IX. Graduate Programs

Family Relations and Applied Nutrition

MSc Program

Applied Human Nutrition

The MSc program in Applied Human Nutrition incorporates both physiological and behavioural aspects of human nutrition and spans all age groups in its focus on the role of nutrition in human health and well-being. Special attention is given to therapeutic and community nutrition, nutrition education, and nutritional epidemiology. The MSc program normally requires two years of full-time study.

Family Relations and Human Development

The MSc program in Family Relations and Human Development takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of family dynamics and individual development across the lifespan. The program emphasizes a balance between theory, empirical research and practice in graduate training. Students have many options for building an individualized program of study combining coursework and thesis research. Building on core theory and methodology courses, students choose from professional and applied courses as well as courses on specialized topics. The program has particular strengths in the following areas: child and adolescent development, parent-child and family relations, human sexuality, culture, adult development and gerontology, well-being, evidence-based practice, and social policy. The MSc program normally requires two years of study.

Couple and Family Therapy

The MSc program in Couple and Family Therapy is a program in theory, research, and practice, accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. The program is designed to produce sophisticated therapists and scholars by integrating contemporary theory, research competence, and systemic approaches to therapy in the understanding and treatment of couples, families, and individuals. This integration is coupled with high standards of professional and ethical conduct, attention to broader social issues that impact couples and families, and an emphasis on issues of diversity, power, and privilege. Applicants to this program have two options (1) thesis, and (2) non-thesis - by which to complete the degree. The MSc program in Couple and Family Therapy requires two years of full-time study.

Admission Requirements

General admission requirements for these programs include an honours degree or equivalent with an average at least 75% in the last two years of study (or 20 credits).

Applied Human Nutrition

Admission requirements for the MSc program in Applied Human Nutrition are most easily satisfied by applicants with honours degrees in human nutrition, and food and nutrition. Applicants with degrees in related fields (e.g., biology, biochemistry, human kinetics, and health studies) may be considered with suitable make-up work in core areas. Credit in the following undergraduate courses is normally required by all entering students: 1) a one-semester course in applied statistics (minimum grade of 75%); 2) a one-semester course in research methods (minimum grade of 75%); 3) a one-semester course in biochemistry; 4) a one-semester course in human physiology (at or beyond the second-year level); 5) two one-semester courses in human development/sociology/ psychology/communications; 6) one 300-level and three 400-level one-semester courses in human nutrition. These requirements may be in progress at the time of application. The deadline for application is 4:00pm on the first working day of February each year.

Family Relations and Human Development

Admission requirements for the MSc program in Family Relations and Human Development can be satisfied by applicants with honours degrees in a wide variety of undergraduate majors including family studies, child studies, psychology, sociology, and nursing. Credit in the following undergraduate courses is required of all entering students: 1) a one-semester course in applied statistics (minimum grade of 75%); 2) a one-semester course in social-science research methods (minimum grade of 75%); 3) a one-semester course in one of human development, child development, gerontology, or parent-child relations; 4) a one-semester course in one of family sociology, social psychology, family relations, family theory, or communications; 5) three 400-level (senior, fourth year) one-semester courses. The deadline for application is February 1 of each year.

NOTE: Department policy does not permit transfer applications from graduate students registered in the Family Relations and Human Development program into the Couple and Family Therapy program.

Couple and Family Therapy

General admission requirements for the MSc with an emphasis in Couple and Family Therapy are the same as noted for the MSc in Family Relations and Human Development (above). The application must include a personal statement discussing the applicant’s motivation for Couple and Family Therapy graduate education (maximum 2 typed pages). Applicants for the thesis stream only must also submit a detailed, referenced, research plan outlining the relevance of the topic as well as the specific research questions; prior contact with a potential research advisor in the Department is recommended. For both the non-thesis and thesis options, relevant work or volunteer experience is an asset.

The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) encourages applications from qualified students who are members of identified minorities. Scholarship aid is available to minority students on a competitive basis from AAMFT.

The most qualified applicants will be short-listed and invited to attend a day-long interviewing process in mid-February with the Couple and Family Therapy faculty. Participation in the interview is required for admission. Applications from outside of Canada are welcome and external interviewing is appropriately explored. The deadline for submission of the completed application package is 4:00pm on the first working day of January each year. Prior to beginning the program, admitted students must submit a current police record check (CPIC - Canadian Police Information Centre) from their local police department.

Degree Requirements

Applied Human Nutrition

For all students in the MSc program in Applied Human Nutrition a minimum of 2.75 graduate credits will be chosen in consultation with the student's advisor and advisory committee including:

FRAN*6000 [0.50] Research Methods
FRAN*6010 [0.50] Applied Statistics
FRAN*6020 [0.50] Qualitative Methods
FRAN*6510 [0.50] Nutrition in the Community
FRAN*6610 [0.50] Advances in Clinical Nutrition/Assessment I
FRAN*6550 [0.25] Research Seminar

In addition, students must complete a research thesis. Most students take additional elective graduate courses related to their program of study. These courses and research may emphasize, for example, community nutrition, therapeutic nutrition, and/or nutritional epidemiology. These courses may be taken within the department and in other academic units of the university including Biomedical Sciences, Capacity Development and Extension, Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, Political Science, Population Medicine, Rural Planning and Development, and Sociology and Anthropology.

Family Relations and Human Development

For all students in the MSc program in Family Relations and Human Development a minimum of 2.25 graduate credits are required including:

FRAN*6000 [0.50] Research Methods
FRAN*6010 [0.50] Applied Statistics
FRAN*6020 [0.50] Qualitative Methods
FRAN*6340 [0.50] Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Family Relations and Human Development
FRAN*6330 [0.25] Research Seminar

In addition, students must complete a research thesis and three (3) additional elective graduate courses (1.5 credits) related to their program of study. The student's choice of elective courses is primarily determined by research specialization. Each student works closely with an advisory committee in developing an individualized program of study by selecting courses that not only provide for interdisciplinary breadth but also address the student's specific research and professional goals.

Couple and Family Therapy

The intensive curriculum in Couple and Family Therapy has been designed to enable students to achieve an integration of theory, practice, and research. Clinical training in the program is guided by a systemic perspective, with emphasis on narrative, solution oriented and dialogic approaches. Attention to issues of gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual identity, and culture as well as experiences of oppression and abuse are infused throughout all aspects of the program.

Students are expected to develop competence in research. Students may choose to write a thesis, by conducting a research study, or they may choose the major research paper (non-thesis) option, and write a critical paper on a selected clinical topic. The thesis option is recommended for those students intending to pursue PhD studies at the University of Guelph or elsewhere. Thesis students will take additional courses to support their thesis research project (see the courses in the list below). Students completing the degree by the non-thesis option, take FRAN*6350, Major Paper.

Clinical training consists of four continuous practica (FRAN*6090) within the on-site Couple and Family Therapy Centre, plus an externship in a community agency (FRAN*6095). Prior to graduation the CFT student must accumulate 500 hours of direct therapy work with clients, with at least 250 hours (of the 500 hours) working with couples and/or families. Each practicum student receives a minimum of one hour of individual supervision for every five hours of client in-session contact. In addition, each student participates in a weekly supervision group with a student to supervisor ratio of no more than 8:1. Supervision modalities include live supervision, live observation, video/audio-observation, and case consultation. All program faculty are Clinical Members and Approved Supervisors or Supervisor Candidates of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).

Required courses in Couple and Family Therapy include:

FRAN*6070 [0.50] Sexual Issues and Clinical Interventions Across the Life Span
FRAN*6090 0.50 Practicum in Couple and Family Therapy (four semesters)
FRAN*6095 [0.50] Externship in Couple and Family Therapy
FRAN*6100 0.50 Clinical Issues in Couple and Family Therapy (four semesters)
FRAN*6120 [0.50] Theories and Methods of Family Therapy I
FRAN*6130 [0.50] Theories and Methods of Family Therapy II
FRAN*6140 [0.50] Professional Issues
FRAN*6160 [0.50] Introduction to Systemic Practice in Couple and Family Therapy
FRAN*6180 [0.50] Research Issues in Couple and Family Therapy
FRAN*6340 [0.50] Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Family Relations and Human Development
FRAN*6350 0.50 Major Research Paper (non-thesis students only)

Some students take one additional optional elective in individual and family development across the lifespan.

For thesis students: In addition to the above, the following courses are required:

FRAN*6330 [0.25] Research Seminar

Either

FRAN*6000 [0.50] Research Methods

And

FRAN*6010 [0.50] Applied Statistics

OR

FRAN*6020 [0.50] Qualitative Methods

Upon completion of the requirements for the emphasis in Couple and Family Therapy, the student will receive an MSc. The transcript will specify Family Relations and Human Development: Couple and Family Therapy.

University of Guelph
50 Stone Road East
Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1

Canada
519-824-4120