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MFT Licensure Walk Through - Post Degree Supervised Work Experience

Post-Degree Supervised Work Experience

You will gain the majority of your required 3,000 hours of supervised experience after you graduate. Aside from keeping track of your hours, you will want to keep several helpful habits in mind.

• Always renew your Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) Intern registration number on time.
• Utilize the Board's Verifications feature to check that your supervisor has a current license. If your supervisor does not renew his or her license, the hours you earned while your supervisor’s license is delinquent will not qualify.
• Keep track of your supervision paperwork. The Board does not require you to submit any forms until you are ready to apply for licensure. You need to be sure all forms contain original signatures. When the time comes to send them in to the Board, you will need to send in the originals.
• Take time to review the required hours of experience for licensure so that you know the types of work experience on which you need to focus.

Please refer to the MFT Breakdown of Required Supervised Experience for a comprehensive breakdown of pre-degree and post-degree hours of experience.

All hours of experience must be gained within the most recent six (6) years from the time you apply for MFT examination eligibillity. The only exception is a maximum of 500 hours of pre-degree practicum work experience that may be older than 6 years.

Example:  Susan applies for MFT examination eligibility.  The Board receives her application on 4/27/2006. All of the hours she gained between 4/27/2000 and 4/27/2006 will be acceptable. If needed, she could count up to 500 practicum hours that are older than 4/27/2000.

Change in Supervision Ratio

Upon graduation, the supervision ratio for counseling experience hours changes to 1 hour of individual supervision or 2 hours of group supervision for every 10 hours of direct counseling experience. This ratio only affects Individual Psychotherapy; Couples, Families, and Children; Group Counseling; and Telephone Counseling hours of experience.

Contacting the Board for Questions

While gaining hours of experience towards licensure, you may have questions. If you cannot locate an answer for your question on your own, please call a MFT Evaluator.

• For last names beginning with the letters A-K, call 916 574 7854.
• For last names beginning with the letters L-Z, call 916 574 7853.

Helpful Publications

Answers to Most Frequently Asked Questions Relating to Marriage and Family Therapist Trainees and Interns

A Guide to Supervision for MFT Interns and Trainees

Updated: February 25, 2008