Dr. Heather Beeson, Program Director for the Loma Linda University (LLU) online Doctor of Marital and Family Therapy (DMFT) program and Associate Department Chair, and Dr. Shondel Mishaw, Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling and Family Sciences, lead two significant applied research contracts that connect LLU with community partners across Southern California. These contracts promote positive outcomes across multiple systemic layers. DMFT students gain real-life, hands-on experience in evaluation, needs assessment, and curriculum development. The partnered agencies receive useful research that strengthens their internal systems, which then contributes to meaningful change in the communities they serve.
LLU's DMFT program currently has two active contracts with the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino and the Orange County Health Care Agency Behavioral Health Services Division. These contracts reflect a commitment to applied, systemic research that supports agencies in evaluating programs, informing service improvements, and identifying areas for growth. They enable faculty and students to engage directly with real-world data and organizational needs, contributing to insights that inform long-term outcomes for vulnerable populations.
How Students Benefit From Applied Evaluation Work
These contracts provide DMFT students with rigorous and hands-on opportunities that allow them to work directly with applied research in program evaluation, needs assessment, and curriculum development. Students participate in weekly project meetings and support evaluation tasks such as transcribing focus groups, assisting with coding, participating in intercoder reliability checks, and helping organize data for faculty review.
Students also gain a deeper understanding of how research functions within systems. By working closely with faculty on active projects, they observe how information flows through organizations, how agencies interpret findings, and how systemic patterns influence program practices and outcomes. This helps them consolidate their academic learning through direct exposure to relational, contextual, and organizational processes that guide systemic work.
These opportunities provide a meaningful advantage for DMFT students and highlight a strength of LLU's program. Students graduate with strengthened competency in evaluation, needs assessment, and organizational work, which supports advanced roles in clinical leadership, supervision, program development, and systemic decision making.
How Applied Research Supports Community Systems
The impact of these contracts extends beyond student learning. The evaluation work completed for the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino provides information that strengthens housing programs, supports case management practices, and contributes to long-term stability for individuals and families. The Housing Authority uses these findings to guide program adjustments and to advocate for continued funding at the state and federal levels. As a result, the applied research conducted through the DMFT program contributes to real improvements in how communities experience housing support and services.
The needs assessment conducted with the Orange County Health Care Agency Behavioral Health Division, along with the current work on developing a leadership curriculum, responds directly to the leadership training gaps that emerged in the data. Dr. Beeson shared that when leaders have the support and structure they need, clinicians feel more grounded in their roles, which can influence how clients experience care. While DMFT students and faculty are not providing direct clinical services, their applied research strengthens the systems that support the clinicians who do. As Dr. Beeson shared, there is real power in the ripple effect. When internal systems strengthen and clinicians feel supported in their roles, it shows up in the quality of care they provide. These shifts influence how services reach the populations they serve and contribute to better outcomes across the community.
Mission Connection and Purpose
These contracts reflect LLU's commitment to justice, excellence, and wholeness by helping strengthen the systems that support individuals and families. Dr. Beeson shared that when we aim for best practices, excellence, and justice for all people, we also need to make sure that the programs serving communities are producing meaningful outcomes. The evaluation work completed through the DMFT contracts supports this by helping agencies understand how their services are functioning and where growth is needed. This work allows the DMFT program to contribute to the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus Christ through applied research that supports healthier outcomes within the community.
Interviewed and written by Audrey I. Perez, AMFT, Systems, Families, & Couples PhD Student