How MFTs Stack Up

I. Education

A. Marriage and Family Therapist

The MFT licensing law, in Section 4980.37 of the Business and Professions Code,1 specifies that qualifying degree programs must, among other things,

1. provide an integrated course of study that trains students generally in the diagnosis, assessment, prognosis, and treatment of mental disorders.
2. prepare students to be familiar with the broad range of matters that may arise within marriage and family relationships.
3. train students specifically in the application of marriage and family relationship counseling principles and methods.
4. teach students a variety of effective psychotherapeutic techniques and modalities that may be utilized to improve, restore, or maintain healthy individual, couple and family relationships.

The chief academic officer, or his/her designee, of the applicant's educational institution, must provide the applicant with a certification that the applicant has fulfilled the above-mentioned as well as other requirements. Such other requirements include, but are not limited to, a named master's degree (marriage, family and child counseling, marital and family therapy, psychology, clinical psychology, or counseling psychology, counseling with an emphasis in marriage, family and child counseling or marriage and family therapy from a school, college, or university accredited by the Western Association of Schools and colleges or approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. The degree program must contain at least 48 semester or 72 quarter units of instruction, with no less than 12 semester or 18 quarter units of coursework in the areas of marriage, family and child counseling, and marital and family systems approaches to treatment. The law, in Section 4980.40, specifies that the coursework shall include, among other things, instruction in "the salient theories of a variety of psychotherapeutic orientations, directly related to marriage, family and child counseling, and marital and family systems approaches to treatment."

Additionally, the law specifies (Section 4980.40) that in addition to the 12 semester units/18 quarter units specified above, the degree program must contain at least six semester units/nine quarter units of supervised practicum in applied psychotherapeutic techniques, assessment, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of premarital, couple, family, and child relationships in a supervised clinical placement. Furthermore, the law (Section 4980.41) also requires all applicants for licensure to complete coursework or training in California law and ethics, child abuse assessment and reporting, human sexuality, alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency, domestic violence, psychological testing, psychopharmacology, and working with the elderly.

The law carefully articulates what a degree program must contain and allows some room for program flexibility. It should be apparent that the educational requirements for licensure as an MFT are substantial and quite relevant to the practice of therapy. Undeniably, the focus of the education is on therapy in general, and marriage and family therapy in particular. The law has been amended over the years to "fine-tune" the requirements and to reflect current thinking in the field.

B. Clinical Social Workers

The Clinical Social Worker licensing law, in Section 4996.2, requires that applicants for the license possess a master's degree from a school of social work accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social Work Education. Aside from the mandated coursework in alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency, human sexuality, and child abuse assessment and reporting, the clinical social worker licensing law does not in any way specify course content. Schools of social work have complete control over course content, as determined and controlled by the private (nongovernmental), non-profit accrediting body mentioned above.

Because the scope of practice of licensed clinical social workers includes several activities other than counseling/psychotherapy or mental health treatment (i.e., providing information and referral services, providing or arranging for the provision of social services, helping communities to organize and doing research related to social work), a portion of the social work master's education involves such coursework as social welfare policy and services, social work practice with organizations and communities and social work research. In the second year of a typical two year master's degree program, the student may select a concentration on clinical social work or social work administration.

If the student selects social work administration, the focus is typically placed on intervention in problems of organizational administration and development of voluntary and public social welfare agencies. The skills emphasized might include service delivery designs, budgeting, team building and organizational decision making. Those who choose this administration focus also qualify for licensure as clinical social workers. Several years ago, the MFT licensing law was amended (with CAMFT's support) to specify that in order to qualify for the MFT license, the social work degree must have an emphasis in clinical social work.

C. Psychologists

The Psychology Licensing Law, in Section 2914 of the Business and Professions Code, requires an applicant for licensure to possess a doctorate degree in psychology, educational psychology, or "education with the field of specialization in counseling psychology or educational psychology." The law also allows a doctorate degree deemed equivalent by the Board of Psychology. Regulation specifies acceptable equivalent degrees. The required degree, as also specified in the MFT Licensing Law, may be obtained from an accredited institution or from an institution that is approved by the Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education.

The Psychology Board regulations specify that any doctorate degree earned in a program approved by the American Psychological Association and any Doctor of Mental Health degree earned in a program located in an accredited educational institution, shall be deemed to be equivalent. The regulations also specify that in order to be deemed equivalent for psychology licensure, an applicant's doctorate degree must meet certain requirements. Among the requirements are the following:

The doctorate degree shall be equivalent or similar to a doctorate degree in psychology although not completed within a school or department of psychology, such as, a degree in child development, human development or behavioral medicine.

The applicant's graduate program leading to the doctorate degree must contain at least 48 semester or 72 quarter units in the following coursework: biological bases of behavior, cognitive-affective bases of behavior, social bases of behavior and individual differences, ethics, supervised practicum, internship and field or laboratory training.

A dissertation which is psychological in nature.

Psychologists, like MFTs and LCSWs, must also complete legislatively mandated coursework or training in alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency, child abuse assessment and reporting, and human sexuality.

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