Offered through the Amridge University School of Human Services, the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Degrees programs in Marriage and Family Therapy and in Professional Counseling are 60-semester hour rigorous research oriented programs beyond the Master's degree. The number of hours required for the completion of one of these doctorates will depend on the number of graduate hours the student has already taken before entering the program.

These Ph.D. programs are not designed to prepare individuals for professional licensure. It is assumed that the applicant has already completed the course work required for professional licensure. If the applicant wishes to obtain professional licensure, additional courses may be required.

The distinctive components in these programs will be the emphasis on traditional and non-traditional extended learning delivery systems. Broadly put, upon completion of either program, the student will have an advanced degree with both therapeutic expertise and scholarship.

Students will complete intensive studies in theories of counseling and marriage and family therapy, human development, problems with abuse and addiction, cultural diversity, and research. Courses offered in these programs will be taught partly from traditional class settings and will be partly delivered online over the Internet.

Students benefit from collegial learning during both face-to-face and concomitant residency experiences. The on-campus experiences are enhanced and extended through the concomitant classes and meetings. The University provides live classroom broadcasts with video and audio transmission for an academic residency component of the Ph.D. program. This live Internet online transmission permits teacher-student interaction and discussion. This interaction between faculty member and students is a concomitant synchronized period in a traditional classroom. This synchronous learning alternative is the New Academic Residency Option open to Amridge University students who live at a distance from the main campus. Amridge University maintains a record of each student's residency requirements in the program. A program may be completed in 4 years; however, the completion time depends on factors such as the number of credits transferred, the pace at which courses are taken, and the time necessary to research and write the dissertation.