If you’re a student in Alabama interested in a career as a marriage and family therapist, the first order of business is to complete your undergraduate work. The next step is to find a quality graduate program to complete your training. The question is, which Alabama programs are worth your time and money?
Fortunately, there are many different options you can choose for your education in Alabama. But with a lot of choices comes the difficult decision of determining which program is best for you. That’s where this guide comes in!
Below, we’ve outlined some of the popular marriage and family therapy graduate programs in Alabama. Each program offers unique features and benefits; explore each in detail below!
Marriage and Family Therapy Programs in Alabama
Listed below are some of the popular schools offering marriage and family therapy graduate programs in Alabama:
- University of Alabama
- University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Auburn University
- University of Mobile
- Northwestern University
- National University
- Grand Canyon University
- Walden University
University of Alabama
Master of Science in Human Development and Family Studies
The Master of Science in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Alabama offers a concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy that typically takes two years to complete. To do so, you must take at least 9-12 credits each fall and spring semester, plus 9 credits during the summer term. You don’t have to finish the degree in two years, though; you can take up to six years to complete the degree requirements.
The required coursework includes basic and advanced training. For example, you’ll take a Life Span course that introduces you to key milestones in human development from birth until death. This class is especially important for your understanding of how life’s milestones and transitions impact individuals and their family systems.
Another basic course you’re required to take is Ethics and Professional Issues in Marriage and Family Therapy. As you might guess, this class explores professional considerations for practicing therapists. For example, you’ll examine case studies of ethical issues and work with your classmates to arrive at a consensus regarding how to proceed. As another example, you’ll examine new and emerging trends in marriage and family therapy as a means of further developing your therapeutic skills.
Some of your courses focus on specific therapies, too. A good example of this is Couple and Sex Therapy. You’ll examine common sexual issues that arise in a committed relationship (e.g., infidelity) and the impact those issues have on the health of the relationship. What’s more, you’ll analyze various types of sex therapy that you can utilize to help couples overcome sex-related problems in their relationship.
Advanced Family Therapy is an essential part of your training as well. This course examines various systems-based therapies you can utilize to help families work through all kinds of problems, from troubling teenage behavior to lack of communication between kids and parents to drug abuse by a member of the family.
Other required courses include the following:
- Dynamics of Family Relations
- Research Methods
- Statistics I
- Systemic Assessment and Diagnosis of Psychopathology in Marriage and Family Therapy
- Cultural Diversity in Marriage and Family Therapy
This program has numerous field experiences that help you develop your skills even further. You’ll begin with a pre-practicum experience that introduces you to fieldwork. From there, you’ll participate in two practicum experiences during which you’ll observe a mentor therapist carry out the daily duties of this job. As you advance in the practicum experiences, you’ll take on additional responsibilities, including working directly with clients under the supervision of your mentor.
The internship, which occurs during the final year of the program, is even more work-intensive. Not only will you accrue hundreds of hours of client contact time, but you’ll also be responsible for activities such as assessing clients, making diagnoses, and developing treatment plans. In all, you must accumulate 500 hours or more of therapy with individuals, families, and couples. You must also accrue at least 100 hours of clinical supervision during the program.
You can apply to Alabama’s graduate school online. To do so, you must meet the following requirements:
- Have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
- Provide a current resume or curriculum vitae.
- Provide contact information for three references, at least one of which should be from a college professor.
- Submit a statement of purpose in which you discuss how your background has influenced your decision to seek this degree. You must also address how this degree aligns with your future goals.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Master of Arts in Counseling
At the University of Alabama at Birmingham, you can complete a Master of Arts in Counseling with a connection in Marriage, Couples, and Family Counseling in just three years. The program entails on-campus coursework and supervised field experiences during which you learn how to apply your classroom learning in a therapeutic setting. By completing these and other requirements, you’ll be eligible to pursue licensure as a marriage and family therapist (LMFT) in Alabama.
The curriculum is designed such that you acquire foundational knowledge and skills and build on those skills in your clinical experiences. Your coursework begins with core coursework in areas such as:
- Lifespan Human Development
- Introduction to Community Counseling
- Professional Orientation
- Foundations of Substance Abuse
- Theories of Individual Counseling
In each case, these courses provide you with the knowledge you’ll need as a marriage and family therapist. For example, the Lifespan Human Development class sheds light on key milestones over the course of a person’s life. Knowing how people change over the lifespan is necessary for developing appropriate therapeutic interventions.
As another example, the Professional Orientation course sheds light on the best practices as a professional therapist. You’ll learn the ins and outs of ethics, laws, and regulations you must work within. You’ll also become familiar with common professional issues (e.g., malpractice) and how to navigate them appropriately.
This program also requires you to take group-focused classes. For example, the Group Counseling Process and Procedures course examines how to approach counseling with both small and large groups of people. The approach to counseling with groups is different from that with individuals, and since you’ll be working with families, understanding the unique dynamics of group counseling is important.
Of course, many other classes focus on group dynamics. For example, the Social and Cultural Diversity course focuses on the influences of families, cultural groups, and society on one’s development and behavior. Meanwhile, the Relationships and Human Sexuality class zeroes in on the dynamics between two people in their sexual and non-sexual relationships.
An interesting course requirement for this degree is Play Therapy. This type of therapy is extremely effective in working with children. You can employ play techniques to work through any number of psychological issues, particularly abuse and trauma. Combined with the required course on Counseling Children and Adolescents, you’ll have a broad set of skills that enable you to provide effective treatment for young people.
Other required courses include the following:
- Introduction to Families and Couples Counseling
- Intersections of Family and Community System
- Marriage and Couples Counseling
- Diagnosis and Treatment of Psychological Disorders
- Relationships and Human Sexuality
Building on these courses is Advanced Counseling Techniques. This class explores tools and strategies you can use in the counseling relationship to address a broad spectrum of behavioral and mental disorders. Moreover, you can use your knowledge of working with children, adolescents, couples, families, and groups to apply advanced counseling techniques that are age-appropriate and problem-specific.
This program includes two practicum experiences and an internship. The first practicum focuses on building clinical skills and techniques. You’ll mostly observe experienced therapists as they conduct their work with couples and families. However, you’ll have opportunities to participate as a co-therapist to get real-world experience. This prepares you for the second practicum, which is a supervised field experience that gives you more independence to work with clients directly.
The program’s final component is the counseling internship. You must accumulate at least 600 hours of clinical work in an approved setting. Of those, at least 240 hours must be in direct contact with individuals, couples, or families in a counseling environment. Most students complete the internship in two or three semesters, which entails about 15 hours of counseling work per week.
The following requirements must be met to be considered for admission:
- Have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
- Have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or higher.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
- Submit a personal statement.
Auburn University
Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy
The Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy from Auburn University has a dual focus on clinical training and research. This combination of skills development ensures that you graduate with a deep understanding of human behavior that allows you to work with clients of all ages and backgrounds and with any number of mental health needs.
You’ll acquire the necessary counseling skills in the context of a human lifespan and multicultural approach. As such, you’ll take courses like Lifespan Development and Critical Issues in Family and Cultural Diversity. Taking these classes ensures you are aware of individual differences that may impact one’s mental health and informs the approach you should take to treat mental health issues in diverse client populations.
Of course, you’ll also take classes directly related to treating couples and families. A good example of this is Systems Theory and Theoretical Models of Marriage and Family Therapy. This class broadly focuses on family dynamics. You’ll learn about systems theory and how it explains relationships in a family unit. You’ll also learn key techniques you can employ when counseling individuals and families.
For example, you might learn how to use systems theory to assist a member of a family in working through their anxiety. In your sessions with this family member, you might focus on the source of their anxiety, possible solutions for treating their anxiety, and help them understand how their anxiety might be a result of strained relationships within the family unit.
Another important class you’re required to take is Individual, Couple, and Family Dynamics of Addiction, Recovery, and Treatment. Unfortunately, addiction is a primary cause of relational issues in families. That being the case, you’ll develop key skills for addressing addiction issues within families with proper assessment, diagnosis, and treatment procedures.
Additional required coursework explores topics such as:
- Professional Issues in Marriage and Family Therapy
- Critical Issues in Family and Cultural Diversity
- Trauma and Crisis Intervention
- Systemic Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Psychopathology
- Research Methods and Statistics I
This program also requires a thesis. While most of your thesis work will be done during the program’s second year, you’ll begin your thesis research in the first semester. You’ll continue working on your thesis and refining it in preparation for your thesis defense, which occurs near the end of the program.
An internship is further required to graduate. You’ll accrue your internship hours during the program’s second year. You must complete at least 500 hours of clinical therapy training, half of which must be in a relational counseling setting with individuals, couples, and groups. Furthermore, you’re required to complete at least 100 hours of clinical supervision, though most students accumulate over 200 supervised hours throughout the internship.
All told, you must complete 50 credits to earn this degree. As noted earlier, most students finish the required training in two years of full-time studies. Coursework must be completed on campus at Auburn; clinical experiences occur at Auburn’s on-campus Marriage and Family Therapy Center as well as at offsite locations.
You can apply to Auburn’s MFT program online. The admissions requirements are as follows:
- Have a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
- Have a strong GPA and at least one undergraduate statistics or research methods class.
- Have a background in behavioral or social sciences.
- Provide three letters of recommendation that highlight your academic skills and work ethic.
- Have professional goals that align with the program’s strengths.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
- Submit a letter of intent in which you discuss your career plans, research experiences, and your education and professional experiences.
- Provide a current resume.
University of Mobile
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling
The University of Mobile’s Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling prepares you to provide professional therapeutic services to individuals, couples, and families. Your training equips you to provide these services in a variety of contexts ranging from private practice to community mental health centers to hospitals.
This program requires you to complete 51 credits to graduate. These credits come in the form of traditional on-campus coursework and field-based clinical experiences. Your training starts with basic coursework like Foundations of Counseling. This class examines essential counseling theories and techniques, the history of counseling, and professional issues in counseling as well.
Another early course that helps you advance your counseling skills is Mental Disorders: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment. As the name implies, the focus of this class is on learning the process of treating an individual with a mental illness. You’ll explore specific assessment and diagnostic procedures and also learn how to treat mental disorders in the context of family systems.
You’ll deepen your understanding of individual growth and development within the family system in the Individual and Family Development class. This course introduces you to developmental theories across the lifespan. In particular, you’ll explore developmental issues related to childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, you’ll examine how influences like gender, culture, and spirituality affect the clinical presentation of mental illness.
Your early coursework expands into counseling skills as you progress through the program. For example, you must successfully complete each of the following classes:
- Family Systems Theories and Therapies
- Marriage and Family Counseling I and II
- Couples Therapy
- Group Counseling
- Human Sexuality and Counseling
As you can see, your training doesn’t just focus on working with couples and families. Instead, you’ll acquire the skills needed to provide individual and group counseling. Moreover, the skills you develop can be used to treat a wide variety of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.
You must also complete a two-part practicum. During the practicum, you’ll observe an experienced marriage and family therapist provide counseling services to their clients. You’ll also accrue at least 50 hours of client contact time with families, groups, couples, and individuals. The second portion of the practicum also requires you to complete at least 50 client contact hours. These hours are essential for your development as a pre-service practitioner and are a stepping stone to the two-part internship.
The internship is an intensive, year-long training period during which you are required to accumulate at least 600 hours of training. At least 240 of these hours must be in the context of individual, family, couple, or group counseling. The internship also includes weekly supervision. This supervision is provided by your onsite supervisor and your professors, and is provided in individual and group settings.
You must complete the following steps to apply:
- Have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
- Have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or higher.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
- Submit any applicable test scores as required by the department.
Liberty University
Master of Arts in Family and Marriage Therapy
Liberty University offers an online Master of Arts in Family and Marriage Therapy degree. This program requires you to attend two intensive experiences on campus in Lynchburg, Virginia. While traveling to campus for these intensives demands significant time and effort, the skills and techniques you’ll refine during this time with classmates and professors make it highly beneficial.
This is a 60-credit program that typically takes about two years to complete. However, Liberty University offers flexibility through online classes and allows up to seven years to fulfill graduation requirements. Regardless of the time you take, you’ll need to complete a diverse range of courses categorized as follows:
- Early Core Courses
- Advanced Core Courses
- Elective Course
- Specialization Courses
The early core courses focus on foundational topics and skills essential for developing as a marriage and family therapist. For instance, Ethical and Legal Issues in Counseling will familiarize you with potential challenges in pre-practice and licensed therapy settings. Another example is Human Growth and Development, where you’ll analyze cognitive, physical, social, and personality changes that clients experience across their lifespan.
Counseling Techniques and the Helping Relationship is another key early core course. This class emphasizes the importance of your professional relationship with clients and equips you with skills to guide, mentor, and support them effectively.
The advanced core courses build on the foundational skills you develop in the early core classes. These include:
- Group Counseling
- Research and Program Evaluation
- Assessment Techniques in Counseling
- Career Development and Counseling
- Psychopathology
- Theories of Family Systems
In addition to these required courses, you must choose one elective course. The options are Human Sexuality or Substance Abuse Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention. Both courses are highly relevant for family and couples counseling, and your choice will depend on your interests and career goals.
The specialization courses focus on advanced marriage and family therapy theories and techniques. In the course Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment Planning in Marriage and Family Counseling, you’ll study major treatment approaches, enhance your counseling skills, and gain experience in client assessment and diagnosis. Role-playing clinical situations with classmates and professors is a critical part of this class.
Another specialization course is Counseling Children, Adolescents, and Their Families. In this class, you’ll explore common mental disorders of childhood, issues related to transitioning to adolescence, parenting concerns, spirituality, and social pressures.
Additional specialization courses include:
- Advanced Couples and Marital Counseling
- Integration Comprehensive Exam
- 100-Hour Practicum
Beyond these classes, you must complete a two-part counseling internship. Over the internship, you’ll acquire at least 600 hours of counseling and related services, including a minimum of 240 hours of direct client contact.
You can apply to Liberty University online. The application requirements include the following:
- Hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
- Have a 2.7 undergraduate GPA or higher.
- Submit official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended.
- Provide contact information for two recommenders.
- Submit a statement of purpose.
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