COUN 509 Foundations of Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling

This course provides students with an understanding of the historical and theoretical bases for the practice of marriage, couple, and family counseling. Students will also learn about the scope of marriage, couple and family counseling. Special attention is given to family systems theory including an overview of foundational systems-oriented theories (Bowenian, Strategic, Structural, etc). Students are encouraged to examine their own assumptions about families and to develop increased congruence between their assumptions and the various theoretical perspectives on family development, functioning, interaction and intervention. Special attention will be given to the impact of issues such as gender, culture, and ethnicity on the family system.