CURRICULUM
The curriculum is
research and theory intensive. Students are assumed to already
be competent master’s level clinicians. Therefore, the
in-residence clinical focus in our program will be on developing
and testing intervention models, and learning clinical models
that are evidence-based that can be used in research projects.
We currently have several couple, parent, and child focused intervention research projects in progress that use MFT students as research assistants..
All
doctoral students take a Department of Child Development and
Family Studies series of "Core Courses" (along with Ph.D.
student colleagues in Developmental Studies and Family Studies)
which offer students in-depth training in the research and
theory that is common to these areas including intensive
training in statistics and research methods. There is a
conscious attempt to foster interdisciplinary connections.
A total of six statistics and methods courses are included in the Departmental Core requirement, two of which are electives and may include training in qualitative research. All students will receive advanced training in cutting edge quantitative methods.
In
the MFT content courses, as well as in the Core Courses, there
is an emphasis on reading original source material and learning
how to evaluate critically original research. MFT content
courses
emphasize topics for which there is a body of research. We teach students to critique this research and expose them to
the grants that support the research. Learning about the grant
writing process and how to write quality professional papers is
also emphasized. The heart of the MFT curriculum includes three clinical research courses in which students read the major research, in the original, related to child, family, couple, and health related interventions. Students learn to view this research critically and also learn about the grants that support it. Students also have the opportunity to interact with major researchers via audio or video conferencing.
The program exposes the
student to a broad range of theories of marriage and family
therapy, and requires the student to view the theories
critically, appreciating both strengths and weaknesses.
The MFT Specialization exam is a capstone paper that students write after completing coursework and departmental preliminary exams. It is an extensive critical review of the literature in the student's area of interest that typically becomes the basis for the dissertation. Students also present on their research area each spring, beginning in the first year, in a program Professional Seminar. With each successive yearly presentation, it becomes closer to a formal dissertation proposal. A major emphasis of the program is timely completion of dissertations.
As noted in the Degrees Offered section, beginning in Fall, 2010, all students will complete a combined concentration in MFT and Family Studies (FS). Because we are dropping some previously required MFT electives, students can complete the MFT/FS combined concentration by taking only one (net) extra course, and earn a degree that should be marketable in FS and well as MFT settings. This program will be one of the only MFT/FS programs in the world.
Students receive intensively supervised clinical experience in
the Purdue Individual, Couple and Family Therapy Clinic (PICFTC)
in their first year, with the goal of developing evaluation
research competence. The physical location of our Clinic was moved to Family Services of Lafayette during the fall of 2009 (see section of website on Clinic), but clinical supervision is done by Purdue MFT faculty as before. Students may also participate in clinical
research projects throughout the program. Faculty supervision of
clinical work is intense, and emphasizes supervision and the use
of one-way mirror. However, other supervision formats are used,
such as video playback, co-therapy, and case conferences.
Students receive both individual and group supervision. In the
second year, students are trained in family therapy supervision
and receive live supervision of their supervision. To round out
clinical training, students may take a clinical
internship, if they have not completed 1000 face-to-face client contact hours, including master's degree hours. Students needing clinical internships will work for 9 to 12 months in a
community setting. While students
may complete internships locally, many take specialized training
in nationally known settings. Students who received a state
license in MFT and/AAMFT clinical membership, or who complete the 1000 hours before internship, are eligible for an
alternate internship that may include additional research and/or
academic training. Through the program, students complete the
clinical hour requirements, as well as the coursework, for
clinical membership in the American Association for Marriage in
Family Therapy (AAMFT).
W hile it is sometimes possible to finish the course work (not including internship) in two years we discourage most students from doing so and typically recommend a more relaxed pace of three years. Beginning in fall, 2007, we required MFT students to mostly complete their doctoral dissertation before the internship unless the internship is a research internship whose purpose includes gathering data for the dissertation. Since most students work while completing dissertations, we are making the advertised length of the complete program five years, although several current students (who identified dissertation topics early) will finish the program (start to dissertation defense) in as little as three years.
T he curriculum is an
evolving one which endeavors to meet both the requirements
established by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and
Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE), and to extend the knowledge
of the Field. As previously noted, students also take core
departmental courses. Purdue University provides student support
services for all students. |
