Transforming lives
Marriage and family therapy is a great profession for people who value helping others discover positive change in the midst of personal and relationship struggles. A family therapy degree can help prepare you for the specific challenges faced in family counseling.
Start working toward your Marriage & Family Therapy degree today.
Program Highlights
Real-world knowledge. Supportive learning.
Mission Statement: The MSFT Program embodies core Quaker values while engaging students on an educational journey of personal and professional transformation to affect change in the lives of those they will serve.
Two Locations
Friends University offers a unique opportunity to study the profession of marriage and family therapy with on-ground classes in Wichita or Kansas City.
Highly Ranked Program
Our Marriage & Family Therapy program has been awarded top rankings year after year.
Passionate Faculty
Accessible educators with real-world experience and expertise
Informative Information Sessions
Join us for one of our Master of Family Therapy Information Sessions in Wichita or Kansas City
High Job Placement Rates
Job placement rates for Wichita MFT graduates at 100% since 2013-2014. View Student Achievement Criteria Data below.
Career Services
Helpful career guidance
“The MSFT program at Friends is student-focused, it is professionally relevant, it is well-respected and it is a family. What other graduate program can boast that its alumni return to teach, supervise, volunteer and host students on a regular basis?”
Erin Cavanaugh, Family Therapy Graduate 2011
Costs & Value
Getting an MFT graduate degree has great long term success and value. With the competitive advantage, higher salary and real world experience that comes from a graduate degree, it only makes sense to pursue a graduate degree! Did you know that those with a graduate degree earn almost 20% more than those that only have an undergraduate degree? Read more reasons why it pays to get a graduate degree.
What jobs can you get with a master’s degree in family therapy?
Marriage and family therapy is an ideal profession for those who value helping others discover positive change in the midst of personal and relationship struggles. A family therapy degree at Friends University prepares you with the theoretical, clinical, multicultural and interpersonal competencies for eventual licensure and practice as a Marriage and Family Therapy mental health professional. Current Marriage and Family Therapy graduates are working as counselors, therapists and social workers.
With a high job growth in therapy degrees over the next decade, there has never been a better time to get a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy. The need for jobs in social work, therapy and counseling is expected to grow 22% by 2028.
Counselor or Therapist Degree?
Are counselors and therapists the same thing? While titles like “counselor” and “therapist” are often used interchangeably when identifying health professionals, there are distinct differences that are key to helping you make the right degree choice.
A degree for counselors, therapists and social workers
The MSFT program trains students in the context of a relational and systemic perspective and strives to produce ethically sound clinicians who are competent in multicultural, theoretical, clinical, and interpersonal domains.
Psychotherapy with individuals, couples and families all require specialized knowledge and training as well as personal inspiration. Our COAMFTE (Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education) accredited program offers extensive training and experience providing care to others in personal distress. Each year advanced students in the program collectively provide more than 10,000 hours of relational services to individuals, couples and families. In this, we believe we have created a unique graduate training experience that offers you these practices and more.
The Master of Science in Family Therapy Program at Friends University is pleased to provide a public portfolio of program information in compliance with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education. This information includes but is not limited to the MSFT program’s mission statement, program goals, student learning outcomes, faculty information, demographic data, student achievement data, and policies and procedures supporting the Marriage and Family Therapy program at Friends University. To access the information, please select the following link to the MSFT LiveText Portfolio Management System (www.livetext.com), select the “visitor pass,” and enter the following code: 340BA284
Accreditation
The marriage and family therapy graduate degree at Friends University is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), 112 S. Alfred St., Alexandria, VA 22314 (703-838-9808), coa@aamft.org.
Application Deadlines
The Friends University MSFT program has specific deadlines for applying. The following deadlines are for the 2021-2022 year.
- Early Admission Round – Wichita – Friday, September 17, 2021
- Round 2 – Wichita – Friday, January 14, 2022
- Round 3 – Wichita – Friday, March 18, 2022
- Round 4 – Wichita – Friday, May 6, 2022 (only held if program spots are available)
- Early Admission Round – Kansas City – Friday, October 8, 2021
- Round 2 – Kansas City – Friday, December 3, 2021
- Round 3 – Kansas City – Friday, March 4, 2022
- Round 4 – Kansas City – Friday, May 13 2022
Interviews
- Early Admission Round – Wichita – Monday, October 18, 2021
- Round 2 – Wichita – Monday, January 31, 2022
- Round 3 – Wichita – Monday, April 4, 2022
- Round 4 – Wichita – Monday, May 23, 2022 (only held if program spots are available)
- Early Admission Round – Kansas City – Friday, November 5, 2021
- Round 2 – Kansas City – Friday, January 14, 2022
- Round 3 – Kansas City – Friday, March 25, 2022
- Round 4 – Kansas City – Friday, June 3, 2022
Program Outcomes
Program outcomes for the Marriage & Family Therapy graduate program are below:
- Demonstrate awareness and regulation of self emotion.
- Demonstrate awareness and regulation of self in interaction.
- Demonstrate constructive response to difference.
- Demonstrate the ability to promote therapeutic alliance.
- Demonstrate the ability to use therapeutic influence constructively.
- Demonstrate understanding of relevant conceptual knowledge.
- Demonstrate application of relevant conceptual knowledge.
- Demonstrate integration of multiple concept frameworks organized by systematic/relational orientation.
- Initiate and assess treatment need.
- Plan and facilitate research/theory informed intervention.
- Evaluate progress and conclude treatment.
- Utilize supervision and professional collaboration.
- Follow legal, ethical and professional standards.
Featured Faculty
Dr. Rebecca Culver-Turner
- Associate Professor of MFT (Wichita) and Wichita Site Program Director
- B.A., Ozark Christian College; Ph.D., Kansas State University
Dr. Chris Habben
- Professor of Marriage & Family Therapy; Kansas City Site Program Director; Kansas City Site Specialized Accreditation & Assessment Administration
- B.A., Hope College; M.S., M.A., Fuller Theological Seminary; Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Dr. Sarah Lyon
- Assistant Professor of MFT (Kansas City) and Kansas City Site Clinical Director and Internship Supervisor
- B.A., University of Kansas; M.S., Oklahoma State University; Ph.D., Kansas State University
Dr. Steve Rathbun
- Professor of Marriage & Family Therapy
- B.A., Mid-America Nazarene College; M.A., University of Northern Colorado; Ph.D., Kansas State University
Dr. Rebekah R Reyes Adams
- Assistant Professor Marriage Family & Therapy
Dr. Michelle Robertson
- Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy
- B.A., Midwestern State University; M.M.F.T., Abilene Christian University; Ph.D., University of Louisiana