Family Therapy Program Grows with New Accreditation

By Leigh DuPuy and MaryAnna Ham

Six months after receiving accreditation, the Family Therapy Program is flourishing and attracting students from as far away as California and Turkey. Following a review by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COMFTE) in March 2003, it became the only nationally accredited family therapy program in the Commonwealth and the first such program offered by a Massachusetts academic institution to be accredited.

"Accreditation really helps our students," says MaryAnna Domokos-Cheng Ham, director of the program. "This special focus degree can be used in any state." Graduates from an accredited COAMFTE program are able to undergo an abbreviated process for marriage and family therapy licensure in Massachusetts and all 47 states that license marriage and family therapists.

"To bring the program to accreditation has taken over 17 years," says Ham. Hired in 1985 to develop a marriage and family concentration for the existing Counselor Training Program, Ham has worked to develop family therapy courses and a curriculum leading to a M.Ed. of 60 credits.

In working with her students, she found a distinct need for family therapy courses, even among students concentrating primarily on school counseling, mental health counseling, and rehabilitation counseling.

Counselors practicing in mental health and school settings were particularly interested in the development of a family therapy program," says Ham. "Guidance counselors also felt they needed to have more family therapy skills to be more involved and effective with student's parents."

Program student Katy Boucher, who works in the Norwell Public Schools, agrees: "As a school counselor, I think the program is helping me to think in a broader way. Rather than just focusing on the specific child or problem in front of me, I'm learning to look at how the entire system--family, teachers, friends, and community--affects the everyday functioning of my students."

To meet the standards of COAMFTE accreditation, Ham hired additional faculty: Gonzalo Bacigalupe and Jan Nealer. She also initiated and endorsed an urban mission for the program to specifically service diverse populations and promote social justice.

Graduates from the program continue to make significant contributions to Massachusetts and the field. Some of the alumni have gone on to organizations such as Bay State Community Services, New England Home for Little Wanderers, and Burlington Community Life Center.

About a quarter of students have continued their education and received doctorates. Several of these students now have faculty positions in prestigious universities. Many have found family therapy skill useful in other mental health fields, such as rehabilitation and school counseling.

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