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Couple and Family Therapy

Program and Application Information
Department Chair:Dr. Joel Hektner
Program Coordinator:Dr. Tom Stone Carlson
Department Phone:701-231-8279
Department Web Site:www.ndsu.edu/hdfs/prospective_students/graduate/cft/
Application Deadline:January 1
Degrees Offered:Ph.D.

Program Description

The CFT Program at NDSU is nationally recognized as a leading training program for its commitment to prepare scholars who are qualified to intervene in the problems that are most relevant in today’s world. In particular, the program is committed to center all aspects of training in feminist and social justice principles to help students’ develop the skills and competence necessary to work with diverse and marginalized communities as researchers, supervisors and clinicians and to use those skills to create meaningful social change at the national, international, and local levels.

Admission Requirements

  1. Completed a Master's degree in a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education
  2. Taken at least one course in statistics and one course in research methods with a minimum B average
  3. Completed an empirical Master's thesis

Financial Assistance

Graduate assistantships are available on a competitive basis.

  1. Clinical contact in the on-campus therapy center
  2. 180 hours of supervisory experience
  3. One-year research, teaching, or clinical internship experience
  4. A scholarly portfolio that includes (a) at least two proposals/abstracts for presentations at national conferences and (b) submission of at least two manuscripts for publication at peer-reviewed journals
  5. A comprehensive/preliminary examination
  6. Produce and defend a dissertation

Kristen Benson, Ph.D.
Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University, 2008
Research Interests: Gender Identity and Family/Partner Relationships, Diversity Issues in Family Therapy, Collaborative Approaches to Family Therapy Education and Training, and Qualitative Methodology

Thomas Carlson, Ph.D.
Iowa State University, 2000
Research Interests: Family Therapy Training & Supervision; Fathering

Christie McGeorge, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota, 2005
Research Interests: Family Caregiving; Family Wellness; Premarital Counseling