Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 73 - PROFESSIONS AND VOCATIONS (§§ 73-1-1 — 73-79-1) › Chapter 54 - MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS (§§ 73-54-1 — 73-54-43) › Section 73-54-5 - Definitions

As used in this chapter and in Section
73-53-8
, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning:
(a)
"Licensed marriage and family therapist" means a person to whom a license has been issued under this chapter and Section
73-53-8
, which license is in force and not suspended or revoked as of the particular time in question.
(b)
"Licensed marriage and family therapy associate" means a person to whom a marriage and family therapy associate license has been issued under this chapter and Section
73-53-8
, which license is in force and not suspended or revoked as of the particular time in question.
(c)
"Marriage and family therapy" means the rendering of professional therapy services to individuals, families or couples, singly or in groups, and involves the professional application of psychotherapeutic and family systems theories and techniques in the delivery of therapy services to those persons.
(d)
"Practice of marriage and family therapy" means the rendering of professional marriage and family therapy services to individuals, couples and families, singly or in groups, whether those services are offered directly to the general public or through organizations, either public or private, for a fee, monetary or otherwise. This involves the professional application of psychotherapeutic and family systems theories and techniques in the delivery of therapy services to those persons. Licensed marriage and family therapists may use specialized clinical knowledge and advanced clinical skill in the areas of assessment, diagnosis, and the treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, conditions, and addictions within a marriage and family therapy treatment context. This definition shall not be construed to include psychological evaluation or testing, including administering and interpreting psychological tests, such as intellectual, neuropsychological, advanced personality, and projective instruments, or the labeling of any test, report or procedure as psychological or as a psychological evaluation. The terms "assessment" and "treatment" shall not be construed to permit the performance of any act that marriage and family therapists are not educated and trained to perform. This shall not limit licensed marriage and family therapists in the use of assessment instruments for which they were trained to evaluate individuals, couples and family members with regard to marriage and family functioning.
(e)
"Advertise" means, but is not limited to, issuing or causing to be distributed any card, sign or device to any person; causing, permitting or allowing any sign or marking on or in any building; broadcasting by radio or television; or advertising on the Internet or by any other means designed to secure public attention.
(f)
"Use a title or description of" means to hold oneself out to the public as having a particular status by means of stating it on signs, mailboxes, address plates, stationery, announcements, calling cards, the Internet or other instruments of professional identification.
(g)
"Board" means the Board of Examiners for Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists created by Section
73-53-8
.
(h)
"Institution of higher education" means any regionally accredited institution of higher learning in the United States that offers a master's or doctoral degree; for foreign universities, this term means an institution of higher education accredited by a legal agency of that country that is satisfactory to the board.
(i)
"Examination" means the test or exam endorsed or prescribed by the Association for Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards.
(j)
"Person" means any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, organization or body politic.
Laws, 1997, ch. 516, § 3; reenacted without change, Laws, 1999, ch. 438, § 8; reenacted and amended, Laws, 2001, ch. 421, § 11; reenacted and amended, Laws, 2011, ch. 462, § 17, eff. 7/1/2011.
Reenacted without change by Laws, 2018, ch. 403, HB 988,§ 8, eff. 7/1/2018.
Reenacted and amended by Laws, 2014, ch. 395, HB 583, 8, eff. 7/1/2014.