You can’t do better than 100 percent, and that’s the percentage of M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy graduates from Fresno Pacific University that recently passed their California state licensing exams.
Graduates must pass two tests to become licensed therapists: the Statewide Written Exam, which focuses on therapy concepts, and the Clinical Vignette Exam, which looks at practical skills. According to figures for the first half of 2015 from the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, the average pass rates were 65 percent for the written exam and 84 percent for the clinical vignette. All six FPU grads who took the written exam passed, as did all five who took the vignette exam.
All graduates were successful on their first attempt as well. “This is remarkable, as it often takes multiple attempts to pass each exam portion,” said Cynthia McGrady, Ph.D., program director and assistant professor of marriage and family therapy at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary, which sponsors the MFT program.
“MFT students who graduate from Fresno Pacific are highly motivated, gifted individuals. Helping others through counseling is a sacred calling to them,” McGrady said. “As such, they work hard to prepare themselves for excellence in the field. The most recent licensing exam result is a reflection of this.”
Fellow faculty member David Bruce Rose, Ph.D., agreed the scores reflect who our students are. “They come to FPBS to study because they believe they are called by God to ministry through counseling, and in response to that call they do the work necessary to prepare for that ministry,” said Rose, associate professor in the MFT program.
MFT has the highest enrollment of any program at the seminary, graduating about 20 students in 2015. Students must take 65 academic units, then hone their skills by completing 3,000 hours of supervised clinical work in an agency that provides counseling before taking the licensing exams. The usual pass rates for FPU graduates are a strong 80-90 percent. “Our students graduate, passionately pursue their clinical development while accruing their licensing hours and when they go to take the tests they are prepared,” McGrady said.
More on the MFT program at fresno.edu/programs-majors/biblical-seminary/marriage-and-family-therapy