Specializations

Addictions Treatment

6 semester hours

Students can include a special track on addictions treatment in the context of families by adding two Professional Mental Health and Addiction Counseling (PMHC-A) courses to their plans of study (MHCA 545, and MHCA 546 or MHCA 547). As the Department of Counseling Psychology houses the PMHC-A program, this track allows for collaboration across programs.

Additionally, since addictions treatment is in great demand across the country, an opportunity to be trained in this area strengthens the practice focus of our students and increases their marketability in the highly competitive field of mental health practitioners.

MCFT students are also welcome to complete the PMHC-A program trainings for problem gambling counselors currently offered as continuing education through the Center for Community Engagement. The two 30-credit hour courses meet the educational requirements for the state of Oregon Certified Gambling Addiction Counselor I (CGAC I).  

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Sexuality in MCFT

4 semester hours

The sexuality in MCFT track expands MCFT training with courses that focus on sexuality and sex therapy to better prepare students to offer family therapy and to enable students to apply for certification as sexuality therapists or educators. This specialty training provides greater than average knowledge about the physiological processes that are a part of human sexuality. Sex therapists may work collaboratively with physicians to address the entirety of the causes of sexual concerns.  Sex therapy views sexual issues as being resolved by specifically addressing them. The track offers evidence based training with an affirming outlook on the beneficial influence that sexuality can have on people’s lives and in the world in general.

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Ecopsychology

8 semester hours

Human survival depends on effectively relating to everything that surrounds us. A continued and exclusive emphasis on a human lens to relationships prevent us from considering ways of seeing ourselves in relation to all beings on the planet. Family therapists have made very important contributions to widening the scope of relationships to include ecological systems and the bonds that we and animals develop to care for each other and heal. This track integrates ecological systems into the already established systemic thinking within the family therapy field. It provides training in understanding people’s emotional connections with the natural world within an evidence-based, experiential, and socially progressive curriculum. Students who wish to complete this track and have priority for these classes must apply in advance for the Ecopsychology certificate.

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Eating Disorders Certificate

8 semester hours

MCFT students may also complete the eight course, eight-semester units Eating Disorders Certificate for either graduate credit or for Continuing Education (CEPD) only credit.