Our aim is to graduate well rounded scholar clinicians who will move the field ahead, either through research, teaching, practice, or a combination of all three.   As a research and practice centered program, we believe graduates should be able to do all three things well, though they have a wide number of career choices once they have finished.   No single choice is right for everyone.

A wide range of types — students who are interested in developing their ideas in a variety of ways and who are motivated to explore new ideas about themselves, relationships, and psychotherapy with an equally wide range of other learners.

Diversity, as Darwin noted, is the engine of the human and animal enterprise on earth; without it, life becomes unsustainable.   But it is more than just skin color or gender, sexual orientation or age or disability, important as they are.   In our program, we look for diversity of many different kinds, including diverse beliefs and values, life experiences and geography, along with ethnicity, nationality, culture, gender, sexual orientation, and age or ability.   Ultimately, we are seeking a diversity that leads not only to social complexity and variety, but to diverse clinical and scholarly outcomes: new ideas and approaches that will help improve the way all human beings live their lives.   A good part of the research conducted by our students and faculty over the years has been directed toward a variety of diversity related topics.

For the past several years, our student body has fluctuated between 12 and 20 per cent ethnic minorities, and included several students from other countries, as well as students from over 24 states with a wide variety of beliefs and values. (Our small numbers mean that very small changes in enrollment cause relatively large changes in percentages).  Our faculty are half female, half male, and include African American and Native American heritage members.

We typically attract candidates from COAMFTE accredited MFT masters programs and other mental health curricula with high GPAs and above average GREs who are committed to their own growth as therapists and scholars, and to the growth of the field.   Their GPAs have tended to average about 3.8 on a 4.0 scale; their GRE verbal and quantitative scores have been averaging about 1050.  Many students are accepted, however, whose numbers are well above, or occasionally below these norms.

Our graduates have careers that span the range of teaching and the helping professions, and sometimes include a few in entirely different fields.   They have chosen positions as far away as Australia and as close to home as Blacksburg.   Below is a rough breakdown of our graduates' careers through 2006, though it is important to remember that some of the divisions in this chart don't reflect the often wide overlap in their actual practice, or the fact that many graduates shift between areas over the course of their work experiences.   Note also that some categories, such as Private Practice, cover a broad range of activities, including organizational and human resource consulting, executive coaching, work with sex offenders or substance abuse, treatment for sexual and other dysfunctions, working with chronic illness, or art and other specialized therapies, as well as traditional therapy with individuals, couples, and families.

Academics

MFT

Counseling

Psychology

Social Work

Medical School

Family Studies

5

2

2

4

3

Administration & Practice

Private Practice

Institute/ Agency

Hospital/Clinic

Adolescent

EAP

Academic Admin

26

10

4

2

1

1

Other Careers

Real Estate

Missionary Work

Education

Unknown