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General Information for
Marriage & Family Therapist and Associate Licensure
Please note that this is general information and it is
important to refer to
WAC
246-809 for more detailed information relating to the
licensure requirements.
Associate
License Requirements
Education Requirements:
A master’s or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy
or a behavioral science master’s or doctoral degree with
equivalent coursework from an approved school.
The following must be completed in order to qualify for an
associate license:
- Completed application with signature and date.
- The application and initial
fee.
- Completed out of state verification forms sent directly
from each state (if applicable).
- Four (4)
hours of HIV/AIDS education and training.
- Official transcripts from the college where the degree was
obtained.
An associate is a pre-licensure candidate who has a graduate
degree in mental health counseling or a related field and is
gaining the supervision experience necessary for licensure
as a marriage and family therapist. Associates may not
independently provide marriage and family therapy or
counseling for a fee, monetary or otherwise.
If an associate is working under the supervision of an
approved supervisor, it is not considered independent
practice.
Associate
licenses are valid for one year and must be renewed every
year on the date of issuance. The associate license may be
renewed no more than four times. This should allow licensed
associates enough time to complete their supervision
requirements for full licensure.
Marriage
& Family Therapist License Requirements
Education Requirements:
A master’s or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy
or a behavioral science master’s or doctoral degree with
equivalent coursework from an approved school.
Anyone who has obtained American Association for Marriage
and Family Therapy (AAMFT) clinical membership status is
considered to have met the education requirements.
Supervised Post Graduate Experience:
Minimum of two calendar years of full-time marriage and
family therapy.
- Of the total supervision, one hundred (100) hours must be
with a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) with at
least five years clinical experience.
- The other one hundred (100) hours may be with an equally
qualified licensed mental health practitioner. Total
experience requirements include:
A minimum of three thousand (3000) hours of experience, one
thousand (1000) hours of which must be direct client
contact; at least five hundred (500) hours must be gained in
diagnosing and treating couples and families; plus
At least two hundred (200) hours of qualified supervision
with a supervisor. At least one hundred of the two hundred
hours must be one-on-one supervision, and the remaining
hours may be in one-on-one or group supervision.
If you have completed a master’s program accredited the AAMFT you will be credited with five hundred hours of direct
client contact and one hundred hours of formal meetings with
an approved supervisor.
Exam:
The Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory
Boards (AMFTRB) Exam is required.
The following must be completed in order to qualify for a
license:
- Completed application with signature and date.
- Application
fee and initial license
fee.
- Completed out of state verification forms sent directly
from each state (if applicable).
- Four (4)
hours of HIV/AIDS education and training.
- Official transcripts sent directly from the college where
the degree was obtained.
- Supervision
forms documenting total experience
requirements.
- Exam scores sent directly from AMFTRB.
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