California understands the value of marriage and family therapists (MFTs) in helping people through difficult family situations. At the same time, the state has an interest in ensuring that mental health professionals are properly trained and licensed.
When a practice hires an unlicensed trainee, the Board of Behavioral Sciences imposes restrictions on who can supervise them during their training to ensure that their acts are consistent with the rules and best practices.
Clients can suffer when a practice fails to meet California’s supervision requirements. As a result, the board will often enforce these standards aggressively.
In these cases, a family therapist license attorney can present a defense. The options for defending your license will depend on the circumstances of your case and which requirements the board alleges you violated.
Requirements to Supervise Others
Before getting into the supervision requirements, it is worthwhile to review when a licensed MFT must meet them. A “trainee” under the rules is anyone without a family therapy license who is a master’s or doctoral student in a program that will qualify them for a license. The trainee must have completed at least 12 semester hours or 18 quarter hours of courses toward their degree.
If a person does not meet these qualifications, they cannot be hired as a trainee. A practice can hire someone without these qualifications in other positions. However, they will not have the freedom or authority afforded to trainees.
Specifically, a trainee can counsel clients while enrolled in a practicum course or within 90 days of completion, after informing clients of their trainee status. The hours of experience gained while training must be supervised and coordinated with their school.
This is where the supervision requirements come in. To supervise a trainee as they gain experience during their schooling, a licensed MFT must meet the following requirements:
Licensing
Supervisors must have a California MFT license that is current, active, and in good standing. If the licensee has been suspended or placed on probation, they cannot supervise trainees. Moreover, the supervisor must be one of the following:
- Licensed psychologist
- Licensed physician and surgeon certified in psychiatry
- Licensed marriage and family therapist
- Licensed professional clinical counselor
- Licensed clinical social worker
- Licensed educational psychologist
All of these licensees can supervise trainees without limit, except licensed educational psychologists (LEPs). These professionals can only supervise up to 1,200 experience hours, and the trainee’s services must be limited to the scope of practice defined in California law for LEPs.
Although the supervisor must have one of the preceding licenses for at least two out of the most recent five years, those years need not have occurred in California.
Practice or Supervision Experience for a MFT License
Supervisors must have practiced psychotherapy or psychological counseling for at least two out of the most recent five years. A supervisor can also meet the practice requirements by providing direct supervision to trainees for at least two out of the most recent five years.
Training
Supervisors must complete at least 15 hours of training as a supervisor within 60 days of starting the trainee’s supervision. Once the supervisor meets the training requirement, they can maintain their qualifications by completing at least six hours of continuing education in supervision each license renewal cycle.
Importantly, licensed psychologists and psychiatrists are not required to meet the training requirements. Instead, only therapists, social workers, and counselors are required to meet them.
Violations of the Supervision Requirements
An investigation into a supervision violation usually starts with an allegation that the trainee did something wrong. They can also start when the supervisor makes a mistake during a trainee’s supervised session.
When this happens, the client may file a complaint with the board. The board will investigate and determine whether any regulatory violation occurred. Even if the trainee and supervisor are cleared of any violation with respect to the client, the supervisor may still face discipline for failing to meet the supervision requirements.
For example, suppose that a trainee is scheduled to meet with a client. Their normal supervisor is unavailable, so another practitioner volunteers to supervise them. If the replacement supervisor does not meet the statutory requirements, they may face discipline.
Defending Against California MFT License Supervisor Violations
A family therapist license attorney can present many defenses during a disciplinary case. For example, the lawyer could assert that the licensee did not act as a supervisor during counseling sessions. Instead, they only acted as an informal mentor while a qualified supervisor acted in a supervisory role.
Similarly, a family therapist license attorney can argue that the trainee was not a true trainee because they performed administrative functions rather than counseling. If the person was not a trainee, the supervisor does not need to meet the state’s requirements.
Learn How a Family Therapist License Attorney Can Help
A violation of the supervisor requirements can result in professional discipline even if the trainee performed perfectly. This discipline may include a license suspension or even revocation. Contact us to discuss the accusation and your options for defending your license.
