Alabama Administrative Code › Title 536 - ALABAMA BOARD OF EXAMINERS IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY › Chapter 536-X-1 - DEFINITION OF TERMS › Section 536-X-1-.01 - ALABAMA BOARD OF EXAMINERS IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY ADMINISTRATIVE CODE

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1)
Marriage and Family Therapy
in the State of Alabama is
			 a professional practice which affects the public safety and welfare and
			 requires appropriate regulation and control in the public interest. The
			 practice of marriage and family therapy is the process of providing
			 professional marriage and family therapy to individuals, couples, and families,
			 either alone or in a group. The practice of marriage and family therapy
			 utilizes established principles that recognize the interrelated nature of the
			 individual problems and dysfunctions in family members in order to diagnose,
			 assess, and treat emotional, mental, and behavioral disorders within a marriage
			 and family therapy treatment context. Marriage and family therapy includes,
			 without being limited to, individual, group, couple, sexual, divorce therapy,
			 psychotherapy, and family therapy, whether the services are offered directly to
			 the general public or through organizations, either public or private, for a
			 fee or other compensation. Marriage and family therapy is a specialized mode of
			 treatment for the purpose of resolving emotional, mental, and behavioral
			 disorders and modifying intrapersonal and interpersonal dysfunctions. Marriage
			 and family therapists do not practice beyond their scope of training in the
			 areas of assessing, diagnosing, and treating clients. The terms "diagnose,"
			 "assess," and "treat," as used in this subdivision, when considered in
			 isolation or in conjunction with the rules of the board, shall not be construed
			 to permit the performance of any act which marriage and family therapists are
			 not educated and trained to perform, including, but not limited to,
			 administering and interpreting psychological tests, intellectual,
			 neuropsychological, personality, and projective instruments, admitting persons
			 to hospitals for treatment for the foregoing conditions, treating persons in
			 hospitals without medical supervision, prescribing medicinal drugs, authorizing
			 clinical laboratory procedures or radiological procedures, or use of
			 electroconvulsive therapy. In addition, this definition shall not be construed
			 to permit any person licensed pursuant to this chapter to describe or label any
			 test, report, or procedure as "psychological," or as a "psychological
			 evaluation." A licensed marriage and family therapist may diagnose and develop
			 treatment plans, but shall not attempt to diagnose, treat, or advise a client
			 with reference to problems or complaints falling outside the boundaries of
			 marriage and family therapy services. Nothing in this chapter shall be
			 construed to authorize persons licensed under this chapter to practice
			 medicine.
(2)
Allied
			 Mental Health Field
operationalized as a degree in which at least
			 one of the courses for that degree meets the marriage and family studies,
			 marriage and family therapy, or human development Board course
			 requirements.
(3)
Board
is the Alabama Board of Examiners in Marriage
			 and Family Therapy.
(4)
COAMFTE Program
is a master's degree, doctoral degree,
			 or post-graduate degree clinical training program in marriage and family
			 therapy that is recognized by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and
			 Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) as either having accreditation or candidacy
			 status. The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) is the
			 parent organization of the COAMFTE.
(5)
CACREP Program in Marriage,
			 Couple, and Family Counseling (MCFC)
is a master's degree, or
			 doctoral degree clinical training program in marriage and family counseling
			 that is recognized by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related
			 Educational Programs (CACREP) as either having accreditation or candidacy
			 status. The American Counseling Association (ACA) is the parent organization of
			 the CACREP.
(6)
Direct
			 Client Contact Hour
is face-to-face contact with individuals,
			 couples or families.
(7)
Group Supervision
may consist of no more than six (6)
			 supervisees, regardless of the number of supervisors. Group supervision
			 provides the opportunity for the supervisees to interact with other supervisees
			 and offers a different learning experience than that obtained from individual
			 supervision.
(8)
Individual Supervision
is face-to-face contact between
			 one (1) supervisor and up to two (2) supervisees.
(9)
MFT Work
			 Experience
includes direct client contact hours and supervision
			 hours, along with other professional tasks such as a preparation of the case
			 notes, phone contacts, court appearances, administrative supervision, and other
			 appropriate tasks involved in the professional practice of marriage and family
			 therapy.
(10)
Raw Data
			 Supervision
includes live supervision (supervision in which the
			 supervisor observes the case live and has the opportunity to provide
			 supervisory input during the session), audio or video supervision (supervision
			 in which the supervisor reviews and provides feedback during the supervision
			 session on audio or video tapes of the supervisees clinical work), and
			 supervision of co-therapy cases (supervision outside the session on cases in
			 which the supervisor is a co-therapist).
(11)
Regional Educational
			 Accrediting Body
is an institution accredited by one of the
			 following: Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools, New England
			 Association of Schools and Colleges, North Central Association of Schools and
			 Colleges, the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, Southern
			 Association of Colleges and Schools, and Western Association of Schools and
			 Colleges. It signifies that the institution meets established standards for
			 higher education.
(12)
Supervision
of marriage and family therapy is expected
			 to have the following characteristics:
(a)
			 Face-to-face interaction with the supervisor, typically in periods of
			 approximately one (1) hour each on at least a weekly basis for a period of two
			 (2) years;
(b) The face-to-face
			 supervision hours may be conducted via electronic communications by an AAMFT
			 Approved Supervisor, AAMFT Supervisor Candidate, ABEMFT Approved Supervisor, or
			 ABEMFT Supervisor Candidate. Acceptable electronic communication is defined as
			 communication that is simultaneously interactive both visually and
			 orally.
(c) Based on an integration
			 of marriage and family therapy clinical and supervision constructs;
(d) A contract for supervision is required
			 for all MFT candidates who are under supervision for MFT licensure; The
			 contract for supervision requires sufficient detail for review and approval by
			 the Board. Specific topics to be addressed in the contract for supervision
			 include, but are not limited to the following:
1. The purpose and goals of the supervisee
			 for this particular supervision relationship;
2. The professional development of the
			 supervisee, addressing issues related to the development of supervisee
			 knowledge and skills; and
3. The
			 supervision protocol established to ensure ethical behavior by supervisees when
			 treating vulnerable populations; (e.g. addictions, sex therapy, children, and
			 inpatient treatment).
4. This
			 contract must be signed by both the supervisor and supervisee. This plan must
			 be submitted with LMFT Associate and/or LMFT designation application.
(e) Without approval of the Board,
			 a supervisee may not have more than two (2) supervisors.
(f) The following characteristics are not
			 acceptable as clinical supervision:
1. Peer
			 supervision, i.e., supervision by a person of equivalent, rather than superior,
			 qualifications, status and experience;
2. Supervision by current or former family
			 members or any other person where the nature of the personal relationship
			 compromises the professional relationship;
3. Administrative supervision (i.e., clinical
			 practice performed under administration rather than clinical supervision of a
			 director or executive director);
4.
			 A primarily didactic process wherein techniques or procedures are taught in a
			 group setting, classroom, workshop or seminar; and Consultation, staff
			 development or orientation to a field program, or role playing of family
			 interrelationships as a substitute for current clinical practice in an
			 appropriate clinical.