FAQ

Our program is offered on both our Macon and Atlanta campuses.

If a student completes all requirements as scheduled, the program will be completed in two years (six semesters). This is dependent on acquiring 500 hours of direct client contact and 100 hours of supervision in the three required semesters of practicum. Students who do not earn these hours are required to complete additional semesters.

Both our Macon and Atlanta campuses accept up to 25 students in a cohort.

The submission of GRE Scores is OPTIONAL. If you choose to submit scores, official test results should also be submitted to the university through ETS using the institutional code of 5409 and department code of 0000.

The minimum GPA for admission to the program is 2.5.

No. Our experience is that applicants from a variety of backgrounds are successful as students and clinicians.

Graduates are prepared for careers providing mental health services to individuals, couples and families in a wide variety of settings. Recent graduates have found work as in-home therapists, hospital social workers, addictions counselors, private practices therapists, and outpatient therapists in public mental health agencies.

Our program prepares students to practice therapy using a broad range of therapeutic approaches, including structural therapy, strategic therapy, Bowenian therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-oriented therapy and narrative therapy. In addition to treatments skills, students learn how to manage mental health crises, conduct biopsychosocial assessments, develop treatment plans, collaborate with other healthcare providers, and learn skills necessary for success as a private practice therapist or work in an agency. As part of Mercer’s mission, students also receive specialized training in providing services to rural and underserved populations and learn how to incorporate sensitivity to diversity and social justice issues into their clinical work. Mercer students have unique opportunities to learn how to provide integrative behavioral health services through specialized coursework in medical family therapy.

Students complete a yearlong, 500-hour clinical practicum, where they hone their skills as family therapists. The practicum includes work at our public clinic, Mercer Family Therapy Center, and an internship in the community providing mental health services at hospitals, public health agencies, private practices or psychiatric treatment settings.

Mercer’s Master of Family Therapy program is Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). Click here to learn more and find out why this accreditation is important.

We know that choosing a graduate program is a big decision. To help you decide whether our program is a good fit, we offer opportunities to tour our facilities, meet our faculty and current students, and sit in on a class!

Students generally find that it is possible to work part-time during the first year of courses. During the second year of classes it is difficult to continue working due to the increased time commitment in practicum and earning clinical hours for graduation. Students can work with their advisor to explore lengthening the program of study to accommodate for the need to remain employed.

Classes are offered during the day on all campuses. In the second year, some synchronous online sections may be scheduled in the evening to accommodate daytime clinical practice in community placement sites.

Students are typically enrolled in two to three courses per semester. Each course meets once per week. Class times are typically three hours in the fall and spring semesters and four hours in the summer semester.

The Macon and Atlanta campuses accept students for spring admission if space is available.

All students complete an orientation before the first week of class.