Doctoral Program

Curriculum for the PH.D. Degree (Post-Master's option)

Brigham Young University offers a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Marriage and Family Therapy. Administratively this degree is housed in the School of Family Life. Students admitted to this program will have completed the Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy or equivalent at another accredited institution. The Ph.D. degree program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Eleven full-time faculty have primary instructional responsibility for the graduate program with support from the School of Family Life faculty. Major courses and clinical practice are conducted in the BYU Comprehensive Clinic which houses clinical psychology, speech and language disorders, audiology, and social work in addition to the marriage and family therapy program.

Students are required to complete 69 credit hours (27 core MFT credits, 3 Professional Development, 18 Dissertation, 6 Elective).
A minimum of 200 hours of direct client contact (after completing MS-level 400 hours) are required. At least 100 of these clinical hours required to be relational. Commensurate numbers of supervision hours are required. These clinical hours can be accrued at the BYU Comprehensive Clinic or at another clinic.

The following list of coursework assumes that an incoming doctoral student has already completed the COAMFTE accredited Master’s level coursework. If a student comes from a non-clinical MS program, a non-accredited MFT master’s program or another mental health MS program (e.g., social work, counseling, psychology), s/he will likely have to make up both coursework and clinical hours. The number of courses and hours will be approved by the program director and the student’s potential advisor before admission to the program using the form found in Appendix G of the Appendices & Forms document.

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IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT CLINICAL WORK:
-Students are required to accrue at least 200 hours during the doctoral program (100 must be relational).
-Students must be enrolled in MFT 755R if they are seeing any clients at the Comprehensive Clinic. And students must be enrolled in MFT 770R if they are seeing any clients off-site. Students can be enrolled in both MFT 755R and 770R.

Eligibility for admission to the Ph.D. (post-master's) program is based upon the applicant having an earned master's degree in MFT from a regionally accredited college or university. Some exceptions may be made for individuals who have graduated from a non-accredited program, but this is determined on a case-by-case basis under the direction of BYU's Graduate Studies, the MFT advisor, MFT Program & Clinical Directors. The Graduate School requires an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above for the last sixty hours for admission. Competitive applicants typically have a 3.75 GPA or higher, a combined score near 300 on the verbal and quantitative tests of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and a score of 4.0 or higher on the written portion of the GRE. For now the GRE is recommended, but not required for applicants.

Financial assistance is offered to those in the PhD program. Full tuition & fees will be paid for at the LDS rate for all students. All PhD students will also be offered a research stipend of 20 hours a week, amounting to roughly $22,500 a year.

In addition to course work and supervised clinical practicum, each student is required to complete a Doctoral Dissertation as well as a Doctoral Portfolio. More information regarding what is included in the portfolio will be given after admission to the program.

Ph.D. Program Goals. As a program, we aim for the following goals:

1. Be an international leader in conducting and publishing research, with an emphasis on process research that informs how change in relational therapy occurs.
2. Focus education on the integration of theory, science, and the practice of systemic and relational healing.
3. Develop professionals with effective teaching skills
4. Foster an environment of compassion, inclusion, and diversity.

Students are expected to demonstrate the following student learning outcomes:

1. Graduating students will be competent in research skills
2. Graduating students will have submitted for publication at least 2 papers as a primary author
3. Graduating students will be competent in designing and carrying out research related methodology
4. Graduating students will be clinically prepared
5. Graduating students will be ethically prepared
6. Graduating students will be prepared to be licensed in the state of Utah
7. Student teachers will receive positive evaluations from their students and observing faculty
8. Graduating students will be competent in designing and implementing effective teaching strategies
9. Graduating students will be competent in relating to clients with regards to gender diversity
10. Graduating students will be competent in relating to clients with regards to cultural diversity

Demographics for the Ph.D. Degree

The following areas of study correspond to the curriculum prescribed by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education of the AAMFT.

BYU DOCTORAL CURRICULUM REQUIREMENTS*

(“Areas” of study refer to COAMFTE required areas of study.)

TOTAL CREDIT HOURS, AREAS VII THROUGH XII

TOTAL CREDIT HOURS FOR PhD=63 Hours*
*Plus 500 direct face-to-face clinical hours (with at least 251 being relational)