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MFT Licensure Walk Through - The Examination Process

The Examination Process

You have completed your hours and additional coursework requirements. Now you are ready to submit the Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) Examination Eligibility Application. The application includes a useful checklist to ensure that you send all of the appropriate materials.

When sending the application through the mail, applicants often send them “return-receipt requested". This allows the sender to know when the Board received the application.

Once your application is approved, you will receive a letter from the Board informing you that you are eligible for the examination. Approximately 2 weeks later, you will receive the MFT Standard Written Examination Candidate Handbook in the mail. This handbook is your official study guide for the examination. You can also access this handbook from the Forms and Publications section of the Board website. Once approved, on the back of the candidate handbook you receive, you will find an eligibility notice and the date by which you need to take the examination.

Important Facts

If you continue to work while in the exam process, you will need to be under supervision since you will still be an unlicensed person. Also, you must work as either an employee or a volunteer. You cannot practice independently until you receive your MFT license from the Board.

Individuals in the examination process do not need an Intern registration number in order to take the examination. However, you need to check with your employer to see if you will need to retain a MFT Intern registration number for employment purposes. If the need should arise, you may apply for a second MFT Intern registration number. However, you cannot work in a private practice setting with a second MFT Intern registration number.

Once you pass the MFT Standard Written Examination, you can apply to sit for the MFT Written Clinical Vignette Examination. To do so, you need to submit a MFT Examination/Re-Examination form, available in the Forms and Publications section of this website, with the required $100 fee. The processing time for this form is 60 days.

If you take and fail an examination, you must re-take it no later than one year from the date of failure. Also, after failing an examination, you must wait a minimum of six months from the date of failure before the Board can approve you again to take the examination. You must submit a MFT Examination/Re-Examination form with the required $100 fee in order to retake the test. Again, the processing time for this form is 60 days.

Abandonment of Examination Eligibility

Meeting your examination deadlines is critical. The Board will abandon your application if you fail to sit for the examination by your deadline. In order to become re-eligible, you will need to re-submit an application for examination eligibility and meet all requirements. The process of submitting a new application after abandonment can be time-consuming and stressful.

Initial License Issuance

Upon passing the Written Clinical Vignette Examination, you will receive an application for your MFT initial license at the test site center. This form requires only a simple one-page application and a fee. You must apply for the MFT initial license within one year of passing the Written Clinical Vignette Examination. Once the Board receives this fee and processes the application, you will receive a MFT license number.

Updated: February 25, 2008