CFS welcomes first online Marital and Family Therapy MS cohort
The Department of Counseling and Family Sciences is thrilled to welcome nine students as our first MFT MS online cohort! These students will engage in didactic and experiential learning within our online classrooms, plus rigorous clinical training with clients before graduating in 2.5 years. The MFT MS online program has been in development for more than two years within the Department of Counseling and Family Sciences, and mirrors our long-standing in-person program that has boasted COAMFTE approval since the 1970s. The online program is currently being reviewed by COAMFTE for accreditation.
To our beginning cohort—you are exceptional! We, your faculty, are excited to share this journey with you and cannot wait to see the positive ways that you will impact the worldwide MFT community!
For more information, please contact Patrice Harris at pdharris@llu.edu.
New online Doctor of Social Work program kicks off
We are delighted to welcome the first cohort to the online Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program. The DSW degree is a new program housed in the Department of Social Work and Social Ecology. The three-year full-time program emphasizes clinical leadership and practice innovation, and thus builds on the advanced clinical reputation of the LLU MSW program. The LLU DSW program is among the most rigorous in the country, with a strong social justice thrust and focuses on the dissemination of practice and education innovation.
Our initial cohort is a diverse group—of the 14 students admitted to the program, 86% are persons of color; there are ten women and four men; the age range is 36 to 63; years of experience post-MSW range from 7 to 3; most are LCSWs; and no one had a GPA under 3.5. As a group, their interviews were strong; each member of this cohort presented as highly motivated, very experienced, well thought out, innovative, and committed to making a difference in the social work profession and in the lives of services users, especially those who are underserved. Students in the DSW program are joining the family of SBH from across California. This is a thrilling time for the faculty and the Department of Social Work and Social Ecology as we launch this new endeavor.
For more information, please contact Dr. Larry Ortiz at larryortiz@llu.edu.
Medical Family Therapy courses now available online
The Department of Counseling and Family Sciences recently moved all medical family therapy courses to asynchronous online formats making them more accessible to a wide variety of students. Medical family therapy courses provide content on how to provide family-oriented assessment and intervention to those experiencing medical diagnoses. There are three courses in the sequence:
- CFSD 540 Introduction to Medical Family Therapy: 3 units offered in Winter quarter. This is the foundational course and is a pre-requisite for all other courses in the sequence. It provides foundational knowledge and context for the field of medical family therapy and an orientation to thinking about illness from a family systems perspective.
- CFSD 544 Health and Illness in Families: 3 units offered in Spring quarter. This course builds on the introductory course by covering the socio-cultural complexities present for patients and family members living with illness. We explore the impact of societal values and health disparities and apply family therapy theoretical perspectives to these challenges in order to help alleviate suffering for the whole family.
- CFSD 548 Family Therapy and Medicine: 3 units offered in Fall quarter. This course provides an overview of medical culture and models for collaboration between medical team members and family therapists. Emphasis on current research relevant to integrated/collaborative care is included.
For more information, please contact Dr. Jacqueline Williams-Reade at jwilliamsreade@llu.edu.