Trauma Informed Family Therapy

Program Overview

The Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy in Trauma Informed Family Therapy starts from a simple observation: trauma rarely happens to one person alone. Abuse, violence, war, disaster, and sudden loss enter whole households, and a family's patterns can either contain the injury or pass it on to the next generation. This program trains therapists to see trauma as a relational injury and to make the family part of the healing rather than only its setting. Students begin with the science: the Adverse Childhood Experiences research and its dose-response findings, the neurobiology of threat, the window of tolerance, developmental and complex trauma, and the ways attachment is shaped by early danger. The clinical sequence follows the phase-oriented tradition Judith Herman described — safety and stabilization first, then processing, then reconnection — and applies it to couples and families: trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy with caregivers, child-parent psychotherapy for young children, emotionally focused work with traumatized couples, and systemic approaches to intergenerational transmission. The six principles of a trauma-informed approach — safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and attention to culture, history, and gender — are studied as a way of running a whole service, not only a session. Safety assessment receives special care, including the situations in which conjoint therapy must not proceed. Christian faith brings lament, a theology of suffering, and communities that can either shelter survivors or wound them again; the program takes all three seriously, including spiritual injury caused by churches. The doctoral project develops and evaluates a trauma-informed intervention or service redesign in the student's setting. Graduates lead family trauma services, train congregations and agencies, and supervise therapists exposed to secondary trauma.

Core Courses

• TFT 801 — Trauma, Attachment, and the Developing Brain (6 credits)
• TFT 812 — Adverse Childhood Experiences and Family Systems (6 credits)
• TFT 824 — Safety, Stabilization, and Assessment (6 credits)
• TFT 836 — Trauma Treatment with Children, Couples, and Families (6 credits)
• TFT 848 — Trauma-Informed Systems and Congregations (5 credits)
• TFT 860 — Applied Research Design in Trauma Care (4 credits)
• TFT 899 — Doctoral Project in Trauma Informed Family Therapy (24 credits)
• TFT 870 — Relational Trauma Formulation and Care Coordination (3 credits)

Credit requirements

• Core courses: 60 credits
• Required elective credits: 9 credits

Total required: 69 credits

Elective Courses

Complete 9 credits from the options below (18 credits offered).

• TFT 910 — Lament, Suffering, and Spiritual Injury (3 credits)
• TFT 920 — Refugee, Disaster, and Community Trauma (3 credits)
• TFT 930 — Domestic Violence and Coercive Control (3 credits)
• TFT 940 — Secondary Trauma and Clinical Supervision (3 credits)
• TFT 950 — Intergenerational Trauma and Family Narratives (3 credits)
• TFT 951 — Family Recovery and Community Resources (3 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree in marriage and family therapy, counseling, psychology, social work, ministry, or a related field
• Experience in counseling, family ministry, chaplaincy, or human services
• Statement of purpose describing the families you serve and the question you want to pursue
• Current resume or professional profile
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available