West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 27 - Counseling › Title 27 - LEGISLATIVE RULE BOARD OF EXAMINERS IN COUNSELING › Series 27-08 - Marriage and Family Therapist Licensing Rule › Section 27-8-6 - Qualifications of Applicants

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
6.1.
				Education: The education requirements for the licensure of applicants are set
				forth in W. Va. Code
§
30-31-9. To meet those requirements, an
				applicant shall have one of the following degrees:
6.1.a. A master's or doctoral degree from an
				institution with a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for
				Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE), Council on Accreditation of
				Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the North Central
				Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACS), the Southern Association of
				Colleges and Schools (SACS) or a comparable accrediting body as determined by
				the Board. Applicants shall complete a minimum of 60 semester hours or 90
				quarter hours of graduate course work inclusive of a master's or doctoral
				degree in marriage and family therapy. Pertaining to the educational
				requirements, a degree in marriage and family therapy shall meet all the
				following criteria, as determined by the Board:
(1) The program or concentration must clearly
				be identified as marriage and family therapy. Such a program must specify in
				pertinent institutional catalogues and brochures its intent to educate and
				train marriage and family therapists;
(2) The marriage and family therapy
				curriculum must stand as a recognized entity within the institution and have a
				marriage and family therapy faculty;
(3) The marriage and family therapy
				coursework completed must be an organized course of study that includes at
				least one three hour graduate course in each of these eight areas of marriage
				and family therapy:
(a) Marriage and family
				studies: Courses in this area should present a fundamental introduction to
				marriage and family studies. The student should learn to think across a wide
				variety of family structures and a diverse range of issues (i.e., gender,
				culture, and substance abuse). Topic areas may include but are not limited to
				family development, subsystems, blended families, gender issues in families,
				and cultural issues in families;
(b) Systems theory: Courses in this area
				should address the historical development, theoretical and empirical
				foundations, and contemporary conceptual directions of the field of marriage
				and family therapy;
(c) Research:
				Courses in this area should assist the student in understanding and performing
				research. Topic areas may include research methodology, qualitative and
				quantitative methods, and statistics;
(d) Professional ethics: Courses in this area
				shall include the "American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy"
				(AAMFT) code of ethics, confidentiality and liabilities of clinical practice
				and research, professional ethics as a marriage and family therapist,
				professional socialization and the role of the professional organization,
				licensure or certification legislation, independent practice and inter
				professional cooperation. Religious ethics courses and moral theology courses
				do not meet this requirement;
(e)
				Human growth and development: Courses in this area should provide knowledge of
				personality development and its normal and abnormal manifestations. The student
				should have relevant coursework in human development across the lifespan, which
				includes special issues that should be integrated with systems concepts. Topic
				areas may include but are not limited to human development, psychopathology,
				personality theory, human sexuality. Test and measurement courses do not meet
				this requirement;
(f) Appraisal of
				individuals and families includes individual and family differences, methods of
				data gathering and interpretation, individual, family and group testing, and
				case study;
(g) Principles of
				etiology, assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning, and prevention of mental
				and emotional disorders and dysfunctional behavior; and,
(h) Practicum: Includes a supervised training
				experience consisting of the provision of marriage and family therapy to
				clients that is acceptable to the Board;
(i) A
				minimum of twelve months supervised clinical practicum with three hundred hours
				of direct contact with individuals, couples, and or families;
(ii) Fifty percent of the three hundred hours
				shall be with couples and families present.
(4) The marriage and family therapy
				coursework completed shall include four courses in marriage and family therapy.
				Courses in this area should have a major focus on advanced marital or family
				systems and systemic therapeutic interventions. This area is intended to
				provide a substantive understanding of the major theories of systems change and
				the applied practices evolving from each theoretical orientation. Major
				theoretical approaches include but are not limited to strategic, structural,
				object relations, behavioral, intergenerational, and systemic sex
				therapy.
(5) Additional or advanced
				courses in any required curriculum category listed in subdivisions 6.1.a(3) and
				6.1.a(4) of this rule or sufficient semester credit hour courses that are
				marriage and family related elective subjects to equal the semester credit hour
				course requirements as outlined in subsections 6.1.a(3) and 6.1.a(4) of this
				rule.