Train with Our Team

Therapy students learn about the latest evidence-based treatment approaches in the classroom while simultaneously learning how to apply these theories and interventions at The MFT Clinic with current clients. This unique opportunity creates an intensive training experience with high levels of collaboration between students and faculty.

In close collaboration with the MFT graduate program at Wheaton College, the MFT Clinic uses a developmental training approach that provides rising MFT therapists with state-of-the art clinical training. Students are guided through phases of learning that increase their knowledge and skills over time while simultaneously increasing their level of responsibility for client care.

During their first-year practicum and supervision course, each student is placed on a small treatment team led by a faculty supervisor with whom they receive in-depth mentoring. Students observe sessions conducted by therapists “live” in real-time at the MFT Clinic, as the session is happening, from a separate room through a HIPAA-compliant video platform. The faculty supervisor observes the session alongside students, explaining how theories that are taught in the classroom connect with the actual practice of therapy that they are seeing.

Students also begin to conceptualize cases with the supervisor, considering how problems and symptoms began, how they are maintained, and strategic next steps for treatment to reduce frequency, intensity, or duration of the problematic symptoms. Focusing on client strengths and areas of growth, the team develops strategic feedback that they provide to the therapist and clients during the session in real time. Adapted from the Milan model of training, students become part of the therapeutic treatment team, contributing to the direction and course of therapy. At first, the treatment team provides feedback to the therapist only; but as students gain confidence and skills, they learn to provide input to clients directly. This interactive process creates a rich learning environment where students experience the direct impact of their insights on the therapeutic process under the guidance of their supervisor.

In the second year of training, students from the MFT program can interview for internship positions here at the MFT Clinic.  As one of our interns, they gain experience seeing clients on their own. Our interns often choose us as their internship placement because they can serve both in our Wheaton and inner-city Chicago locations as well as gain focused training and deepen specialized skill sets from our clinical supervisors.  As interns here at the MFT Clinic, they record their sessions, share clips of their work with their supervisor, and receive personalized guidance and input on their delivery of care.

This developmental training process aligns with the Commission of Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) by setting up student practitioners to obtain required clinical hours for graduation from the MFT program. For more information, please visit the MFT program website.