Couple & Family Counseling
Mission Statement
The mission of the IPFW Couple & Family Counseling program is to train students to diagnose and treat mental disorders within the context of marital and family systems. The practice of Couple & Family Counseling involves the application of psychotherapeutic and family systems theories and techniques in the delivery of services to individuals, couples, and families for the purpose of treating such diagnosed mental disorders. Students will view individuals experiencing the symptoms of mental disorder as part of a larger system and, regardless of the eventual intervention modality, that larger system will be essential both in evaluating the etiology of the symptom and in treatment. Particular emphasis will be placed on professional collaboration, ethical practice, and attention to diversity.
Couple & Family Counseling
Curriculum
Revised 10/12
1st Year 2013/2014
SUMMER 2013
FALL 2013
SPRING 2014
SUMMER I 2014
- EDUC G580 Child & Adolescent Counseling
SUMMER II 2014
2nd Year 2014/2015
FALL 2014
SPRING 2015
SUMMER I 2015
SUMMER II 2015
3rd Year 2015/2016
FALL 2015
SPRING 2016
* Students must acquire student liability insurance from AAMFT prior to any practica (G524 or G525). (Students will obtain a minimum of 100 hours of face-to-face client contact hours in the Joanne B. Lantz Clinic and a minimum of 20 hours of supervision. Out-of-sequence students will not have priority for practicum space.
# The internship will require a site placement of no less than 13 face-to-face client contact hours per week totaling a minimum of 400 hours of face-to-face client contact and 80 hours of approved supervision. A minimum of 2.5 hours per week of supervision with an approved supervisor is also required. Internships are typically completed in 31 weeks (September to May).
1. Students are accepted to the M.S. in Counseling only for classes beginning Summer Semester II.
2. All applications must be received by February 1.
3. A condition of acceptance is adherence to the above schedule.
4. Students will be eligible for a Marriage & Family Therapy license after completion of the degree and 1,000 hours/two years’ post-degree work experience with a minimum of 200 hours’ supervision.
5. 57 semester credits constitute the degree minimum credits.
6. Prerequisites:
- EDUC G503 and G504 before EDUC G524 and G525;
- EDUC G524 before EDUC G525;
- EDUC G524 and G525 before EDUC G550
7. An annual review of student progress is administered each year at the end of the spring semester.
Issues related to student diversity will be addressed in each of the courses in the Counselor Education Program. This means that differences in individuals and groups will be discussed. It is our understanding that different contexts result in different worldviews. Counselors must always be sensitive to the possible differences in perception and belief that exist outside of their own.
Cinical Training
Counseling Practicum
The IPFW Counselor Education program’s practicum (G524 and G525) is a clinical experience in our on-campus, community mental health center, the IPFW Counseling Center. Students in the school counseling track take two semesters of practicum (August to May) and the Couple and Family Counseling students take one full calendar year of practicum (August to August). Both practica occur in the second year of the program. The client pool is quite diverse; we receive referrals from schools, juvenile probation, and word-of-mouth.
Six students and a faculty supervisor meet with clients from the Greater Fort Wayne community once a week. The first hour of practicum is used for individual and group supervision. Following the supervision, there are three time slots for working with clients. Time is provided with your supervisor and/or peers before the session to discuss your plan for counseling and after the session to discuss how the session went. Students begin with one client and eventually build up to two or three clients. When not in session, students observe a peer’s session and work collaboratively in planning and reviewing the session.
Technology greatly enhances the learning experience in practicum. Each counseling room is equipped to videotape the sessions for students to review. Supervisors may observe a session over the closed-circuit television system and provide immediate feedback and support via a “bug-in-the-ear,” a small earpiece similar to what newscasters wear. This process allows the student-clinician and supervisor to work as a team, benefiting both the student and the clients.
Practicum provides students with the opportunity to integrate theories and techniques into action under the guidance of a seasoned supervisor. In addition, applying cutting-edge research and clinical methods are a regular part of the learning process. This clinical experience also facilitates the movement of ethical and diagnostic knowledge into therapeutic practice through the real-life issues our clients are facing.
Internship
The internship experience is vital to the student’s learning and equally important is the student’s contribution to the cooperating site. Because the internship occurs after most course work has been completed, students are well prepared to be considered fully functioning members of the site’s professional staff for the duration of the experience. Internship sites include but are not limited to community mental health agencies, hospitals, drug abuse treatment centers, and in-patient facilities.
The three primary goals of internship are to: apply theories and techniques in a real work setting; synthesize knowledge and skills while using and developing personal qualities and characteristics appropriate to the role of CFC; and grow from intern to professional practitioner.
CFC interns attend university seminar classes for the entire duration of their internship. A contract is signed by the university and internship site supervisors detailing the site’s commitment to provide specific experiences for the intern. The student spends a minimum of twenty clock hours on the internship site per week which includes at least 2.5 hours of Indiana LMFT approved on-site supervision until completion of the internship. Hours are tracked on a form that verifies the details of the internship contract. Student intern forms are signed by the approved on-site supervisor and submitted to the university supervisor each week.
Interns are expected to provide four hundred hours of therapy to couples, families, individuals, and groups. Combined with the practicum requirement of one hundred hours, graduates will have accumulated a total of five hundred hours of direct service with fifty percent of the total being classified by the Indiana MFT license as "MFT Services". While internships are typically not paid experiences, interns participate in many staff development opportunities and often become an integral part of the site team leading to job opportunities upon graduation.
2101 E. Coliseum Blvd.
