. For example, in this integrative systemic approach psychodynamics, biology, gender, socioeconomics, culture, ethnicity, and family life cycle issues are all actively considered in order to help clients understand and address their problems.

Students gain critical hands-on clinical experience by seeing clients at Family Institute clinic and community sites under the close supervision of highly experienced marriage and family therapists. These clinic and community sites offer students the opportunity to work with a variety of client populations throughout metropolitan Chicago.

Classes are conducted at The Family Institute on the beautiful Northwestern University campus along Lake Michigan in Evanston, Illinois, in close proximity to downtown Chicago.

For more detailed information, contact the MSMFT Education Program Manager at 847-733-4300, ext. 206 or email family-institute@northwestern.edu or visit the detailed links of the MSMFT Program menu.