An accredited marriage and family therapy program is one that has been officially recognized by a particular accrediting agency for meeting its standards of coursework and fieldwork. Accrediting agencies are non-governmental organizations that set standards for the quality of degree programs in order to give graduates a substantial qualification for their degrees. These agencies may be divisions of professional organizations.
The Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education is the primary national accrediting agency for marriage and family therapy degree programs. A division of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, a professional organization, the Commission is responsible for the accreditation of graduate and post-doctoral academic programs in the United States and Canada. Other accrediting agencies that may be recognized by state licensing boards include the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational programs and the American Psychological Association.
Legally, mental health professionals like marriage and family therapists are required to be licensed to practice in their states, like doctors, lawyers and other professionals who provide public services. States may require that counselors applying for licensing hold their master's degree from an accredited agency. On the other hand, some states may allow graduates of unaccredited programs or programs accredited by agencies other than the preferred ones prove that their coursework was equivalent to that of an accredited program in terms of both coursework and hours of supervised counseling. Specific licensing application procedures vary from state to state.
In addition to providing licensing opportunities, accredited programs should also provide a better education. This assumption drives the requirement that licensed counselors graduate from accredited programs. According to St. Cloud State University, graduating from an accredited program increases the likelihood that your "education and experience" will be accepted for licensure "across state lines."
While accredited programs are certainly recommendable, it is also necessary to consider professional goals when making this choice. If the marriage and family counseling student does not plan to use his degree to practice counseling, but rather to conduct research or obtain an administrative position through expanded knowledge of the field, graduating from accredited program may not be necessary since counselors only need to be licensed to practice counseling. On the other hand, if the student plans to conduct research academically, she may consider an accredited program, since Ph.D. programs in counseling may require accreditation as a prerequisite. Some programs may require that applicants already be licensed counselors.