Section 839IAC1-4-3.1. Educational requirements for marriage and family therapists and marriage and family therapist associates

  1. (a) As used in IC 25-23.6-8-1, "master's degree in an area related to marriage and family therapy" means a degree earned in one (1) of the following areas of study:

(1) Clinical social work.

(2) Psychology.

(3) Counseling.

(4) Pastoral counseling.

(5) Programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE).

(6) Another degree area as determined by the board.

  (b) An applicant for licensure as a marriage and family therapist with a graduate degree not listed in subsection (a), or an applicant asserting that his or her program is equivalent to a program in marriage and family therapy whose content areas are listed in IC 25-23.6-8-2.5, must provide the board with the following information:

(1) Evidence that their degree program and any additional course work are equivalent to the criteria for a graduate degree in marriage and family therapy as set forth in this section.

(2) An official college transcript.

(3) Appropriate certifications or affidavits from university officials.

(4) Any additional supporting documentation as requested by the board.

  (c) As used in IC 25-23.6-8-2.1(a)(1), "regional accrediting body" means a college or university that was accredited prior to or within two (2) years of the time of the applicant's graduation by one (1) of the following:

(1) New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

(2) Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

(3) North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

(4) Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges.

(5) Southern Association of Schools and Colleges.

(6) Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

  (d) An applicant for licensure as a marriage and family therapist under IC 25-23.6-8 must show successful completion of a degree curriculum that shall encompass a minimum of twenty-seven (27) semester hours or forty-one (41) quarter hours of graduate course work. If the course titles as stated on the transcript do not clearly reflect the course work content areas as listed in IC 25-23.6-8-2.5, the applicant must document the course or combination of courses in which the material was covered. Only graduate level courses are acceptable for establishing equivalency. The board will not accept course work counted or credited toward an undergraduate degree.

  (e) The following criteria shall be used to identify a master's or doctoral program in marriage and family therapy or an area related to marriage and family therapy:

(1) The program, wherever it may be housed, shall:

(A) be clearly identified as a marriage and family therapy program in pertinent catalogs and brochures; and

(B) specify the program's intent to educate and train marriage and family therapists.

(2) There shall be a clear authority and primary responsibility for the core and specialty areas, whether or not the program cuts across administrative lines.

(3) The program shall have an identifiable marriage and family therapy professional responsible for the program.

(4) The program shall have an identifiable body of students who are matriculated in that program for a degree.

(5) The program shall include a supervised clinical practicum, internship, or field experience in marriage and family therapy.

  (f) As used in IC 25-23.6-8-2.5(a)(3), "practicum" means a distinctly defined supervised curricular experience intended to enable the student to develop basic therapy skills and to integrate professional knowledge and skills appropriate to the student's program emphasis. The practicum shall be a minimum of five hundred (500) face-to-face client contact hours and include a minimum of one hundred (100) hours of supervision from an LMFT who has at least five (5) years of experience.

  (g) The supervision of the clinical practicum, internship, or field experience in marriage and family therapy experiences listed in this section are tutorial forms of instruction. Individual supervision is supervision rendered to not more than two (2) individuals at a time and group supervision is supervision rendered to at least two (2) and not more than ten (10) individuals at one (1) time.

  (h) As used in IC 25-23.6-8-2.5(a)(3)(B), "one hundred (100) hours of supervision" refers to the entire clinical experience requirement of five hundred (500) hours. This includes individual and group supervision. The applicant must document that at least one hundred (100) hours were spent with an LMFT supervisor who has at least five (5) years of experience or a qualified supervisor approved by the board. The graduate marriage and family therapy student may work away from the premises of the educational institution but must:

(1) be enrolled in a clinical practicum, internship, or field experience in marriage and family therapy; and

(2) conduct therapy under the auspices of that graduate program.

(Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board; 839 IAC 1-4-3.1; filed Jun 29, 2011, 9:12 a.m.: 20110727-IR-839090811FRA)