Master's Degree in Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling
At a Glance
Accreditation
CACREP; approved by Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists
Format
Semester Credit Hours
64
Cost per Semester Credit Hour
$848 More information
Tuition cost for entire program
$54,272
* The program length is eight semesters for students in our fall cohorts or 10 semesters for students in our spring cohorts. There are three semesters per year (fall, spring and summer).
Build Bridges of Understanding
To offer kindness and compassion. To see others for all they are, and welcome them because of and in spite of it. To help heal the hurts people inflict upon each other due to insecurity and pain. This is the role of a marriage and family counselor.
In this transformative program, you’ll grow personally and professionally in heart and mind. You’ll gain the therapeutic skill to help individuals identify sources of conflict, understand their developmental history, heal relational wounds, and engage in healthy interactions with those they hold dear.
Help People Navigate Life’s Twists and Turns
Join a CACREP-accredited program that will prepare you for dual licensure as an LMFT and LPC, and establish a legacy of changed lives and healed relationships.
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Personalized & Predictable
Choose a format and schedule that fits your learning style and your life. Whether you prefer to learn in person or virtually, you’ll be part of a dynamic environment and a cohort that sticks together through graduation.
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Holistic & Professionally Transformative
We’ll teach you to honor the beliefs of your clients, even when they diverge from your own. By learning to see beyond symptoms to the underlying contributing factors, you’ll be prepared to provide care at the top of your profession.
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Comprehensive & Customizable
Extend your expertise through specialized certificate programs and internship opportunities. You’ll become a sought-after job candidate thanks to our program’s top-tier reputation. Last year, 100% of our graduates were employed in the field, and 100% passed the licensure exam.
Pursue Meaningful Work Without Putting Life on Hold
Designed for working professionals, this program offers a consistent and predictable schedule that allows you to maintain employment, remain engaged in your community and lead a full life. Whether you choose our online or hybrid track, you’ll be part of a close-knit cohort that progresses through the program together.
Hybrid Track
Attend in-person classes at our Portland Center on two weekdays and select weekends each term. Your schedule will be consistent and predictable each semester, regardless of the modality you choose.
- Enroll in the fall for in-person daytime courses with occasional live Zoom sessions, and complete the program in eight semesters (a little less than three years).
- Enroll in the spring for in-person weekend courses and live Zoom evening sessions, and finish in 10 semesters (slightly more than three years).
Online Synchronous Track
Attend live Zoom classes on two weekdays and select weekends each term with your digital cohort. Join us at our Portland Center for a two-day intensive residency during your first year and a one-day residency during your final year.
Look Beyond Symptoms to Systems
We’ll teach you to honor every part of the human condition by viewing your clients through a systemic lens, recognizing that their experiences and the roles they hold in their families and communities shape behavior and mental health. Understanding family of origin, cultural context and lived experiences is critical to sustainable healing and growth. You’ll also learn to integrate your clients’ spirituality into the counseling relationship by thoughtfully connecting their beliefs, worldview and culture to their overall well-being.
Our university is grounded in the Christian faith, but our learning environment warmly welcomes diverse religious and non-religious backgrounds and worldviews. Because every student brings unique beliefs and spiritual experiences into the classroom, you’ll learn firsthand how to navigate respectful dialogue while maintaining professional and ethical clinical practices.
Turn Knowledge Into Action
Our program emphasizes practice and real-time feedback from the start, equipping you to translate knowledge into confident, skillful counseling. Within the cohort model, peers and faculty mentors provide formative feedback and instruction, which continues in simulated role plays.
The culmination of our program is a yearlong internship, which bridges classroom learning with hands-on therapeutic care in designated marriage and family counseling-approved sites. Under the supervision of a trained marriage and family therapist and a faculty mentor, you’ll work in real-world settings to help individuals, couples and families navigate conflict, strengthen connections and pursue lasting change.
Learn From Faculty Who Practice What They Teach
This program is transformative, and the curriculum will promote growth in your life while informing the work you do as a counselor. We require all students to complete 20 hours of personal counseling to explore their own biases and wounds before entering their therapeutic relationships with clients.
This commitment to personal and professional formation is modeled by gold-standard faculty who are also practicing therapists. These experienced educators and clinicians bring specialized knowledge, current insights and relevant skills to the table, as well as abundant grace and understanding for students who are on their own personal journeys.
Transform Your Career. Transform Lives.
Be fully prepared to serve your clients in an array of settings, and position yourself for professional success. Last year, 100% of our marriage, couple and family counseling graduates were employed in the field, and 100% passed the licensure exam.
Our program is CACREP-accredited, assuring you of a high-quality education firmly rooted in therapeutic best practices. It also prepares you to sit for both the national licensure exam to become an LPC and the national Marital and Family Therapy exam to become an LMFT in Oregon. The opportunity to earn dual licensure is a unique and valuable feature of this program.
Employment Outlook
Job prospects in the counseling field are promising. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for marriage and family therapists is expected to increase 13% in the U.S. between 2024 and 2034, a rate much faster than the average profession.
Learn more about the salary and employment outlook for marriage and family counselors
Focus on Your Specific Interests
Passionate about a specific area of counseling? Complete one of three certificates alongside your master’s coursework without extending your graduation timeline. These opportunities will help you better serve your clients and set you apart, both during your job search and in therapeutic practice.
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Trauma-Informed Care Certificate
Our Trauma Response Institute will help you develop trauma-informed care strategies by providing resources for research, training and clinical practice, as well as holistic healing strategies.
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Play Therapy Certificate
George Fox’s Northwest Center for Play Therapy Studies, the largest center of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, will help you develop proficiency in individual and group play therapy, filial therapy, sandtray therapy, and more.
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Spiritual Integration Certificate
Cultivate self-awareness to understand how your religion and spirituality influence your clinical presence, and learn to ethically and skillfully integrate clients’ beliefs into therapy without imposing your own faith or worldview.
Mindy Sutton ’23
I’m passionate about what I do because of relationships – I believe that we were designed for connection. Helping people work on their relationships with the people who mean the most to them is critical for their well-being in every aspect of life.
Questions?
Kelly Peterson
Admissions Counselor, Graduate Counseling Programs
Other Careers in Behavioral Health
Not sure if counseling is right for you? George Fox also offers degrees in social work and psychology. Check out our other offerings on our Careers in Helping Professions page.
George Fox University is required to make cost of attendance (COA) information publicly available on this website. All stated financial information is subject to change.