Couple and Family Counseling M.A.

The Couple and Family Counseling program at Northeastern Illinois University prepares students to work as counselors with individuals, couples, families, and groups from a systemic perspective to foster and maintain healthy interpersonal relationships. The program emphasizes social justice, advocacy, and structural competence, particularly to affect systemic change and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The program delivers a comprehensive academic curriculum and supervised clinical experiences that integrates the standards of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educations Programs (CACREP) and fulfills the requirements for professional licensure in the State of Illinois as both Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (ALMFT/LMFT) and Professional Counselors (LPC/LCPC).

With an emphasis on mastering clinical skills within a relational context, students prepare to work with diverse clients for a wide array of clinical issues including, but not limited to, conflict, parenting decisions, behavioral problems, sexuality, divorce, grief, or other family transitions.

Graduates of the Couple and Family Counseling program will be able to provide competent individual or conjoint therapy for members of a couple or family and will be eligible to work in a variety of therapy settings, such as community mental health agencies, substance abuse treatment centers, hospitals, clinics, crisis centers, court services, youth agencies/facilities, managed behavioral health care organizations, and private practice.

The Couple and Family Counseling program trains counselors to work as marriage and family counselors who will be knowledgeable of, and demonstrate skills in the following:

1. CACREP's core content areas of: professional counseling orientation and ethical practice; social and cultural diversity; human growth and development; career development; counseling and helping relationships; group counseling; assessment and testing; and research and program evaluation.
2. Theoretical and historical foundations of culturally-competent couple, family and individual counseling, including assessment and case conceptualization from a systemic perspective that incorporates individual and family life cycle transitions
3. Understanding the impact of contextual factors such as poverty, trauma, socioeconomics, gender roles, addiction, culture and ethnicity, age, religion, medical/mental health issues, aging and governmental policy on individual, couple and family functioning.
4. Systemic clinical practice with individuals, couples, families and groups, oriented toward navigating relational difficulties, including but not limited to relational problem-solving, conflict management, relational accountability and life cycle transitions.
5. Practice management of couples and family therapy, including treatment planning, documentation and service delivery from a systemic perspective.
6. Professional identity as a relational therapist, including credentialing, legal and ethical issues related to the practice of competent conjoint therapy with couples and families.

Foundation Counseling Courses
COUN 401 Professional Orientation & Legal/Ethical Practices (3 cr)
COUN 402 Developmental Counseling (3 cr)
COUN 403 Theories of Counseling (3 cr)
COUN 404 Assessment & Evaluation in Counseling (3 cr)
COUN 405 Individual Counseling Skills (3 cr)
COUN 406 Group Counseling (3 cr)
COUN 408 Research Seminar (3 cr)
COUN 409 Career Development (3 cr)
COUN 415 Children & Youth in School & Family Systems (3 cr)
COUN 420 Introduction to Family Counseling (3 cr)
COUN 425 Diagnosis & Treatment of Addictive Disorders (3 cr)
COUN 427 Diagnostic Systems for Counseling (3 cr)
COUN 430 Social & Cultural Diversity in Counseling (3 cr)

Couple and Family Counseling Courses
COUN 421 Advanced Couple & Family Counseling (3 cr)
COUN 431 Couple and Family Systems Study (3 cr)
COUN 432 Couples Counseling & Human Sexuality (3 cr)

Elective Courses. Choose one of the following:
COUN 429 Psychopharmacology (3 cr)
COUN 434 Medical & Psychosocial Aspects of Disability (3 cr)
COUN 438 Trauma & Crisis Counseling (3 cr)
COUN 439 Case Conceptualization & Treatment Planning (3 cr)
PSYC 406 Aging & the Family (3 cr)

Advanced Clinicals
COUN 445 Practicum: Group Supervision in Couple and Family Counseling** (3 cr)
COUN 465 Internship I: Group Supervision in Couple and Family Counseling** (3 cr)
COUN 475 Internship II: Group Supervision in Couple and Family Counseling** (3cr)

Practicum and Internship consists of 700 hours of documented field-related experience, of which a cumulative 300 hours of face-to-face counseling is required. COUN 445 Practicum: Family Counseling is a 100-hour, field-based experience requiring a minimum of 40 hours of direct contact with clients. COUN 465 Internship I: Family Counseling and COUN 475 Internship II: Family Counseling together consist of a 600-hour, field-based experience requiring a minimum of 240 hours of clinical contact with clients. A minimum of 150 of these clinical contact hours must be counseling couples and/or families.

All counselor education students are required to pass a comprehensive departmental proficiency examination (DPE) prior to graduation. This exam is offered annually in February, June and October. To be eligible to take the DPE, CFC students must have completed: COUN 401, COUN 402, COUN 403, COUN 404, COUN 405, COUN 406, COUN 408, COUN 409, COUN 415, COUN 420, COUN 421, COUN 427, COUN 430

Use the CFC program planning guide to outline your proposed plan of study.