Human Development and Family Science, MS (53-897) (30-54 hours)

Human Development and Family Science Program Mission - The mission the Human Development and Family Science program is to provide the academic, clinical and professional training necessary for graduates to become lifelong learners, dedicated to service, with the knowledge, skills and confidence to succeed and lead in the region, state, nation and world in the field of health and human services, including but not limited to marriage and family therapy, community-based agencies, child and youth programs, and family life education.

Student Learning Outcomes - Students will graduate with a Master of Science in Human Development and Family Science. In addition, students who are pursuing Marriage and Family Therapy will complete additional course work to satisfy educational and licensure requirements.

All Human Development and Family Science graduates will demonstrate competence in the following National Council on Family Relations’ competencies:

• Families and individuals in societal contexts: an understanding of families and their relationship to other institutions, such as educational, governmental, religious, and occupational institutions in society.
• Internal Dynamics of Families: an understanding of family strengths and weaknesses and how family members relate to each other.
• Human Growth and Development across the Lifespan: an understanding of the developmental changes of individuals in families throughout the lifespan.
• Human Sexuality: an understanding of the physiological, psychological, & social aspects of sexual development throughout the lifespan, so as to achieve healthy sexual adjustment.
• Interpersonal Relationships: An understanding of the development and maintenance of interpersonal relationships.
• Family Resource Management: An understanding of the decisions individuals and families make about developing and allocating resources including time, money, material assets, energy, friends, neighbors, and space, to meet their goals.
• Parent Education and Guidance: An understanding of how parents teach, guide and influence children and adolescents as well as the changing nature, dynamics and needs of the parent/child relationship across the lifespan.
• Family Law and Public Policy: An understanding of the legal issues, policies, and law influencing the well-being of families.
• Professional Ethics and Practice: An understanding of the character and quality of human social conduct, and the ability to critically examine ethical questions and issues as they relate to professional practice
• Family Life Education Methodology: An understanding of the general philosophy and broad principles of family life education in conjunction with the ability to plan, implement, and evaluate such educational programs.

Human Development and Family Science with Specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy graduates will be able to demonstrate competence in the following additional areas:

• Therapeutic Relationship: Identifying contextual factors in a therapeutic environment in order to provide services in a comprehensive and nonjudgmental manner.
• Cultural Diversity: Demonstrate competence in providing culturally appropriate and sensitive clinical services to individuals, couples, and families.
• Theoretical Development: Demonstrate competence in conceptualizing cases utilizing a variety of classic and evidence‐based family therapy theories.
• Admission, Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment Planning: Demonstrate competence in all interactions between the client system and the therapist, identify relevant clinical issues, utilize a variety of theoretically appropriate therapeutic interventions, and codirect the course of therapy in collaboration with clients.
• Intervention Competencies: Demonstrate competence in employing critical thinking skills in selecting and delivering a variety of theoretically appropriate and evidence-based therapeutic interventions.
• Crisis Management: Demonstrate competence in managing therapeutic crises and utilizing appropriate procedures and theoretically appropriate models in crisis management.
• Legal and Ethical Responsibility: Demonstrate competence in managing legal and ethical issues related to the practice of Marriage and Family Therapy.
• Use of Supervision: Demonstrate competence in actively engaging in supervision and incorporating feedback into their clinical work.
• Research: Demonstrate competence utilizing current research to inform clinical practice.
• Professionalism: Demonstrate competence in maintaining a professional conduct in all aspects of their clinical work.

The degree in Human Development and Family Science consists of 30 credit hours. This program operates under the educational standards of the National Council on Family Relations and the Code of Ethics for Family Life Educators. The degree in Human Development and Family Science with specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy consists of 54 credit hours and takes two academic years to complete. The Human Development and Family Science with emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy satisfies the educational and clinical requirements the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and enables students to pursue Licensure in Marital and Family Therapy (LMFT) in the state of Missouri. The program offers assistance to students who plan to be licensed in other states in order to meet licensure requirements for the state of their choice. The program operates based on the Core Competencies and Code of Ethics of American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.

To be admitted a student must:

Applicants must possess an overall undergraduate grade point average of at least 2.50, or a 3.0 in their major. The undergraduate degree needs to be in Human Development and Family Science or a related field. Applicants must submit a statement of purpose and three recommendation forms (link provides detailed information) through their Student Portal. Priority consideration for fall semester admission will be given to completed applications submitted by February 1. Admission interviews will be scheduled after February 15.