COURSE CURRICULUM

The Marriage and Family Therapy M.S. program at University of New Hampshire is a rigorous, practice-oriented graduate degree designed to prepare students for professional clinical careers in mental health and family services. The program requires a minimum of two years of full-time study, including summer enrollment, and a total of 72 credits combining advanced coursework, clinical practicum, and integrative academic work. A central component of training is the completion of 24 practicum credits, corresponding to at least 500 hours of supervised clinical practice, where students work directly with individuals, couples, and families under professional supervision to develop therapeutic competence and ethical clinical decision-making skills. Students also complete an integrative paper and presentation that synthesizes their theoretical learning and clinical experience. The academic core consists of foundational courses such as Professional Issues for Family Specialists, Theoretical Approaches to Human Development and Family Studies, and a Research Seminar, which together provide grounding in professional ethics, theory, and evidence-based practice. In addition, students take advanced specialized coursework including Marital and Family Therapy, Advanced Systems of Marital and Family Therapy, Family Therapy Practice I and II, Clinical Interventions in Couples Therapy, Play Therapy, Critical Problems in Family Life, and Sex Therapy, along with an elective to support individual interests and career goals. Practicum training is distributed across multiple semesters through HDFS 898 Marriage and Family Therapy Practicum, ensuring continuous clinical skill development throughout the program. Overall, the degree integrates theory, research, and extensive supervised practice to prepare graduates for licensure and professional practice in a wide range of clinical, counseling, and human service settings, emphasizing systems-based thinking and culturally responsive therapeutic care.