Licensed Marital and Family Therapist

All degrees and coursework needed to meet the academic requirements must be from a college or university accredited by one of the following six regional accrediting associations recognized by the United States Department of Education:

• The New England Association of Schools and Colleges
• The Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges
• The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
• The Northwestern Association of Schools and Colleges
• The Western Association of School and Colleges
• The Southern Association of Schools and Colleges

In general, in order to meet the qualifying degree requirements for Licensed Marital and Family Therapist (LMFT) you must be able to demonstrate that you have earned a Board approved graduate degree in marital and family therapy or in a mental health, behavioral science, or counseling related field which is content-equivalent to a graduate degree in marital and family therapy (as determined by the Board).

In order to be considered a qualifying degree, a graduate transcript must document the required minimum number of graduate hours and all knowledge are requirements. Academic courses must include a minimum of 45 class hours for each course.

Below you may find a list of in-state programs that have been pre-approved by the Board. The Board will also accept all programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy (COAMFTE). COAMFTE accredited programs do not require any additional academic review. 

The Board also has a progressive licensure by endorsement statute. Generally, the statute will recognize most licenses issued in other jurisdictions and does not require an additional academic review of coursework earned.

If the degree you are seeking is not pre-approved by the Board, is not COAMFTE accredited, and you are not licensed in another jurisdiction there is not a process to advise you in advance of whether or not the degree will be accepted by the Board. 

International degrees:

For applicants with international degrees, the Department shall review the applications of applicants for licensure under Subchapter 7. of the License Marital and Family Rules who have received a post-secondary degree from an educational institution outside the United States.

The Department shall determine whether the applicant's experience, command of the English language, and completed academic program meet the standards of an academic program of an accredited educational institution.

• Theoretical Foundations of Marital and Family Systems – At least three (3) courses of three (3) semester hours in any course which deals primarily in areas such as family life cycle; theories of family development; marriage and/or the family; sociology of the family; families under stress; the contemporary family; family in a social context; the cross-cultural family; youth/adult/aging and the family; family subsystems; individual, interpersonal relationships (marital, parental, sibling).
  
• Assessment and Treatment in Marital and Family Therapy – At least three (3) courses of three (3) semester hours any course which deals in areas such as family therapy methodology; family assessment; treatment and intervention methods; overview of major clinical theories of marital and family therapy such as: communications, contextual, experiential, object relations, strategic, structural, systemic, transgenerational.
  
• Human Development – At least three (3) courses of three (3) semester hours in any course which deals primarily in areas such as human development; personality theory; human sexuality; psychopathology; at least one of which in psychopathology or abnormal human behavior.
  
• Ethics and Professional Studies – At least one (1) course of three (3) semester hours in any course which deals primarily in areas such as professional socialization and the role of the professional organization; legal responsibilities and liabilities; independent practice and inter-professional cooperation; ethics and family law.  1-3 semester hour course
  
• Research – At least one (1) course of three (3) semester hours in any course, which deals primarily in areas such as research design, methods, statistics, research in marital and family therapy.
  
• Practicum/internship –  at least one (1) course of an organized practicum or internship with at least three hundred (300) clock hours in marital and family therapy with planned experiences providing classroom and field experience with clients under the supervision of college or university approved marital and family therapy professionals. 

In addition to a qualifying degree, applicants must demonstrate they have obtained all other academic requirements. For your convenience the Board has created an academic guide to help you determine if you have accrued the minimum coursework hours and academic category requirements for application as a Licensed Marital and Family Therapist. To obtain the academic guide please click the link below.

• Academic Worksheet for Licensed Marital and Family Therapist