Christian Marriage and Family Therapy

Program Overview

The Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy in Christian Marriage and Family Therapy is for therapists and family ministry leaders who refuse to keep their faith and their clinical work in separate rooms. Most Christian families who seek help want someone who understands both the systemic patterns holding their distress in place and the convictions about marriage, children, and God that shape how they live. This program trains practitioners to work competently at both levels without collapsing one into the other. The systemic core comes first: general systems theory and the family life cycle, then the major schools of marriage and family therapy — Bowenian, structural, strategic, experiential, narrative, solution-focused, and emotionally focused — together with the outcome research that compares them. Alongside the clinical models runs a theological curriculum: a biblical theology of marriage as covenant, of the family as the first school of love, and of the person as created, fallen, and being redeemed. Students study the integration debate itself, from Carter and Narramore's early models to the five views now argued in the field, and the ethics of practising as a Christian therapist: informed consent about the place of faith in treatment, respect for clients who do not share it, and the difference between offering spiritual resources and imposing values. The doctoral project takes a question from the student's own setting — a premarital program, a congregation's care for strained marriages, a clinic serving religious families — and designs and evaluates an intervention. Graduates direct family ministries and Christian counseling centers, train lay and professional workers, teach integration, and write for the church. The degree is academic and ministry formation; it does not supply the supervised clinical hours that a state license requires.

Core Courses

• CMT 801 — Theology of Marriage, Family, and the Person (6 credits)
• CMT 812 — Systems Theory and the Family Life Cycle (6 credits)
• CMT 824 — Schools of Marriage and Family Therapy (6 credits)
• CMT 836 — Models of Christian Integration (6 credits)
• CMT 848 — Ethics, Values, and Faith in Therapy (5 credits)
• CMT 860 — Applied Research Design in Family Therapy (4 credits)
• CMT 899 — Doctoral Project in Christian Marriage and Family Therapy (24 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree in marriage and family therapy, counseling, psychology, social work, ministry, or a related field
• Experience in counseling, family ministry, chaplaincy, or human services
• Statement of purpose describing the families you serve and the question you want to pursue
• Current resume or professional profile
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available
• Signed acknowledgment that the degree does not by itself confer a license to practise therapy in any jurisdiction