MA in Marriage and Family Therapy

Bethel Seminary’s Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT), offered at Bethel Seminary’s St. Paul campus, prepares students to develop a professional identity as agents of formation and transformation. Students respond to God’s call to minister to couples, families, and other systems by intentionally integrating biblically grounded, professionally coherent theological and theoretical understandings with ethical practice. They develop skills to minister effectively to individuals, couples, families, and members of other systems who differ from themselves in culture, ethnicity, religious background, worldview, and value system.

The program is designed for persons who would like to work with couples and families as licensed marriage and family therapists or as unlicensed counseling professionals in a variety of congregational and community settings.

Spiritual and Personal Formation
There is clear evidence that the person of the therapist is a significant factor in the helping relationship. In Bethel’s MFT program, formation is a multi-faceted, invitational process with many points of entry, both formal and informal. We encourage students to respond to God’s call to wholeness and holiness by reflecting on the theological, theoretical, clinical, and experiential dimensions of life. This reflection serves as the basis for an ongoing process of integration that we believe is essential for maturity as a believer and as a professional.


Students say:
“My experience in the MFT program at Bethel Seminary was one of the most exhilarating and rewarding times of my life. The program encouraged me to explore difficult theological issues; the construction of my own family; and issues of diversity, culture, and gender. The program was exceptionally well balanced; it presented academically challenging subject matter with an emphasis on the well-being and wholeness of the growing therapist.”

“Throughout my many years in Christian education, people have talked a great deal about integrating faith and scholarship. Most times, the integration process seems like an afterthought. In Bethel’s MFT program, integration is at the core of every class and every experience. It will change the way you think, the way you connect, the way you minister, and the way you live.”