§ 38-2133 — Marriage and family therapist; certification; qualifications

(1) A
person who applies to the department for certification as a marriage and family
therapist shall be qualified for such certification if he or she:
(a) Provides evidence to the department that he or she has
a master's or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a program
approved by the board or a graduate degree in a field determined by the board
to be related to marriage and family therapy and graduate-level course work
determined by the board to be equivalent to a master's degree in marriage
and family therapy;
(b) Provides evidence to the department that he or she has
had at least three thousand hours of experience in marriage and family therapy
under a qualified supervisor following receipt of the graduate degree. The three thousand hours shall include
at least one thousand five hundred hours of direct-client contact during the
five years preceding application for certification. During the course of completing
the client-contact hours, there shall be at least one hundred hours of supervisor-supervisee
contact hours with a qualified supervisor and supervision shall be provided
at least one hour per week or two hours every two weeks; and
(c) Completes an application and passes an examination approved
by the board.
(2) For purposes of this section:
(a) Actively engaged in the practice of marriage and family
therapy may include (i) services and activities provided under the direct
supervision of a person with at least a master's degree in marriage and family
therapy from a program approved by the board or (ii) services and activities
that are classified by title or by description of duties and responsibilities
as marriage and family therapy practice;
(b) Qualified supervisor means (i) a licensed mental health practitioner, a
psychologist licensed to engage in the practice of psychology, or a licensed
physician who holds a designation
of approved supervisor from an association which establishes standards for
marriage and family therapy in conformity with accepted industry standards;
such standards shall be specified
in rules and regulations approved by the board and adopted and promulgated by the
department or (ii) a marriage
and family therapist who has practiced for five years and has completed a
five-hour supervision course that may be provided by an association which
establishes standards for marriage and family therapy in conformity with accepted
industry standards; such standards shall be specified in rules and regulations
approved by the board and adopted and promulgated by the department;
and
(c) Supervision means face-to-face contact between an applicant
and a qualified supervisor during which the applicant apprises the supervisor
of the diagnosis and treatment of each client, the clients' cases are discussed,
the supervisor provides the applicant with oversight and guidance in treating
and dealing with clients, and the supervisor evaluates the applicant's performance.
In order for a supervised period of time to be credited toward the time of
supervision required by subsection (1) of this section, it shall consist of
the following:
(i) Focus on raw data from
the applicant's clinical work which is made directly available to the supervisor
through such means as written clinical materials, direct observation, and
video and audio recordings;
(ii) A process which is distinguishable
from personal psychotherapy or didactic instruction; and
(iii) A proportion of individual
and group supervision as determined by the rules and regulations of the board.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1993, LB 669, § 48; Laws 1994, LB 1210, § 107; Laws 1997, LB 752, § 163; Laws 2000, LB 1135, § 15; Laws 2003, LB 242, § 78; R.S.1943, (2003), § 71-1,329; Laws 2007, LB463, § 750; Laws 2012, LB1148, § 1. Cross References: Credentialing, general requirements and issuance procedures, see section 38-121 et seq.