2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 8 - The Professions › Article 163 - Mental Health Practitioners › 8403 - Marriage and Family Therapy.

§  8403. Marriage and family therapy. 1. Definition of the practice of
marriage and family therapy. The practice of the profession of  marriage
and family therapy is defined as:
(a)  the  assessment  and  treatment  of nervous and mental disorders,
whether  affective,  cognitive   or   behavioral,   which   results   in
dysfunctional  interpersonal  family  relationships  including,  but not
limited  to  familial   relationships,   marital/couple   relationships,
parent-child    relationships,    pre-marital    and    other   personal
relationships;
(b) the use of mental health counseling, psychotherapy and therapeutic
techniques  to  evaluate  and  treat  marital,  relational,  and  family
systems, and individuals in relationship to these systems;
(c)   the  use  of  mental  health  counseling  and  psychotherapeutic
techniques to treat  mental,  emotional  and  behavioral  disorders  and
ailments within the context of marital, relational and family systems to
prevent and ameliorate dysfunction; and
(d) the use of assessment instruments and mental health counseling and
psychotherapy  to  identify  and evaluate dysfunctions and disorders for
purposes of providing appropriate marriage and family therapy services.
2. Practice of marriage and family  therapy  and  use  of  the  titles
"marriage  and  family  therapist"  and  "licensed  marriage  and family
therapist". Only a person licensed or exempt under  this  article  shall
practice  marriage  and  family  therapy  or use the title "marriage and
family therapist". Only a person licensed under this article  shall  use
the  titles "licensed marriage and family therapist", "licensed marriage
therapist", "licensed family therapist" or any other designation tending
to imply that the person is licensed to  practice  marriage  and  family
therapy.
3.  Requirements  for a professional license. To qualify for a license
as a "licensed  marriage  and  family  therapist",  an  applicant  shall
fulfill the following requirements:
(a) Application: File an application with the department;
(b) Education: Have received a master's or doctoral degree in marriage
and  family  therapy  from  a  program  registered by the department, or
determined by the  department  to  be  the  substantial  equivalent,  in
accordance  with  the commissioner's regulations or a graduate degree in
an allied field from a program registered by the department and graduate
level coursework determined to be  equivalent  to  that  required  in  a
program registered by the department. This coursework shall include, but
not be limited to:
(i)  the  study  of human development, including individual, child and
family development;
(ii) psychopathology;
(iii) marital and family therapy;
(iv) family law;
(v) research;
(vi) professional ethics; and
(vii) a practicum of at least three hundred client contact hours;
(c) Experience: The completion of at least one thousand  five  hundred
client  contact  hours  of  supervised  clinical  experience, by persons
holding a degree from a master's or doctoral program, or the substantial
equivalent, in accordance with the  commissioner's  regulations  or  the
completion  of  at  least  one  thousand  five  hundred  client hours of
supervised post-master's clinical  experience  in  marriage  and  family
therapy   satisfactory   to   the  department  in  accordance  with  the
commissioner's  regulations.  Satisfactory  experience  obtained  in  an
entity  operating  under  a  waiver issued by the department pursuant to
section sixty-five hundred three-a of this title may be accepted by  the

department,  notwithstanding that such experience may have been obtained
prior to the effective date of such section sixty-five  hundred  three-a
and/or prior to the entity having obtained a waiver. The department may,
for  good  cause shown, accept satisfactory experience that was obtained
in a setting that would have been eligible for a waiver  but  which  has
not  obtained  a  waiver  from  the  department  or  experience that was
obtained  in  good  faith  by  the  applicant  under  the  belief   that
appropriate authorization had been obtained for the experience, provided
that  such  experience  meets  all  other  requirements  for  acceptable
experience;
(d) Examination: Pass an examination satisfactory to the board and  in
accordance with the commissioner's regulations;
(e) Age: Be at least twenty-one years of age;
(f)  Character:  Be  of  good  moral  character  as  determined by the
department; and
(g) Fees: Pay a fee of one hundred seventy-five dollars for an initial
license and a fee of one hundred  seventy  dollars  for  each  triennial
registration period.