Counseling vs. Marriage and Family Therapy: Two Accreditors, Two License Tracks

If you want to work with couples and families, you will run into two kinds of graduate programs that sound almost identical: a counseling degree with a marriage, couple and family counseling specialty, and a marriage and family therapy (MFT) degree. They are prepared under different accreditors and usually lead toward different licenses. The right choice depends less on the coursework than on which license you plan to hold, and in which state.

Two professions, two accreditors

Counselor preparation programs are accredited by CACREP. CACREP describes its scope as master's and doctoral degree programs "in counseling and its specialties," and marriage, couple and family counseling is one of the specialized practice areas it accredits, alongside clinical mental health, school, addiction and others.

MFT degrees are accredited by a different body, the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). According to COAMFTE, its master's programs "provide entry level educational requirements for independent clinical practice in the profession" of marriage and family therapy. COAMFTE lists, among the benefits it claims for students, preparation for a state license as a marriage and family therapist and for "the national and/or state examination in marriage and family therapy."

So the practical distinction is this:

• A marriage, couple and family counseling (MCFC) program is a counseling degree. Its graduates are

counselors with a family-systems specialty; in a CACREP-accredited program, the specialty sits on top of the CACREP foundational counseling curriculum.

• A standalone MFT program belongs to the marriage and family therapy profession. Its home accreditor is

COAMFTE, and its intended license is a marriage and family therapist license.

Universities sometimes offer both. Indiana Wesleyan University, for example, states that its marriage and family therapy programs are accredited by COAMFTE, and San Diego State University's M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy states the same. Our directory lists counselor preparation programs, so standalone MFT degrees like these are outside it; the MCFC specialty is included.

What the MCFC specialty covers

CACREP describes MCFC graduates as prepared to work "from a family systems perspective" with individuals, couples and families. Section 5-F of the 2024 CACREP Standards lists the specialty content programs must cover, including:

• family systems, family-of-origin and intergenerational theories;
• assessment and case conceptualization from a systems perspective, including genograms and family mapping;
• the impact of interpersonal violence, unemployment and migration on families;
• marriage, couple and family counseling interventions and treatment planning;
• interfacing with the legal system and third-party reimbursement.

An MCFC student also completes the same foundational counseling curriculum and supervised practicum and internship as other CACREP counseling students. See how practicum and internship placements work for the fieldwork side.

The license is the real decision

Licensure is set by each state, not by the accreditor or the university, and a state may license professional counselors and marriage and family therapists as separate professions, each with its own education rules, exams and supervised-experience requirements. Texas is one example: its Behavioral Health Executive Council includes a separate Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists and Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors. For Texas MFT licensure, the board lists a passing score on the AMFTRB national MFT licensing exam (or the California MFT exam) as a prerequisite, and an LMFT Associate may only practice under approved supervision. The professional counselor board has its own license track, from LPC Associate to LPC.

Because of that split, programs describe very different licensure outcomes for degrees with similar names. Here is what four programs in our directory say on their own pages:

Notice that most of these statements are tied to a specific state. A program that is designed around Oregon's or Virginia's rules may or may not meet another state's requirements for either license. Always read the program's professional licensure disclosure and confirm the requirements with the board in the state where you plan to practice.

How to choose between them

Start from the job and the title you want, then work backward:

1. Decide which license you want to hold. If you want to be licensed as a professional counselor (titles

vary: LPC, LPCC, LCPC, LMHC and others), a counseling program, including the MCFC specialty, is built for that license; CACREP says graduates of its accredited programs meet the educational requirements for licensing in most states. If you specifically want an LMFT, check whether your state accepts a counseling degree for that license or expects an MFT degree.

1. Read the board's rules, not the brochure. State boards define the qualifying degree, coursework,

supervised hours and exam. Some counseling programs say they prepare students for both licenses in their home state; that claim is state-specific.

1. Check accreditation at the program level. CACREP accreditation belongs to a specific degree program

and specialty, not to the whole university. Our guide to what CACREP accreditation is explains how to verify it.

1. Consider portability. If you may move, ask which states the program has reviewed. The Counseling

Compact, live for licensees in ten states as of October 2026, covers licensed professional counselors (LPC, LMHC, LPCC and similar titles); it does not decide which degree a state accepts for an MFT license.

1. Compare fieldwork settings. If couples and family work is the point, ask whether practicum and

internship sites offer couples and family clients, and who supervises that work.

What our directory includes

In our directory (October 2026), 11 programs carry the marriage, couple and family counseling specialty, out of 235 programs in total (methodology). You can browse them on the marriage, couple and family counseling specialty page.

Whichever route you take, no degree guarantees a license. Licensure requirements change, so treat any program's statement as a starting point and confirm it with the state board before you enroll.