Loma Linda University, a health sciences institution, is located approximately 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and just south of San Bernardino, California. Within the graduate school is the Department of Counseling and Family Sciences, and the Loma Linda University Marital and Family Therapy Program. Started in 1971, the LLU Marital and Family Therapy Program became accredited in 1975 by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, making it one of the first accredited programs in the United States. Superb faculty and excellent clinical facilities combine to provide top quality training for students of the program. In addition to outstanding education, Loma Linda's inland location also provides easy access to mountains, beaches, and desert climates for numerous recreational opportunities. Recognizing our influence through teaching, research, supervised practice and service, the mission of the Department of Counseling and Family Sciences is to address relational needs and concerns of individuals and families over the life course as faced in the contexts of communities and in the larger global society; encourage spirited wholeness by attending to the physical, mental, and social dimensions of human experience; create understanding about humans as relating beings; advance appreciation for human diversity as modeled; advocate for the rights of all humans, for the protection of human dignity, and the value of respect in all human interactions; collaborate with community in terms of training, service, and scholarship in our field; and influence our immediate environment as well as the whole world.