Kansas State University

Marriage and Family Therapy Doctoral Program

The marriage and family therapy doctoral specialization prepares professionals to conduct and evaluate therapy with marital and family groups. Students pursue programs of study that include course work in human development, family studies, marital and family therapy, statistics, and research methods. The Ph.D. specialization in marriage and family therapy is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE).

Check out an Introduction to the MFT Program at KSU (Adobe Acrobat).

MFT Faculty Information

Program Mission

The mission of Kansas State University’s PhD program is to prepare students to be excellent clinicians, supervisors, educators and researchers working in a variety of academic and/or clinical mental health agencies.

Educational Outcomes

Students graduating from KSU’s doctoral program in marriage and family therapy will be able to demonstrate competence in four areas:

  1. Marital and Family Therapy. Graduates will demonstrate competence in providing marital and family therapy to individuals, couples, and families.
  2. Clinical Supervision. Graduates will demonstrate competence in providing clinical supervision to MFT trainees.
  3. Teaching. Graduates will demonstrate competence in synthesizing and communicating relevant knowledge to students, professionals and nonprofessionals.
  4. Research. Graduates will be able to design, conduct and interpret related MFT research.

Student Learning Outcomes

This curriculum for the Ph.D. in MFT follows COAMFTE guidelines. It assumes students have completed the requirements for the COAMFTE Master's-Level Standard Curriculum. Where that is not the case, students must complete the equivalent of any deficiencies.

  1. Marital and Family Therapy: Graduates will be able to:
    1. Identify a personal “core theory” to guide clinical intervention
    2. Explore other theories and discover creative ways of accommodating those theories with the “core theory”.
    3. Facilitate the co-evolving therapist-client relationship.
    4. Evaluate and identify problems in therapist-client relationships.
    5. Demonstrate sensitivity to contextual variables such as culture, gender, ethnicity and economics.
    6. Identify and develop an area of clinical expertise.
  2. Clinical Supervision: Graduates will be able to:
    1. Demonstrate that they think about treatment and supervision in relational terms (for example, in terms of patterns sequence, context).
    2. Demonstrate awareness of patterns and sequences of replication at various system levels (for example, interconnection and interrelationships of the individual, family, therapist, supervisor and context of training).
    3. Demonstrate knowledge of the MFT supervision literature by citing recent articles, chapters and/or books, and how his/her supervision philosophy and methods relate to the current MFT supervision literature.
    4. Demonstrate a clear theoretical orientation by articulating his/her philosophies of therapy and supervision as well as the clear connection between them.
    5. Demonstrate theoretical consistency, whether from one prominent model or from an integrative perspective with a logical integration of models.
    6. Present a rationale for the choice of supervisory methods and how the methods facilitate achievement of supervision goals. Demonstrate ability to address how personal values, beliefs, life expressions and theoretical assumptions have impacted upon his/her philosophy and practice of supervision.
    7. Demonstrate sensitivity to contextual variables such as culture, gender, biology, ethnicity, family of origin and economics.
    8. Demonstrate knowledge of ethical and legal issues of supervision.
    9. Demonstrate knowledge of requirements and procedures for supervising applicants for AAMFT Clinical Membership.
  3. Teaching: Graduates will be able to:
    1. Demonstrate competence in subject matter taught
    2. Develop presentation(s) in a manner that meets the needs of the relevant audience.
    3. Develop or use appropriate instructor evaluation instruments
    4. Develop or use appropriate measure of student learning outcomes
    5. Use technology effectively to improve student learning and to aid in professional growth.
  4. Research: Graduates will be able to:
    1. Articulate current issues facing researchers in psychotherapy and MFT
    2. Demonstrate progress toward developing a personal research agenda
    3. Summarize the current status of psychotherapy outcome research
    4. Critique existing related MFT outcome and process research
    5. Demonstrate ability to design sound related MFT process and outcome research
    6. Conduct research in an ethical manner
    7. Create conceptual models to summarize and/or inform research
    8. Demonstrate an understanding of the process of creating proposals for publications, presentations and grants.
    9. Create new knowledge for the field by completing a dissertation on an MFT topic.

Program Requirements

This curriculum for the Ph.D. in MFT follows COAMFTE guidelines. It assumes students have completed the requirements for the COAMFTE Master's-Level Standard Curriculum. Where that is not the case, students must complete the equivalent of any deficiencies. A minimum of 90 credits is required. No more than 30 credit hours from a masters degree may be applied to fulfill PhD requirements.

Theoretical Foundations of Marital and Family Therapy (3 hours)

  • FSHS 987 - Advanced Clinical Theory (3)

Assessment and Treatment in Marital and Family Therapy (3 hours)

  • FSHS 970 - Clinical Specialization in MFT (3)

Family Studies and Human Services (3 hours)

  • FSHS 950 - Advanced Family Theory (3)

Supervision of MFT (9 hours)

  • FSHS 984 - Supervision of Marriage and Family Therapy (3)
  • FSHS 986 - Practicum in Supervision of Marriage and Family Therapy (6)

Research Methods (46-49 hours)

  • FSHS 902 - Qualitative Research Methods in FSHS (3)
  • FSHS 892 - Practicum in Human Development Research (3)
  • FSHS 983 - Marriage and Family Therapy Research. (3)
  • FSHS 990 - Dissertation Proposal Seminar. (1)
  • FSHS 999 - Ph.D. Research in Family Studies and Human Services. (30)
  • At least 3 additional credit hours in research design/methods/skills beyond FSHS 888 or its equivalent
  • One of the following sequences:
    • FSHS 806 - Statistical Methods in FSHS I (3) I AND
      FSHS 906 - Statistical Methods in FSHS II (3) II
    • PSYCH 802 - Qualitative Methods in Psychology (3) AND
      PSYCH 805 - Experimental Design in Psychology (3)
    • STAT 704 - Analysis of Variance (2) AND
      STAT 705 - Regression and Correlation Analyses (2) AND
      STAT 702 - Statistical Methods for Social Sciences (3) OR
      STAT 703 - Statistical Methods for Natural Scientists (3)
    • EDCEP 817 - Statistical Methods in Education (3) AND
      EDCEP 917 - Experimental Design in Educational Research (3)

Participation in faculty-student research teams (Adobe Acrobat)

Supervised Clinical Practice (9 consecutive hours)

  • FSHS 985. Ph.D. Practicum in Marriage and Family (9)

Additional learning (3 hours)

  • One clinical or research elective (3)

End-of-Program Requirements

  • Complete written preliminary examinations and, if necessary, successfully defend them in the oral preliminary examination
  • Complete a nine-month clinical internship
  • Give your dissertation proposal seminar, write the dissertation, and successfully complete your oral defense of the dissertation
  • Teaching Practicum (one of the following)
    • Serve as a GTA
    • Teach an intersession course
    • Enroll and complete Principles of College Teaching
    • Another activity approved by the Major Professor
  • Professional Development (one of the following)
    • Present a poster / paper at a state, national or international conference
    • Develop and present a workshop
    • Get involved in KAMFT politics
    • Another activity approved by the Major Professor

Inquiries or Requests for More Information?

Students interested in this option with questions about program requirements or curriculum should contact us at .

Students interested in this option with questions about admission should contact:

Connie J. Fechter
Graduate Program Admissions Coordinator
School of Family Studies and Human Services
304 Justin Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
(785) 532-1473

Check Out...

Application deadline: January 2 for Fall admission. We will be interviewing Ph.D. applicants on February 11 and 12, 2010 for Fall 2010 admissions.

Program Diversity

At Kansas State University, the MFT faculty and students strive to work together to create a program climate that:

  • is safe
  • is respectful
  • is supportive
  • values and affirms diversity
  • is non-discriminatory
  • is positive and empowering

Accordingly, we seek to recruit a diverse student body each year and are also working to enhance the diversity of the clinical supervisors in the MFT program.

In accordance with COAMFTE Standard 120.13, the following tables provide a snapshot of the racial and cultural diversity of the MFT faculty, supervisors, and student body.

MFT Faculty and Supervisors

Gender Number
Females 5
Males 2
Race Number
Asian 1
European American 6

Doctoral Students (N=18)

Gender Number
Females 10
Males 8
Race Number
African American 3
Asian 1
European American 14
Hispanic/Spanish American/Latin American 0
Native American (American Indian) 0

Note: Statistics are current as of August 2008.