About

The Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Master of Arts program at Appalachian State trains students in a variety of therapeutic approaches developed for work with diverse families, couples and individuals throughout the lifespan. Students are engaged in systemically-oriented, ethical, inclusive and socially-just training that meets rigorous clinical and academic standards. Student learning includes emphasis on critical thinking and reflective practice. This is a thesis optional clinical training program.

Alumni of the MFT program are employed as LMFTs in private practice, non-profit agencies, residential treatment programs, intensive in-home programs, in-school therapy programs and hospital settings throughout the U.S. Alumni have also been successfully admitted into Ph.D. programs.

More Information

Professional Licensure

Appalachian’s MFT curriculum prepares students to be eligible to take the MFT National Examination and meets the requirements to become a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in North Carolina. Faculty are available to assist students to design a curriculum to meet requirements in other states. Information on licensure requirements and licensing agencies in other states is available at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Or, you may address questions to State Authorization at Appalachian at stateauthorization@appstate.edu or 828-262-7559.

Application Essentials

Required Entrance Exam: GRE (score must be no more than 5 years old; entrance exam may be waived for students meeting waiver guidelines.)

Required number of references to specify in the online form: 3

Supplemental Information: Resume (Required upload for application submission); HPC Department Questionnaire (upload on the Additional Information page in the on-line application); Interview.

Basic Conditions for Consideration of Admission: Meeting or exceeding the conditions below does NOT guarantee admission. All applications for a given entry term will be weighed based upon the number of seats available and the quality of the complete application packages. With special permission from the Graduate School, a program may admit a limited number of students with exceptional circumstances who do not meet the graduate school minimums.

Graduate School: 3.0 GPA in the last earned degree and official scores from the appropriate admission test(s), OR 2.5 GPA in the last earned degree and official scores at the 25th percentile level from the appropriate admission test(s).

Admission to MFT: Both qualitative and quantitative aspects of applications are reviewed in comparison to the current applicant pool.