Information and Resources related to Changes to MFT Educational Requirements
Senate Bill 33 (Chapter 26, Statutes of 2009) makes numerous changes to the educational requirements for marriage and family therapist (MFT) licensure and intern registration. These requirements have not been substantively changed since 1988. The practice of marriage and family therapy has evolved over the past 20 years, and there is a growing body of evidenced-based and best practices. Employment opportunities are increasing and work settings are shifting from private practice to the public sector.
Voters passed the California Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) in November 2004, and this law is transforming mental health services in California in a number of ways. This includes placing greater attention on serious mental illness, reducing adverse impacts resulting from untreated mental illness, expanding successful innovative services, emphasizing culturally and linguistically competent approaches, and involving people with mental illness in the system as stakeholders with an equal voice. These new services are guided by a promise to do "whatever it takes" to help people fully recover from mental illness. This transformation demands that those employed in public mental health have a different perspective and can provide different approaches to treatment.
In May 2006, the Board appointed a committee to review the education required to become licensed as a MFT (or registered as a MFT intern). This committee, which first met in July 2006, was charged with reviewing the current curriculum requirements and determining their appropriateness for today's MFT practice. The Committee also reviewed different studies of competencies necessary for MFT practice as well as workforce data in order to determine ways in which the profession has evolved. The Committee's work benefited greatly from the participation and feedback it received from a variety of stakeholders including schools, agencies, consumers and students. In December 2007, the Committee recommended specific curricular changes to the full Board.
The Board approved the initial proposal at its meeting on February 21, 2008. The legislation required to accomplish the changes were introduced by Senator Lou Correa (Senate Bill 1218) in 2008 and moved easily through the legislature, but was vetoed by the Governor as a result of fallout from the budget impasse. The bill was re-introduced in 2009 by Senator Correa and was signed by the Governor.
This web page is designed to provide educators and others with information and tools that will be helpful in implementing the new requirements.
For questions, see the informational documents below or, contact Christy Berger at (916) 574-7834 or at christy.berger@dca.ca.gov.
Information About Proposed Changes
- Summary of Changes to MFT Educational Requirements
- Timeline
- Legislation
- Current MFT Educational Requirements
- Table Showing Law Section Changes
This table provides an index of the sections of the Business and Professions Code affected by this legislation and the new section numbers cross-referenced to any previous section number. There are two worksheets that contain the same information but sorted "Previous to New", and "New to Previous".
BBS Support for Educators
The Board is providing assistance to MFT educators with implementing the proposed changes in several ways:
Training and Technical Assistance
Training and technical assistance was offered to MFT educators in 2009 and 2010, funded by the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) in partnership with the California Department of Mental Health and the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Unfortunately this funding is no longer available, but BBS is exploring other ways to provide MFT educators with resources, including developing a sample curriculum map, sample course syllabi and other resources. Other resources that may be helpful are as follows:
- AAMFT-California Division continues to host MFT Educators Forms. For more information see www.aamftca.org.
- Greater Bay Area Mental Health and Education Workforce Collaborative is one of the regional consortia, and has a website containing many resources for MFT educators. For more information see http://www.mentalhealthworkforce.org/.
- MFT Consortium of Orange County
- San Diego MFT Consortium
- The Central Coast Consortium
- MFT Consortium of Greater Los Angeles/MFT Consortium of California
- MFT Consortium of Sacramento (no website)
Resource Bibliography
The MFT Educators Bibliography consists of articles and books and other resources that will assist MFT educators to support the required curriculum changes.
MFT Educator's Mailing List
Sign up by sending an email to christy.berger@dca.ca.gov. Please specify your school's name.
Other Resource Documents
- Recovery Oriented Care
- A Story of Transformation
- An Analysis of Definitions and Elements of Recovery
- An Analysis of Mental Health and Addictions - Concepts of Recovery
- Building MHSA programs - Ragins
- Changes in Schizophrenia Across Time – Harding 2003
- Client Centered Supervisor Training
- Connecticut Practice Guidelines for Behavioral Oriented Care
- Factoring in Structure - Ashcraft 2006
- Faculty Immersion Reference Guilde
- Impact of Language and Environment on Recovery
- Measurement of Recovery in Severe Mental Illness – Harding 1994
- MHSA Implementation Toolbox - Ragins
- Moving to Recovery and Person Centered Practice - Grider (Powerpoint)
- Practice Change in Behavioral Healthcare - Berger
- Recovery Across the Lifespan
- Recovery and Hope – Deegan 1996
- Recovery from AOD and People of Color
- Recovery Oriented Resources
- Recovery Reference Guide
- Recovery Training - Diksa
- Recovery Within Diverse Populations
- Review of Recovery Literature - Ralph
- SAMHSA Recovery Definition
- Sample Recovery Planner
- Strengths Based Supervision (Powerpoint)
- Transforming Systems of Care
- Substance Abuse
- IOM Book Ch 5 – Coordinating Care for Co-Occurring Disorders
- IOM Book Ch 7 – Increasing Workforce Capacity for Quality Improvement – CODs
- MHSOAC Report on Co-Occurring Disorders 2007
- Workforce
- AAMFT Core Competencies
- Annapolis Plan Chapter 4 - Findings
- Annapolis Plan Chapter 6 – Consumers
- Annapolis Plan Chapter 9 – Training
- Assessing Behavioral Health Workforce Competency
- Behavioral Health Workforce Competencies Fundamentals
- Behavioral Health Workforce Competencies Overview
- CalSWEC Mental Health Competencies Advanced Year
- CalSWEC Mental Health Competencies Foundation Year
- CCCMHA Employer Survey
- CCCMHA Employer Survey Results
- CCCMHA Recommendations
- CCCMHA Sample Job Descriptions
- How to Establish Mental Health Competencies
- Marriage and Family Therapist DACUM 2005
- Marriage and Family Therapist Validation Report – DCA 2002
- MFTs in Public Mental Health
- MHSA and Workforce Information
- MHSA Five-Year Workforce and Training Plan
- Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development
- UCSF Center for the Health Professions
- Other
- Consumer and Carer Participation Policy
- DMH Client and Services Information – Annual Report 2002-03
- DMH Diagnosis Data
- Evidence Based Practices in Mental Health
- Evidence Based Practice Manual
- Involving Consumers in Education
- Prevention of Mental Disorders
- Proposition 63 (MHSA) Summary
- Stigma-A Qualitative Study
- Study of Severe Mental Illness Part I – Desisto et al, 1995
- Study of Severe Mental Illness Part II – Desisto et al, 1995
- The Road to Resilience
Other Website Resources
- Cultural Competency
- A Cultural Competency Toolkit: Ten Grant Sites Share Lessons Learned
- National Center for Cultural Competence
- U.S. DHHS Office of Minority Health
- Disaster Mental Health
- CDC
- Disaster Mental Health Institute
- SAMHSA
- Evidence Based Practice
- EBP Definitions and Resources
- National Guideline Clearinghouse
- National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP)
- Recovery Oriented Care/Psychosocial Rehabilitation Model
- California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies
- Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation
- Mental Health Recovery (Mary Ellen Copeland)
- Nami Santa Cruz - Recovery Resources
- National Empowerment Center
- National Research and Training Center on Psychiatric Disability, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Pat Deegan, Ph.D. and Associates
- Recovery, Inc.
- Training from the Center for Psychosocial Rehabilitation
- The Village Integrated Service Agency
- US Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association
- Substance Abuse
- California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Dual Diagnosis Website (Kathleen Sciacca, M.A.)
- Workforce
- The Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce
Workforce development and competencies, technical assistance, information on special topics - California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
- California Institute for Mental Health
Works to promote excellence in mental health services through training, technical assistance, research and policy development. Includes resources on cultural competency, evidence based practice, recovery model, and other issues. - California Mental Health Directors Association
- California Mental Health Planning Council
- Government Agencies
- California Department of Aging
- California Department of Mental Health – MHSA
- California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
- State Level Advocacy
- California Network of Mental Health Clients
- California Women's Mental Health Policy Council
- Mental Health Association in California
- NAMI California
- United Advocates for Children of California - Includes resources on children, cultural competency and other topics
- National Advocacy
- Alliance for Children and Family Services
- Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
- NAMI National
- National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare - Includes numerous training resources
- National Mental Health Association


