Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy

The Master of Science degree in Marriage and Family Therapy is an applied program that focuses both on training excellent clinicians and competent researchers. Clinically, students are trained to work with diverse individuals, couples, and families on a wide variety of presenting issues, such as relationship troubles, trauma, depression, anxiety, and family of origin experiences. Students gain expertise working across the human lifespan, from multi-culturally informed relational/systemic perspectives so that they can intervene ethically and effectively in these family processes. The MFT program at Auburn University is accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE), meeting all educational and pre-graduation clinical hour/supervision requirements for licensure in Alabama as well as most other states. Students leave this two-year program ready to work in entry level family therapy jobs. Additionally, our MFT/M.S. graduates are prepared to and often successfully pursue doctoral training at Auburn or elsewhere.

Program Overview

Students are provided with clinical experience both on campus and at paid internship and clinical assistantship sites across Central and East Alabama (Tuskegee, Alex City, Phenix City, Opelika, Valley and Montgomery). The AU MFT Program partners with the Family and Children’s Services, East Alabama Mental Health Center providing child and family therapy for clients across a five county catchment area; Circle of Care, a Family Resource Center providing a wide variety of services, including therapy services for lower income couples and families in primarily in Chambers County, Alabama; Twin Cedars Inc. providing therapeutic supervised visitation as well as couple & family therapy for families in Lee County through the Keeping Families Connected program; I Am My Brother’s Keeper (IAMBK), offering couple and family therapy for program participants in Tuskegee and Lee County; and the Alabama Department of Youth Services offering multi-family group therapy for incarcerated juvenile sex offenders and their families at Mt. Meigs, Alabama.

Months 1-4: Students observe therapy sessions and participate in role play exercises as they begin to integrate theoretical and clinical issues. Students begin working on thesis.

Months 5-12: Includes an intensive period of clinical application during which students receive didactic training in specific therapy models, carry a limited client case load and receive live supervision from the clinical faculty at the AU MFT Center. Students continue working on their thesis and propose.

Months 12-24: Students continue to see clients at the AU MFT Center while completing the bulk of their clinical hours during an internship placement in the community. Students finish and defend their thesis.

Admission

Six students per year are accepted; consequently, admission to this program option is intensely competitive. The deadline to apply is December 15, 2024 for fall matriculation August 2025. Find out more information about important requirements and deadlines.

To review the demographic breakdown of our 2023-24 cohort of MFT Faculty, Supervisors and Students click here. Additionally, Graduate Achievement Data for our graduate program can be reviewed by activating the following: COAMFTE 2024 Graduate Achievement Data Disclosure Table for AUBURN UNIVERSITY MFT

View MFT Program Handbook
View MFT Interest Letter
View MFT Program Pamphlet

MFT Faculty

With a 4:1 student to faculty ratio, Auburn MFT students enjoy close working relationships with the program’s core faculty and benefit from their diverse perspectives and experiences. The MFT faculty teach most of your required courses and provide the majority of your on-campus clinical supervision. In addition to working with AU MFT masters students, the core MFT faculty also work with doctoral students in the department of Human Development and Family Science. All three faculty members hold doctoral degrees in Marriage and Family Therapy from COAMFTE accredited programs and are AAMFT Approved Supervisors. They are active members of state, national, and international professional organizations and maintain robust programs of research.

Scott Ketring, Ph.D., LMFT, Program Director
Scott Ketring graduated from the COAMFTE accredited marriage and family therapy Ph.D. program at Kansas State University and joined the Auburn faculty in 1999. His research interests include collaborative trauma, abuse and neglect, MFT process and outcome research, factors of therapeutic success, and marriage and relationship education.

Josh Novak, Ph.D., LMFT
Josh Novak graduated from the COAMFTE accredited marriage and family therapy Ph.D. program at Brigham Young University and joined the Auburn faculty in 2019 prior to 3 years at Utah State University’s MFT program. His research interests are focused on the nexus of couple relationships and health behaviors, couple management of chronic illnesses, bioregulation and mental health, and MFT process research.

Brian Gillis, Ph.D., LMFT
Brian Gillis graduated from the COAMFTE accredited marriage and family therapy M.S. program at Southern Connecticut State University and joined the Auburn faculty in 2023. Brian’s research interests include the health equity for sexual- and gender-minority (LGBTQ+) youth, sleep and development, physical activity and development, and adolescent mental health.