Bethel Seminary Announces Changes to M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy Program

Bethel Seminary’s Marriage and Family Therapy program is moving from daytime to evening classes, and five face-to-face courses will move online. The changes are intended to offer more flexibility to a broader group of prospective students.

According to Program Director Tina Watson Wiens, the Master of Arts (M.A.) in Marriage and Family Therapy will remain a full-time, St. Paul-based graduate program, maintaining 100 percent of its former curriculum. “Students will truly be getting a spiritual experience while meeting all state standards,” she says. Previously a program with three- or four-year track options, the new program format is designed to be completed in three years.

Bethel first offered the M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy in 1996. Since then, 233 students have graduated, a vast majority reporting they’ve passed state licensure exams on the first attempt. The program has a reputation for training therapists uniquely well in areas of self-of-therapist process, social justice, faith and science integration, and clinical work with clients from all faith traditions.

“It’ll be a change,” says Watson Wiens of the new delivery mode, “but it will remain a high caliber licensure track program. When students graduate they’ll have everything they need to begin the state licensure process in Minnesota.”