The faculty is committed to preparing individuals who can serve as leaders in the field of marriage and family therapy. Some will choose to become highly trained practitioners. Others will choose to become leaders in research and theory. Regardless, of the direction one chooses for oneself, we believe that all students must possess a solid grounding in the basics of clinical practice, research, and theory. The rapid developments in the field of marriage and family therapy over the last several decades demands that those entering the field have a broad appreciation for the knowledge base that informs MFT and an understanding of the challenges facing the profession as it continues to evolve. Pursuant to our mission to of training highly-qualified and skilled researchers, clinicians, and teachers, our program adheres to the following values:

• Adherence to a scientist-practitioner perspective that values both research and clinical practice.
• Promotion of sound fundamental clinical training leading to the development of core conceptual, perceptual, evaluation, and intervention competencies.
• Development of sound research competencies. In the doctoral program this will entail developing the skills needed to make significant scholarly contributions to the evolving literature base in the field of MFT. In the master's degree program this will include developing fundamental research skills so as to utilize research findings to inform one's clinical practice and to evaluate the effectiveness of therapy and/or preventive interventions.
• Development of cultural and contextual competencies. This will include development of awareness of one's own cultural heritage, family traditions, and life experiences and how these inform the personal, cultural, and professional belief systems brought to training; knowledge about cultural groups, wider systems, and contexts that shape our theories and practice models; clinical skills that respect the life experiences, cultural values, and contexts of those who seek treatment, and informed self-appraisal that recognizes the possibilities and limits of one's competencies and expertise.
• Emphasis on self of the therapist. The development of skills and competencies must be balanced with attention to the personal growth and development of the therapist as genuine, empathic, and responsive to clients, peers, supervisors, and others in one's relational network.
• Adherence to an integrative perspective. This includes mastering and integrating a variety of clinical, theoretical, research, and cultural/contextual perspectives
• Adherence to an interdisciplinary perspective. The scholarly base of the program is not limited to marriage and family therapy literature but rather includes contributions from a variety of human service and mental health disciplines.
• Adherence to a developmental perspective. This includes both a scholarly focus on life-span human development theories and consideration of how trainees develop and expand their clinical competence over time, throughout the course of training.
• A commitment to the socialization of students into the field of MFT and the broader mental health field. This involves support for students' membership in national organizations, attendance and presentations at state, regional, national, and international conferences, publication in scholarly books and journals, licensure and other credentialing opportunities.
• A commitment to developing and maintaining a program culture that is safe, supportive, challenging, and responsive to the needs of its members.
• A focus on faculty collaboration. This involves establishing and maintaining open and direct communication, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, commitment to promoting the program culture, and support and encouragement for one another's work.
• Maintaining a balance between freedom and open expression of different values and ideas and adherence to a set of established program policies and procedures.