At a Glance
- Fully online DMFT curriculum with synchronous and asynchronous courses
- 3-year, 77 quarter unit program
- Only COAMFTE-accredited DMFT program in the United States
- Areas of focus include clinical practice, program development, implementation, and evaluation
- Students can fulfill the AAMFT approved supervisor requirements prior to graduation (students must apply for this designation through AAMFT)
- Christian environment emphasizing integrated learning, respect for all persons, and compassionate whole person care
- Embedded professional self-care
Program Director: Nichola Ribadu, DMFT, LMFT
Program Overview
The Loma Linda University School of Behavioral Health Department of Counseling and Family Sciences offers a Doctor of Marital and Family Therapy (DMFT). The DMFT rests on a relational/systemic philosophy, follows the practitioner-evaluator model and focuses on applied skill development for use in clinical practice, supervision, academia, and administrative positions. The DMFT is a 77-unit program requiring three years of full time study for completion. The program is available online only and is authorized in these states.
The DMFT prepares graduates to systemically intervene and address mental health disparities at family and community levels. Graduates of the DMFT program are well prepared to serve as ethically-competent leaders in communities and advance the MFT profession as therapists, clinical supervisors, program developers, evaluators, grant writers, faculty in institutions of higher education, and administrators. Graduates of the DMFT program are multi-culturally informed and well prepared to serve as ethically-competent leaders who advance the marital and family therapy profession. Our alumni most often work as program directors, faculty in institutions of higher education, grant writers, program evaluators, advanced clinicians, and clinical supervisors. We also have some alumni who enter the university setting as faculty members and adjunct professors.
The DMFT is a dynamic program that is committed to the development of the self of the practitioner. Sensitive to issues of cultural context and human diversity, the DMFT curriculum is focused on the development of the self of the professional. The program assists students in integrating cultural heritage, life experience, past education and training, and personal creativity into personalized professional development plans that enable students to build upon their background as they continue to acquire skill and competency in identified areas of interest.
The DMFT program offered by Loma Linda University is the only DMFT program that has been granted accreditation through the Council on Accreditation of Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE), the accrediting body associated with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).
Curriculum Guide Course Descriptions