Ohio Administrative Code
Title 4757 - Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapist Board
Chapter 4757-25 - Licensing of Marriage and Family Therapists
Section 4757-25-01 - Education requirements for admission to the examination for marriage and family therapist
Universal Citation: OH Admin Code 4757-25-01
Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
The requirements for licensure are generally set forth in section 4757.30 of the Revised Code.
(A) Pertaining to the educational requirements, the board further prescribes that: a "graduate degree in marriage and family therapy" is defined as a degree that meets all of the following criteria:
(1) The program or
concentration shall clearly be identified as marriage and family therapy
(also referred to as "MFT"), shall include a minimum of
ninety quarter hours or sixty semester hours of graduate level course work in
marriage and family therapy training grounded in systemic theory and systemic
approaches that is acceptable to the committee. Such a program shall
specify in pertinent institutional catalogues and brochures its intent to
educate and train marriage and family therapists. Examples of this include
statements explaining the distinction between MFT and other human service
areas, statements that the program prepares students to pass the national MFT
examination, or statements that the program prepares students for MFT state
licensure.
(2) The marriage and
family therapy curriculum shall stand as a recognized entity within the
institution and have a marriage and family therapy faculty. Marriage and family
therapy faculty identify with the MFT profession by having a doctoral degree in
"Marriage and Family Therapy," holding a state license in MFT, being clinical
members of the AAMFT, and/or being AAMFT approved supervisors.
(3) The marriage and family therapy
coursework shall have a major focus on marital and family systems and systemic
therapeutic interventions. Program coursework must
include content on crisis intervention. Marriage and family therapy
coursework shall include at least two graduate courses in paragraph (A)(3)(a)
and paragraph (A)(3)(b) of this rule and at least
one graduate course in paragraphs(A)(3)(c) to
(A)(3)(g) of this rule of the following areas of
marriage and family therapy :
(a) Marriage and family
therapy theory studies: Courses in this area
should present a fundamental introduction to marriage and family studies,
including the historical development of the relational/systemic perspective and
empirical foundations of the field of marriage and family therapy. This area
facilitates students developing knowledge of the early and contemporary
theories of MFT. It should provide a substantive understanding of the major
theories of systems change and the applied practices evolving from each
theoretical orientation. Major MFT theories include but are not limited to:
strategic, structural, contextual, Bowenian, narrative, solution-focused,
object relations, experiential, emotion focused, and internal family.
(b)
Clinical
treatment of individuals, couples and families: Courses in this area facilitate
students developing competencies in systemic hypotheses, treatment planning and
interventions specifically designed for use with a wide range of diverse
individuals, couples, and families, and includes a focus on evidence-based
practice and empirically supported treatment modalities. The courses in this
category may focus on areas such as:
(i)
Couples therapy: theories and skills in providing
therapy with couples, including family of origin issues, new marriages,
marriage preparation, multi-cultural issues, partnerships, and
divorce.
(ii)
Family therapy with children, adolescents, or young
adults: training in unique diagnostic and treatment considerations in working
with children, adolescents, or young adults, including collaboration with
medical providers and educational systems.
(iii)
Sexuality and
family therapy: the physiological, psychological, and sociocultural variables
associated with sexual identity and sexual behavior including sexual
dysfunctions.
(iv)
Substance abuse and addictive disorders in marriage and
family therapy: This course covers the physical and psychological aspects of
psychotropic medication, alcohol, and other substances on relationships and
behavior as well as systemic treatment approaches to substance use
disorders.
(c) Research: This
course facilitates students developing competencies in marriage and family
therapy research and evaluation methods and in evidence-based practice,
including becoming an informed consumer of couple, marriage, and family therapy
research.
(d) Professional ethics: Courses in this area shall
include the "American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy" (AAMFT) code
of ethics, confidentiality and liabilities of clinical practice and research,
professional ethics as a marriage and family therapist, professional
socialization, and the role of the professional organization, licensure, state
and federal legislation, independent practice and inter professional
cooperation. Religious ethics courses and moral theology courses do not meet
this requirement.
(e) Individual and family development: This course
shall address individual and family development and biopsychosocial health
across the lifespan from a systemic perspective.
(f) Appraisal of
individuals and families: Course content shall address from a relational/systemic perspective,
psychopharmacology, physical health and illness, traditional psycho diagnostic
categories, and the assessment, diagnosis, and
treatment of major mental and emotional disorders, including the appropriate
use of the current edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental
Disorders."
(g)
Family therapy with diverse, multicultural and/or
underserved communities: This course facilitates students developing
competencies in understanding and applying knowledge of diversity, power,
privilege and oppression as these relate to race, age, gender, ethnicity,
sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability, health
status, religious, spiritual and/or beliefs, nation of origin, immigration
status, housing status, or other relevant social categories, in the practice of
marriage and family therapy. This includes developing competencies in working
with sexual and gender minorities and their families as well as anti-oppressive
practices.
(h) Practicum: Includes a supervised training
experience consisting of the provision of marriage and family therapy to
clients and is acceptable to the board as defined in paragraphs (A)(3)(f)(i) to
(A)(3)(f)(v) of this rule.
(i) Applicants, who
begin their program after January 2015, shall have a minimum of two semesters
or three quarters of qualified supervised clinical practicum and/or qualified
internship with five hundred hours of direct face-to-face client contact with
individuals, couples, and families and one hundred hours of supervision.
Applicants, who begin their program before January 2015, shall have a minimum
of two semesters or three quarters of qualified supervised clinical practicum
and/or qualified internship with three hundred hours of direct face-to-face
client contact with individuals, couples, and families and sixty hours of
supervision.
(ii) Applicants, who
begin their program after January 2015, shall have two hundred fifty hours of
the five hundred hours of direct client contact with couples and/or families
present. Applicants, who begin their program before January 2015, shall have
one hundred fifty hours of the three hundred hours of direct client contact
with couples and/or families present.
(iii) The clinical practicum and internship
experience must be under the supervision of an independently licensed marriage
and family therapist with supervision designation, an AAMFT approved
supervisor, an AAMFT supervisor candidate, or an independently licensed mental
health practitioner who shall have demonstrated competence in the area in which
he/she is supervising and have training in legal and ethical issues relevant to
marriage and family therapy.
(iv)
Applicants from non-COAMFTE accredited programs shall document their practicum
and internship experience on a form prescribed by the board. The form shall be
completed by the supervisor or supervisors and shall document the student's
competency, client contact hours, and supervision hours in all areas designated
on the form. The form shall be completed and submitted by the student at the
time of examination request.
(4)
Programs accredited by the "Commission On Accreditation Of Marriage And Family
Therapy Education" (COAMFTE) at the time of applicant's degree conferral are
recognized as meeting the requirements for a graduate degree in marriage and
family therapy.
(5) Applicants who possess a degree from a program not
accredited by the "Commission On Accreditation Of Marriage And Family Therapy
Education" (COAMFTE) shall submit a request to this board for approval in
meeting the educational requirements for admission to the examination for the
marriage and family therapy license. Program approval may be obtained by the
applicant submitting to the board written evidence that the degree meets the
requirements set forth in paragraphs (A)(1) to (A)(3) of this rule.
(B) Supplemental coursework, including supplemental clinical practicum/internship experience, taken after the completion of the degree program may be acceptable if the applicant meets either of the following:
(1) Holds a
conferred degree in marriage and family therapy as defined in paragraphs (A)(1)
and (A)(2) of this rule, acceptable to the board, and achieved both of the
following:
(a) Completes the necessary
coursework and/or clinical practicum/internship experience from a marriage and
family therapy program as defined in this rule,
(b) Obtains written permission for each
supplemented course and/or practicum/ internship experience from the board
prior to the beginning of the course and/or practicum/internship experience and
completes said course(s) and/ or practicum/internship experience within five
years of approval.
(2)
Applicants, who possess a master's degree and are enrolled in a COAMFTE
accredited doctoral program having completed all coursework except for
dissertation.
(C) Post-graduate supervised direct client contact hours obtained out of state may satisfy a deficit in the number of practicum/internship hours as specified in paragraph (A)(3) (f)(v) of this rule. These substituted hours shall not be counted toward the two years of required supervised practice for IMFT licensure.
(D) Applicants who are denied admission to the examination shall be afforded an opportunity for a hearing pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
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