§1116. Licensure application for marriage and family therapists; provisional license; temporary license or temporary provisional license

A. The board shall issue a license to each applicant who files an application upon a form and in such manner as the board prescribes, accompanied by such fee as required by R.S. 37:1106, and who furnishes evidence satisfactory to the board and the advisory committee that such person:

(1) Is of good moral character.

(2) Is not in violation of any provision of this Chapter and the rules and regulations adopted by the board.

(3) Is qualified for licensure pursuant to the requirements provided for in this Chapter.

B. An applicant who meets the requirements of Subsection A of this Section shall be recommended by the advisory committee to the board for issuance of a license by the board upon providing satisfactory evidence to the advisory committee that such person meets the following requirements:

(1) Successful completion of one of the following educational requirements:

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

(b) 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 with course work that includes practicum and internship work in marriage and family therapy determined by the advisory committee to be substantially equivalent to a graduate degree in marriage and family therapy from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education.

(c) A certificate from a postgraduate training institute in marriage and family therapy with course work that includes practicum and internship work determined by the advisory committee to be substantially equivalent to a graduate degree in marriage and family therapy from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education.

(d) A masters 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, and the applicant for licensure has at least five hundred hours of client contact, and where the client contact shall include all of the following:

(i) Two hundred and fifty hours of relational therapy.

(ii) One hundred hours in which the applicant has been subjected to qualified supervision as is defined in R.S. 37:1103(11).

(2) Successful completion of two calendar years of work experience in marriage and family therapy under qualified supervision as defined in R.S. 37:1103(11) following receipt of a qualifying degree.

(3) Passage of an examination approved by the board.

C. The board may issue a provisional license as a provisional licensed marriage and family therapist to an applicant who meets qualifications established by the board. The board shall adopt rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act establishing such qualifications and requirements as necessary for the adequate protection of the health and welfare of the residents of this state. Such qualifications shall include, at a minimum, that the applicant shall be at least twenty-one years old, of good moral character, in compliance with applicable provisions of law or board regulations, and possess a graduate 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.

D.(1) Pending the results of the criminal history information inquiry, the board may issue a temporary license or a temporary provisional license authorizing the practice of marriage and family therapy, for a period of time not to exceed ninety calendar days from the date of issuance.

(2) The board shall adopt rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act establishing the necessary qualifications, requirements, and formalities for the issuance of such licenses as are necessary for the adequate protection of the health and welfare of the residents of this state.

E. Beginning January 1, 2018, a licensed marriage and family therapist who engages in the diagnosis of individuals shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the board that he has completed the standard training in the professional application of psychotherapeutic and family systems theories and a minimum of six credit hours in diagnostic psychopathology, where students are taught to systematically collect and analyze data based on one or both of the two standard diagnostic systems employed, International Classification of Diseases, current revision, or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, current edition. However, licensed marriage and family therapists who have satisfied all other criteria for licensure as required by the board shall be allowed to diagnose individuals upon demonstration of competency through continuing education or other measures as defined by the board.

F. If intellectual, personality, developmental, or neuropsychological tests are deemed necessary, the licensed marriage and family therapist or provisional licensed marriage and family therapist shall make an appropriate referral.

Acts 2001, No. 1195, §1; Acts 2003, No. 1139, §1; Acts 2009, No. 311, §1; Acts 2010, No. 613, §1; Acts 2013, No. 173, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2014; Acts 2014, No. 484, §1, eff. May 1, 2015; Acts 2014, No. 736, §1; Acts 2017, No. 235, §1, eff. June 14, 2017.