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The Doctoral Education of Professional Marriage and Family Therapists
Author(s) -
Lee, III Robert E.,
Nichols William C.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of marital and family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.868
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1752-0606
pISSN - 0194-472X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0606.2009.00158.x
Subject(s) - scholarship , family therapy , sophistication , socialization , faith , pedagogy , specialty , medical education , professional development , psychology , medicine , sociology , political science , family medicine , psychotherapist , social psychology , social science , law , philosophy , theology
The professional practice of marriage and family therapy (MFT) scholarship is regulated at the master’s level in the United States. Consequently, contemporary curricular issues have largely been focused on what is to be achieved within the master’s degree, with an emphasis on clinical practice. We consider here what value may and should be added through the doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy. Doctoral programs are the developmental stage wherein we should seek to transmit the specialized knowledge and skills germane to MFT scholarship and practice in diverse settings, e.g., clinical and research intensive university, family law, health care, child development and education, child welfare, juvenile justice, faith based, and business. However, underlying this specialty education are three transcendental goals: sophistication of family systems scholarship, socialization into the profession of MFT, and cultivation of professional maturity.