Section 645.31.4. Educational qualifications for marital and family therapists.

 The applicant must complete the required semester credit hours, or equivalent quarter hours, of graduate level coursework in each of the content areas identified in 31.4(2); no course may be used more than once. The applicant must present proof of completion of the following educational requirements for licensure as a marital and family therapist:

         31.4(1) Accredited program. Applicants must present with the application an official transcript verifying completion of a master’s degree of 60 semester hours (or 80 quarter hours or equivalent) or a doctoral degree in marital and family therapy from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) from a college or university accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. Applicants who entered a program of study prior to July 1, 2010, must present with the application an official transcript verifying completion of a master’s degree of 45 semester hours or the equivalent; or

   31.4(2) Content-equivalent program. Applicants must present an official transcript verifying completion of a master’s degree of 60 semester hours (or 80 quarter hours or equivalent) or a doctoral degree in marital and family therapy, behavioral science, or a counseling-related field from a college or university accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education, which is content-equivalent to a graduate degree in marital and family therapy. Applicants who entered a program of study prior to July 1, 2010, must present with the application an official transcript verifying completion of a master’s degree of 45 semester hours or the equivalent. Graduates from non-COAMFTE-accredited marital and family therapy programs shall provide an equivalency evaluation of the graduates’ educational credentials by the Center for Credentialing and Education, Inc. (CCE), Web site  http://cce-global.org . The professional curriculum must be equivalent to that stated in these rules. Applicants shall bear the expense of the curriculum evaluation. In order to qualify as a “content-equivalent” degree, a graduate transcript must document:

            a.                At least 9 semester hours or the equivalent in each of the three areas listed below:

             (1)              Theoretical foundations of marital and family therapy systems. Any course which deals primarily in areas such as family life cycle; theories of family development; marriage or the family; sociology of the family; families under stress; the contemporary family; family in a social context; the cross-cultural family; youth/adult/aging and the family; family subsystems; individual, interpersonal relationships (marital, parental, sibling).

             (2)              Assessment and treatment in family and marital therapy. Any course which deals primarily in areas such as family therapy methodology; family assessment; treatment and intervention methods; overview of major clinical theories of marital and family therapy, such as communications, contextual, experiential, object relations, strategic, structural, systemic, transgenerational.

             (3)              Human development. Any course which deals primarily in areas such as human development; personality theory; human sexuality. One course must be psychopathology.

            b.                At least 3 semester hours or the equivalent in each of the two areas listed below:

             (1)              Ethics and professional studies. Any course which deals primarily in areas such as professional socialization and the role of the professional organization; legal responsibilities and liabilities; independent practice and interprofessional cooperation; ethical issues in marital and family counseling; and family law.

             (2)              Research. Any course which deals primarily in areas such as research design, methods, statistics; research in marital and family studies and therapy.

If the applicant has taught a graduate-level course as outlined above at a college or university accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council on Professional Accreditation, that course will be credited toward the course requirements.

            c.                A graduate-level clinical practicum in marital and family therapy of at least 300 clock hours is required for all applicants.

[ ARC 7673B , IAB 4/8/09, effective 4/30/09;    ARC 9547B , IAB 6/1/11, effective 7/6/11;    ARC 2845C , IAB 12/7/16, effective 1/11/17]