Master of Arts in Counseling: Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling

To earn your Master’s in Counseling: Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling degree, you’ll take 66 units of classes. 

For each 7-week course, you’ll be supported through virtual classroom sessions with your professors and classmates, and through experientially focused assignments that connect you with fellow students.

Learning activities will involve approximately 13 to 16 hours of the student's time investment each week. It is recommended that students working full time take only one course at a time.

This empahsis is only provided for California-based students, and it has been approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences as meeting all academic requirements for the LMFT application. To learn more about this please visit the California BBS.

Core Courses

• COUN 599: Townsend Institute Residency
• COUN 600: Townsend Institute Orientation
• COUN 601: Human Growth and Development
• COUN 602: Theories of Counseling
• COUN 603: Clinical Psychopathology and Diagnosis
• COUN 604: Theory and Practice of Groups
• COUN 605: Legal, Ethical and Professional Issues
• COUN 607: Social and Cultural Foundations
• COUN 609: Theory and Practice of Assessment
• COUN 610: Townsend Model Theory and Application
• COUN 611: Foundations of Crisis and Trauma Counseling
• COUN 612: Career and Lifestyle Development
• COUN 613: Foundations of Addiction Counseling
• COUN 614: Methods and Practice of Research and Evaluation
• COUN 633: Counseling Skills and Techniques (3 units)

Emphasis

• MCFC 606: Foundations of Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling
• COUN 621: Psychopharmacology
• MCFC 623: Theories of Marriage and Family Therapy
• COUN 627: Human Sexuality
• MCFC 624: Advanced Marriage and Family Therapy
• MCFC 640: Practicum
• MCFC 641: Internship I
• MCFC 642: Internship II (3 units)

For course descriptions, please see the Academic Catalog.

This program aligns with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences to meet their academic requirements for the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) license.

The Townsend Institute takes a different approach to academics. We know it’s the time you spend with people who have legitimate on-the-ground experiences and have accomplished their goals that has the greatest impact. That’s why we provide students with the opportunity to personally learn from Dr. John Townsend, our Institute Fellows and faculty, such as Dr. Kaitlyn Stafford, Dr. Shelley Coleman, and Dr. Christi Myers. Together, they cultivate a relational learning experience, addressing the head and the heart through science and data.

There is excellent value in frequent, real-time interaction with fellow students and your instructors. Throughout this program, students will participate in Virtual town hall meetings and  1 on-campus residency. Furthermore, during this 4-day residency, you will meet Dr. Townsend personally, and he and our Townsend Institute Fellows will conduct a series of training sessions. You will also go through numerous process-focused growth groups – you will not leave the same person.

To learn more about the Institute’s 4-day Residency, attend a Townsend LIVE info session.

The Townsend Institute is housed within Concordia University Irvine, a private, Lutheran university. Located in Southern California, Concordia serves over 4,000 students annually, on campus and online. Centered by a Christian worldview, and guided by the Great Commission, Concordia is home to a thoughtful and caring community of learners.

As a Christ-centered counseling program, our mission is to develop competent, culturally informed counselors, educators, supervisors, scholars, leaders, and advocates to promote the wellness of all populations and systems. We are dedicated to preparing wise, honorable, cultivated citizens through a connected community of learners, empowering them to advance the counseling field and effect positive societal change from a research-supported perspective.

Professional Counseling Orientation and Ethical Practice: Graduates will develop a professional identity as a counselor in alignment with ethical and legal standards, informed by Concordia Lutheran Christian identity, and exhibit the dispositions related to effective, ethical practice. 

Social and Cultural Identities and Experiences: Graduates will develop an understanding of theories and models of multicultural counseling and advocacy while demonstrating multicultural competence in their interactions with individuals, families, and groups. 

Lifespan Development: Graduates will incorporate theories and principles of optimal lifespan development in order to promote resilience and wellness in individuals and families across the lifespan. 

Career Development: Graduates will demonstrate the ability to conceptualize the interrelationship among work, socioeconomic standing, wellness, disability, trauma, relationship, and other life roles for clients' diverse career needs and educational development. 

Counseling Practice and Relationships: Graduates will apply theories and models of counseling through essential interviewing, counseling, and case conceptualizations skills, while integrating developmentally relevant and culturally sustaining treatment and intervention plans. 

Group Counseling and Group Work: Graduates will demonstrate knowledge of the theoretical foundations of group counseling and group work, including how to effectively facilitate group practice, navigate group dynamics, and implement appropriate therapeutic facts unique to working with groups.

Assessment and Diagnostic Process: Graduates will acquire, refine, and demonstrate an ability to assess client issues for diagnosis and treatment planning utilizing culturally sustaining and developmentally appropriate methods.

Research and Program Evaluation: Graduates will demonstrate the ability to critique research to incorporate evidence-based counseling practices in various settings.

Specialty Counseling Practice: Graduates will acquire, refine, and demonstrate appropriate skills specific to their chosen counseling specialty (i.e., Clinical Mental Health Counseling or Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling).