Fall 2025 APPLICATIONS CLOSED MARCH 1, 2025
2 years
MS
The Master of Science in Counseling Program with the Marriage and Family Therapy Option is designed to promote social justice and democracy by preparing knowledgeable and competent professional Marriage and Family Therapists. The primary focus of the concentration is to train psychotherapists who eventually plan to obtain a California Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) and/or a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) internship license.
The primary focus of the concentration is to train psychotherapists who eventually plan to obtain a California Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) and/or a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) internship license. Additional units may be taken to meet the requirements for the LPCC and the MFT internship. (See BBS Sections 4980.37, 4980.41 (a)(4)&(5) for MFT and 4999.33 for LPCC.)
If possible, visit and talk to professional Marriage and Family Therapists before applying. Find out what they love about their work. CSUEB promotes ethical practice and encourages active professional participation and engagement.
The MFT concentration prepares graduate students for clinical work in a wide variety of settings, such as community mental health based and county agencies, schools and universities, hospitals, business and industry, and private practice.
Graduates have been hired in a wide range of agencies and businesses. Some are counselors in junior colleges and college counseling settings, Others are drug and alcohol abuse counselors in hospitals, family therapists on-site in schools, advocates for the mentally ill, therapists working with chronically ill and they elderly, child therapists in therapeutic nursery schools, assessment counselors, information and referral clinicians in employment assistance programs, individual and family therapists for police departments, grief counselors, organizational development specialists, and human resource professionals in business and industry.
The Master’s of Science in Counseling Program with the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) training is designed to promote social justice and democracy by preparing knowledgeable and competent professional Marriage and Family Therapists.
The MFT Program is committed to training Marriage and Family Therapists for clinical work in a variety of settings. The program is offered annually at the Hayward Campus.
We support the advancement of social justice, democracy, and professional excellence. This philosophy is utilized in preparing knowledgeable and competent professional Marriage and Family Therapists who engage in counseling, consultation and other psychological practices from a relational perspective. The MFT profession in California provides many opportunities to become leaders in the field and to help shape the profession.
The M.S. in Counseling with the MFT training is a full-time, 2 years (~5 semesters) program. Courses are offered in a defined cohort sequence during fall and spring terms, during the day, evening, and on some weekends.
A "cohort" is a group of professionals who enter, move through, and graduate from the program in the same group, at the same time. Cohorts foster learning communities where students and marriage and family therapist trainees support each other.
Faculty members in the Department of Educational Psychology have expertise in a wide range of marriage and family therapy theories, research, and practice. These include strength-based interventions, social-emotional and cognitive behavioral intervention and assessment, postmodern approaches, multi-cultural counseling, group therapy, couples therapy, brief therapy, child therapy, and consultation.
Marriage and Family Therapists trainees are prepared for clinical work with people who are struggling with both normal life problems and more severe pathologies. We orient trainees to promote resilience and practice strength-based interventions. Coursework training, combined with actual practice in fieldwork and clinical placement sites, prepares Marriage and Family Therapist trainees to work from a relational perspective.
Marriage and Family Therapist trainees begin working in their placement sites during their second year of training. Fieldwork Placement sites are available throughout the Bay area.
The Master’s in Counseling offered by the Department of Educational Psychology MFT option is designed to meet the requirements of Section 4980.37, 4980.40 and relevant subdivisions of Chapter 13 regarding Marriage and Family Therapy in Business and Professions Code of the State of California. Prospective students are advised to acquire and read the laws governing MFT licensure from the Board of Behavioral Science in Sacramento.
Fieldwork experience is required as part of all Counseling programs. This requirement allows students actual clinical, assessment, and counseling experience under the supervision of department faculty and qualified licensed professionals working in the field.
The Department does not issue licenses. Our Counseling Programs is designed to meet the educational requirements for the California State MFT License issued by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. This license requires additional experience beyond degrees, as well as written and oral exams administered by the Board of Behavioral Sciences, including 3,000 hours of supervised experience.
Candidates successfully completing the program may apply for an MFT Intern License with the California Board of Behavioral Science; additional hours and an exam are required for licensure. Please refer to California Board of Behavioral Sciences for additional information.
The prerequisites or foundation coursework below (or their equivalents) are required for all students in the M.S. in Counseling program. Please check the concentration requirements for additional prerequisites. Prerequisites must be completed before beginning graduate-level coursework. This area may require 0-11 units that are not included in the major units:
Please refer to the Prerequisite Equivalency Course List to see a range of course title examples and institutions. This is not an exhaustive list. If you have completed a course with a similar title and content, with a grade of "B" or better, from an accredited university the program will review the course with your application.
If you are uncertain if a title or content description matches these examples, please contact the Program Coordinator for MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPY: Dr. Nancy Deatrick
Email: Nancy.Deatrick@csueastbay.edu-Include a copy of the unofficial transcript, course description, course number, institution, and date completed. Courses 10 years or older will not be considered.
Students are admitted once annually to commence studies during Fall Semester. Students are encouraged to attend a program orientation prior to submitting an application. Information about orientation dates and additional program descriptions including a program handbook can be viewed on the Department website.
Students applying to this program should follow the university and departmental admissions procedures, including the submission of:
For the Department Application-Please submit two to four typed double-spaced pages, in which you describe your professional goals. We are interested in knowing how you developed these goals and how you assess your strengths and weaknesses relative to achieving these goals. Be sure to discuss the program-related questions in your statement of purpose.
Prerequisites are not required for admission, but must be completed prior to start of graduate coursework in the Fall term of admission to the program.
In addition to completing the program’s required course of study, each student’s progress is reviewed quarterly by the program’s faculty. Reviews involve student’s academic and clinical progress and appropriate professional behavior.
For more information, please contact: Program Coordinator -Dr. Nancy Deatrick
Email: Nancy.Deatrick@csueastbay.edu