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The Legal Department articles are not intended to serve as legal advice and are offered for educational purposes only. The information provided should not be used as a substitute for independent legal advice and it is not intended to address every situation that could potentially arise. Please be aware that laws, regulations and technical standards change over time. As a result, it is important to verify and update any reference or information that is provided in the article.
This article focuses on a few basic supervision requirements for Trainees and Interns, as well as, basic qualifications for LMFT supervisors.
Alain Montgomery, JD, Staff Attorney The Therapist May/June 2014 Reviewed October 2017 by Alain Montgomery, JD (CAMFT Paralegal)
Supervision is an investment of time, money, and energy for both the licensed supervisor and the pre- licensed Trainee or Associate MFTs. To ensure the most beneficial and effective outcome of a supervision relationship, it is important for supervisors and Associate MFTs/Trainees to understand the fundamentals of supervision requirements. This article focuses on a few basic supervision requirements for Trainees and Associate MFTs, as well as, basic qualifications for LMFT supervisors. Detailed information and explanations regarding supervision can be found in CAMFT’s Supervision Manual and various articles dedicated to the topic of supervision. Both resources are available on CAMFT’s webpage at www.camft.org. The Board of Behavioral Sciences (“BBS”) also provides information regarding supervision on its website at www.bbs.ca.gov.
To qualify for licensure, the Board of Behavioral Sciences (“BBS”) requires licensed marriage and family therapist applicants to obtain a total of 3,000 hours of supervised professional experience and 104 weeks of supervision. Fifty-two (52) weeks of the 104 supervised weeks must be weeks in which the applicant receives at least one hour of one-on-one, individual, face-to-face supervision.i
DEFINITION OF TERMS
EXCEPTION TO FACE-TO-FACE SUPERVISION An exception to the requirement that supervision occur face-to-face applies to Inters working in a government entity, a school, college, or university, or an institution that is both nonprofit and charitable. In these settings, supervision maybe gained by live, two-way, real-time videoconferencing.v
SUPERVISION RATIOS FOR TRAINEES AND ASSOCIATE MFTS A Trainee must receive at least one (1) unit of supervision for every five (5) hours of psychotherapy or counseling performed, per week, in each setting. vi A Trainee can average the number of supervision units obtained over time in order to claim the hours of psychotherapy performed during a particular week. For example, in one week, a Trainee can perform ten (10) hours of counseling and obtain one (1) unit of supervision. The Trainee will still be able to count all 10 hours of psychotherapy performed in that particular week, as long as, the Trainee obtains an extra unit of supervision during one of the remaining weeks the Trainee works at that site.
Associate MFTs must receive one (1) of supervision for the first ten (10) hours of counseling performed, per week, in each setting. In a week during which more than ten (10) hours of psychotherapy is performed, the Associate MFTs must receive an additional unit of supervision.vii This does not mean that an Associate MFTs needs one (1) unit of supervision for every ten (10) hours of counseling performed. Rather, for any hour over the tenth hour of psychotherapy performed – whether it is one hour, five hours, ten hours, twenty hours, or thirty hours – the Associate MFTs only needs to obtain an additional unit of supervision. For example, if an Associate MFTs works at one setting, and performs 17 hours of psychotherapy in a week, the Associate MFTs just needs one (1) additional unit of supervision for that week. Thus, the maximum number of supervision units the Associate MFTs would acquire that week, at that setting, would be two (2) units of supervision.
Two important pieces of information to remember are that: 1) ratios for trainees and Associate MFTs must be maintained in each setting at which the Trainee or Associate MFT works, and 2) the maximum number of supervision units the BBS will count towards licensure is six (6) units per week. viii CAMFT’s article, “Critical Reminders for Associate MFTs, Trainees, and Supervisors” contains specific information about the laws and regulations and guidelines pertaining to supervision and licensing requirements.
GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR SUPERVISORS OF TRAINEES AND ASSOCIATE MFTS A licensed mental health care professional must satisfy certain requirements in order to be a qualified clinical supervisor to a marriage and family therapist Trainee or Associate MFT. The qualification standards are different depending on the type of license held by the mental health care professional. This following segment will focus on the general qualifications required for LMFT supervisors.
General Qualifications Licensed mental health professionals interested in providing supervision to Marriage and Family Therapists (MFT) Trainees and Associate MFTs must meet certain minimum qualifications in order to qualify as a supervisor. LMFTs must:
A licensee’s failure to maintain a current and valid license will prevent a supervisee from being able to count the hours gained during the period under which the supervisor’s license was either, delinquent, suspended, or on probation. Thus, it is important for supervisors to submit their renewal applications to the BBS in a timely manner. Also, it is recommended that Trainees and Associate MFTs keep themselves informed as to when their supervisor’s license expires and whether or not the supervisor renewed his/her license.
BBS Forms The following forms are required to document a Trainee or Associate MFTs experience: 1) the “Responsibility Statement for Supervisors of a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee or Associate MFT,” 2) “Weekly Summary of Hours of Experience,” and 3) “Marriage and Family Therapists Experience Verification.”
“Responsibility Statement” The “Responsibility Statement” is submitted to the BBS with the licensing exam application. The law requires any person who supervises a Trainee or Associate MFT to sign the “Responsibility Statement” under the penalty of perjury prior to the commencement of supervision.ix If you have more than one supervisor, each supervisor must sign a separate “Responsibility Statement.” Also, if a Trainee remains at the same site after their traineeship, and their status changes from Trainee to Associate MFT, the supervisor should complete a new responsibility statement.
“Weekly Summary of Hours” The Associate MFT is required to maintain weekly logs of all experience gained toward licensure. The “Weekly Summary of Hours” tracks the experience and supervision hours of a Trainee or Associate MFT. While some supervisors sign the weekly logs several weeks at a time, the regulations specify that the weekly summary of hours “shall be signed by the supervisor on a weekly basis.”x The “Weekly Summary of Hours” is NOT submitted to the BBS. However, the BBS may require the Trainee or Associate MFT to submit the forms to verify hours of experience. Thus, it is recommended that the Trainee or Associate MFT retain all of their weekly logs until licensed.
“Marriage and Family Therapist Experience Verification” The “Experience Verification” form is used to document the supervised clinical experience of a Trainee or Associate MFT. The Trainee’s or Associate MFT’s supervisor transfers the total hours in each category from the weekly log to the “Experience Verification” form, completes the appropriate sections, and signs the form. When an applicant submits an application for exam eligibility with the BBS, the “Experience Verification” forms should collectively document a total of 3,000+ hours of supervised clinical experience. Applicants should pay special attention to what documentation the BBS requires to accompany each “Experience Verification Form” which may include “Volunteer Letters of Agreement.” The BBS advises separating pre-degree and post-degree experience on separate weekly logs and experience verification forms.
“Responsibility of an Interim Supervisor” Alternative supervision may be arranged during a supervisor’s absence, vacation, or sick leave, as long as, all supervision requirements are satisfied.xi The interim supervisor should sign a separate “Supervisor Responsibility Statement” prior to supervising the Trainee or Associate MFT, and should sign the weekly logs. For extended periods of interim supervision, it is a good idea for the alternate supervisor to sign a separate “Experience Verification.”
Conclusion It is important for supervisors and supervisees to have a thorough understanding of the requirements and qualifications each must satisfy. CAMFT encourages licensees, Trainees, and Associate MFTs to utilize the self-help resources provided by the BBS in addition to the resources available on CAMFTs website for information regarding supervision. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
i Cal Bus & Prof Code §4980.43(a)(1)(2) & CCR § 1833 (b)(2) ii Cal Bus & Prof Code §4980.43(c)(3) iii Cal Bus & Prof Code §4980.43(c)(4)(5) iv Cal Bus & Prof Code §4980.43(3) up>v Cal Bus & Prof Code §4980.43(c)(6) vi Cal Bus & Prof Code §4980.43(c)(1) vii Cal Bus & Prof Code §4980.43 (c)(2) viii CCR §1833 (b)(1) ix Cal Bus & Prof Code § 1821 (b)