Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) are mental health professionals and relationship specialists trained to assess, diagnose, and treat individuals, couples, families, and groups to achieve more adequate, satisfying, and productive intimate relationship, family, and social adjustment (California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists: Who are LMFTs; Board of Behavioral Sciences Statutes & Regulations Section 4980.02).
As a discipline within the counseling profession, marriage and family therapy emphasizes that an individual’s personal development, mental health functioning, and counseling concerns are embedded within familial-relational-societal systems. MFTs are trained to utilize a developmentally informed systemic-familial-relational orientation. In addition to counseling families and couples, MFTs specialize in providing assessment, diagnosis, and intervention to individuals across the lifespan from a systemic-familial-relational perspective. MFTs examine behavior in its social and relational context, and integrate an understanding of normative adjustment processes of the various stages of family life. MFTs trained at SF State embody the multicultural and social justice orientation of the Department of Counseling in their approach to psychotherapy.
The MFCC Specialization in the Department of Counseling is one of the counseling specialty areas accredited by the national Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP). Our program emphasizes a culturally-informed and inclusive approach to the understanding of family dynamics and constellations. In addition to being trained as counseling generalists, students in the MFCC specialization receive training in:
Students who complete this specialization will have satisfied the educational requirements and be eligible to register as an Associate MFT to complete post-degree hours and sit for licensure examinations necessary to be licensed as an Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) in the State of California. Graduates from this specialization are typically employed in community mental health, hospitals, private practice, crisis and trauma centers, and educational settings.
The counseling profession embraces a diversity of disciplines. Yet, professional counseling associations, national accreditation bodies, and state licensing boards have not provided, nor have they agreed on, any clear and consistent definitions that demarcate and differentiate the roles and functions of these specialty areas. Those who wish to pursue the MFCC specialization should determine if the cultural-systemic-familial-relational treatment philosophy is best compatible with your professional identity and orientation when providing assessment, diagnosis, and intervention to individuals, children, families, couples, and relationship partners. For more information about MFTs in California, visit CAMFT’s Informational Page
A note about terminology: the Department is aware that the term MFCC (Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling) has been replaced by MFT (Marriage and Family Therapy). However, since MFCC appears in the degree title, which can only be changed by the University’s Chancellor's Office, we will use the term MFCC when referring specifically to the degree. We will use the term MFT when referring to the program as the field.