La. Admin. Code tit. 46 § LX-3309

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section LX-3309 - Academic Requirements for MFT Licensure or Provisional Licensure [Formerly section 3311]

A. The board, upon recommendation of the advisory committee, shall provisionally license a person for postgraduate clinical experience who applies on the required application forms, completed as the board prescribes and accompanied by the required fee. Additionally, applicants must meet one of the four following academic options:

1. a master's or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) in a regionally accredited educational institution or a certificate in marriage and family therapy from a post-graduate training institute accredited by COAMFTE

2. a master's or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy or marriage and family counseling or a related clinical mental health field from a program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) in a regionally-accredited educational institution with a minimum of six courses in marriage and family therapy, including coursework on the AAMFT code of ethics.

3. a master's or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy or a related clinical mental health field from a regionally accredited institution of higher education or a certificate from a postgraduate training institute in marriage and family therapy. Applicants with a school counseling degree would need to meet the requirements in §3311 The qualifying degree or certificate program must include coursework, practicum, and internship in marriage and family therapy that is determined by the advisory committee to be substantially equivalent to a graduate degree or postgraduate certificate in marriage and family therapy from a program accredited by COAMFTE.

4. a master's degree or a doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a regionally accredited institution of higher education whose program and curriculum was approved by the board through the advisory committee at any time prior to July 1, 2010.

B. The qualifying degree must include a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours of coursework. Furthermore, the applicant must have completed a practicum and/or internship during the completion of the qualifying degree program or postgraduate training institute that is equivalent to the standards established by COAMFTE.

C. Pursuant to Act 736 of the 2014 Regular Legislative Session and effective January 1, 2018, all applicants whose academic background has not been previously approved by the board as of January 1, 2018, must have completed a minimum of six credit hours in diagnostic psychopathology. Courses in this area shall provide academic instruction from a systemic/relational perspective in psychopharmacology, physical health and illness, traditional psycho-diagnostic categories including the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) as published by the American Psychiatric Association on May 18, 2013 and/or the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Edition, published in 1992 (ICD-10) as published by World Health Organization, and the assessment and treatment planning for the treatment of mental, intellectual, emotional, or behavioral disorders within the context of marriage and family systems.

D. Required coursework in marriage and family therapy for academic options 1, 2, 3 and 4 may be completed during the qualifying master's or doctoral degree programs or may be taken as post-graduate work at a regionally-accredited college, university, or qualifying postgraduate marriage and family therapy training institute as determined by the advisory committee.

La. Admin. Code tit. 46, § LX-3309

Promulgated by the Department of Health and Hospitals, Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners, LR 29:156 (February 2003), amended LR 29:2785 (December 2003), LR 35:1113 (June 2009), LR 37:1602 (June 2011), repromulgated LR 37:2163 (July 2011), amended LR 38:1965 (August 2012), repromulgated LR 41741 (4/1/2015), Amended by Department of Health, Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners, LR 431982 (10/1/2017), Amended by the Department of Health, Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners, LR 451204 (9/1/2019), Amended LR 491086 (6/1/2023).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 37:1101-1123.