MFT 610: Theories of Family Therapy
Explore the historical development of theories of family therapy which have grown out of the paradigmatic shift from focusing on the individual to focusing on the influences of the family system.
Marriage and Family Therapy
Post-Graduate Certificate
Focus on counseling couples and families.
Offered at Regis University’s Thornton campus, the post-graduate certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) provides experiential training in working with individual, couples, and families from a systemic framework. The certificate helps professionals in the community with a master’s degree in counseling and/or those who practice as licensed psychotherapists in Colorado (such as licensed professional counselors, licensed addiction counselors, licensed psychologists, or licensed clinical social workers).
The MFT Certificate does not meet the educational requirements for licensure as an MFT in the state of Colorado or any other state. If students are interested in seeking licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist in Colorado, the Regis University master’s program in Marriage and Family Therapy meets the educational requirements for licensure.
Program Snapshot
Program Format
On-campus courses
Credits for Completion
18 credit hours
Tuition for the 24-25 Academic Year
$806 per credit hour
Sample Classes
MFT 650: Family Origins and Life Cycles
Study the family life cycle and the impact of transitions such as career, marriage, divorce, and death at different stages as guides to therapeutic understanding.
MFT 667: Couples Therapy
Examine theories of couples therapy, relational dynamics, cycles of partnering and negotiating in the context of working with couples conflict, violence, infidelity, commitment and divorce.
How to Apply
To apply to the Marriage and Family Therapy post-graduate certificate program, you will need:
- Completed master's degree in Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology, Social Work or a closely related clinical field from a regionally accredited U.S. college or university
- Completion of a clinical internship within the master's degree with a minimum of 600 supervised clinical hours
- Completed online application
- Official degree-bearing transcripts
- Current resume
- Admissions essay requirement
- Two recommendation forms
- Criminal background check
The first step in the application process is to contact an admissions counselor, who can evaluate your prior learning credit, provide information regarding financial aid and tuition assistance and help you through the entire application process.
Tuition and Fees
Tuition for the 2024-2025 academic year: $806 per credit hour
Total program credits:18
Tuition is one part of the overall cost of attendance, which includes all expenses students may have, including basic living costs. For more information about tuition, fees and your estimated cost of attendance, visit our Cost of Attendance for Adult Undergraduates and Graduate Students page. Tuition and fees are subject to change.
A non-refundable deposit of $350 is required at the time of acceptance to guarantee a position in the program. The deposit will be applied directly to tuition.
Regis also offers a variety of scholarships, grants and other programs to help you pay for school. Visit Financial Aid for more information.
Frequently Asked Questions
The MFT certificate expands on counseling theories rooted in individualism to include learning relational and systemic theories and models. Training focuses on systemic theories/approaches and techniques specific to working with couples an families. Systemic and relational training focuses on:
- Relational interconnectedness, expanding on therapeutic traditions that are rooted in individualism.
- Establishing relational interconnectedness for clients mediates individual blaming and internalized shame and promotes intergenerational healing.
- Framing symptoms within a social and cultural contexts
Systemic clinical work is brief, and client transformation/problem resolution is expedited by working with multiple members of the system or community. Systemic work promotes change sustained by and anchored in social systems, and leans heavily on both time-tested foundational theories and evidence-based approaches for working with individuals, couples, and families.
Systemic thinking works from an assumption that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – meaning, no one person is thought responsible, or to blame, for concerns presented in therapy.
Regis University is Colorado’s only Jesuit University and is known for academic rigor and social justice. Students have the opportunity to practice in the state-of-the-art Regis Center for Counseling, Family and Play Therapy, with live supervision and clinical training components led by licensed MFTs, who are also AAMFT-approved supervisors with well-grounded identities in systemic therapy. This systemic training provides impactful feedback and accelerates professional development opportunities through focusing on the skill set necessary to grow a private practice or work with community-based social service agencies.
The certificate program is not currently COAMFTE-accredited.
We call this concept "double dipping" - you can only double dip two courses. For more information, consult with the chair of the Division of Counseling and Family Therapy.
Please note: the Counseling practicum does not count toward the MFT certificate. The practicum experience required for the certificate is relational and the MFT practicum experience emphasizes relational systemic work. You will be required to take a second practicum course to satisfy the MFT practicum experience.
Current graduate students enrolled in a Regis University program may take courses toward the MFT certificate before applying for the certificate.
Certificate candidates are required to complete 120 clinical hours; 60 relational with a 5 to 1 ratio of supervision hours.
If you are unable to complete your clinical requirement during the internship course, you will be required to register for a 2nd term of internship at additional cost.A Culture of Excellence
The Marriage and Family Therapy Post-Graduate Certificate is offered by the School of Mental and Behavioral Health within the Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions.