Ala. Admin. Code r. 536-X-2-.02 - Requirements For Licensure: Licensed Marriage And Family Therapist (LMFT)

Application:

(1) Submission of a completed application on the forms prescribed by the Board (See 536-X-5 APPENDICES 2: FORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THESE RULES AND REGULATIONS); and submission of applicable fees prescribed by the Board (See 536-X-5 APPENDICES 1: FEES).

(2) Evidence that the applicant is of good moral character and has not or is not engaged in any practice or conduct that would make the applicant ineligible to receive a license pursuant to the Marriage and Family Therapy Licensure Act; Education/Transcripts

(3) Completion of the education, internship, clinical, and supervision requirements for a licensed MFT Associate (See 536-X-2-.05): (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Associate (LAMFTA)); Submission of transcripts REQUIRED.

National Examination:

(4) Passed the marriage and family therapy examination approved by the Board (See 536-X-4-.07 Guidelines for Examination Application Requirements);

Direct Clinical and Supervision Hours:

(5) Completion of a minimum of two (2) years post degree per week MFT work experience under the supervision of a Board Approved Supervisor as a licensed MFT Associate;

(6)

(a) Completion of two-hundred (200) hours of supervision, one-hundred (100) of which must be individual. Candidates may count up to one-hundred (100) supervision hours earned during the graduate program toward this requirement, when based on a ratio of one (1) supervision hour for every five (5) client contact hours completed concurrently. The remaining one hundred (100) hours of post-degree supervision must include at least fifty (50) hours of individual supervision. Applicants from allied mental health professions or candidates not completing a graduate internship must complete concurrently the full supervision requirement post-degree while being supervised by an AAMFT Approved Supervisor, AAMFT Supervisor Candidate, ABEMFT Approved Supervisor, or ABEMFT Supervisor Candidate.

(b) All out-of-state applicants will be reviewed case-by-case to ensure that the same standards are met.

(7) Completion of a minimum of one-thousand (1000) post-degree direct client hours completed concurrently with the required ratio of one (1) supervision hour to every ten (10) client contact hours at least two hundred-fifty (250) of these direct contact hours must be with couples or families physically present in the therapy room. Additionally, group therapy may be counted but cannot be considered "relational" unless the memebrs of the group live with in the same household (including residential treatment or multi family groups. In Addition:

(a). The board must receive a written letter by the Approved Supervisor or Program Director for the university or training center outlining the hours accumulated beyond the 500 and the ratio of supervision to clinical contact.

(8) For an MFT license to be renewed, the licensee must have completed the required Continuing Education or Experience Units during the previous twenty-four (24) months. (see 536-X-6 REQUIRED RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL AND CONTINUING EDUCATION EXPERIENCE); and submission of applicable fees for license renewal prescribed by the Board (See 536-X-5: APPENDICES 1: FEES).

Notes

Ala. Admin. Code r. 536-X-2-.02

New Rule: Filed July 10, 2006; effective August 14, 2006. Amended: Filed February 9, 2007; effective March 16, 2007. Amended: Filed February 8, 2012; effective March 14, 2012. Amended by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XXXVII, Issue No. 09, June 28, 2019, eff. 8/3/2019. Amended by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XLIII, Issue No. 03, December 31, 2024, eff. 2/14/2025.

Author: The Alabama Board of Examiners in Marriage and Family Therapy

Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 34-17A-1 thru 34-17A-26.