»Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy

The MFT program requires the completion of 60 credits of coursework.  Classes are held during the fall, spring, and summer semesters.  Clinical practicum is completed during a student's final year in the program.

Students can complete the program in two and a half or three years.

Sample Curriculum Grids:  

Two and a Half Year Plan of Study

Three Year Plan of Study

For one year, all MFT students conduct individual, couple, and family therapy under direct supervision of licensed mental health professionals at Chapman’s MFT Training Clinic, the Frances Smith Center for Individual & Family Therapy, which opened a new state-of-the-art clinic in January 2011. With eight large observation rooms, each equipped with digital cameras used to record sessions for instructional purposes, the clinic not only provides students with valuable real-world training, but it also strives to improve the quality of life in the greater community.

Established in 1965 by faculty and students concerned about helping families and individuals affected by the Vietnam War, the Frances Smith Center for Individual and Family Therapy (also known as the Chapman University Community Clinic) has grown into a well-respected training facility offering psychological treatment services to the local community.

Very few MFT programs possess an onsite clinic, which enables students to work toward the 3,000 hours they must complete prior to taking the MFT licensing exams in California. Several of our graduates have cited this part of the program as one of the best aspects of their education, as it is very difficult to get this kind of hands-on experience elsewhere.

In 2021, our Competency Model was accepted for publication in the Journal of Contemporary Family Therapy. Read the article by clicking here.

Our faculty are licensed professionals specializing in a broad range of approaches, including family systems, cognitive behavioral, psychodynamic, and post-modern.  As students will be tested on several different theories as they attain licensure, the availability of multiple areas of faculty expertise has proven invaluable for alumni.

Naveen Jonathan Ph.D., LMFT Program Director
Research Interests: South Asian community, LGBTQIA+ community, families w/child who is diagnosed with physical health issue, and interdisciplinary work in medical family therapy.
Clinical Interests: Immigration/acculturation issues in clients, LGBTQIA+ clients, mental health care providers, college students, couples and families.

Brennan Peterson Ph.D., LMFT Professor
Research Interests: Coping with infertility, fertility awareness, and oocyte cryopreservation.
Clinical Interests: Couple/Individual therapy, emotion-focused therapy, and mindfulness.
Faculty Spotlight: Brennan Peterson, PhD

Beth Patrick Ph.D., LMFT Assistant Professor & Director of Clinical Training
Research Interests: Couples and Chronic Illness, sociocultural attunement in practice, and spirituality and the LGBTQ+ experience.
Clinical Interests: LGBTQAI+ teens, individuals, couples and families, medical family therapy-chronic illness and couples, and death/dying /bereavement.

Julie Payne DMFT, LMFT Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Children and adolescent mental health especially in the educational system, chronic illness/pain with family dynamics and within the medical system or approach of collaborative care.
Clinical Interests: Children and adolescent, military families, chronic illness/pain, and trauma. 

Chapman University’s MFT program is one of only two MFT programs in California with a Chapter in Delta Kappa, the International Marriage and Family Therapy Honor Society. Delta Kappa is committed to training emerging leaders in the field of MFT. It provides a structure for developing scholarly forums that present cutting edge research and theory on marriage and family therapy to practitioners on an ongoing basis and recognizes and promotes the achievements of marriage and family therapy clinicians and scholars.

Read about the Phi Chapter's participation in the annual National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Walk to learn more about their involvement in the community.