The board may issue a license to a person who, at the time of submitting an application for a license pursuant to this chapter, holds a license in another jurisdiction of the United States as a marriage and family therapist at the highest level for independent clinical practice if all of the following requirements are met:

(a) The applicant’s license in the other jurisdiction has been current, active, and unrestricted in that jurisdiction for at least two years immediately before the date the application was received by the board. The applicant shall disclose to the board for review any past restrictions or disciplinary action on an out-of-state license, and the board shall consider these actions in determining whether to issue a license to the applicant.

Terms Used In California Business and Professions Code 4980.72

  • Accredited: as used in this chapter , means a school, college, or university accredited by either the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education or a regional or national institutional accrediting agency that is recognized by the United States Department of Education. See California Business and Professions Code 4980.03
  • Approved: as used in this chapter , means a school, college, or university that possessed unconditional approval by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education at the time of the applicant's graduation from the school, college, or university. See California Business and Professions Code 4980.03
  • Board: as used in this chapter , means the Board of Behavioral Sciences. See California Business and Professions Code 4980.03
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Experience: as used in this chapter , means experience in interpersonal relationships, psychotherapy, marriage and family therapy, direct clinical counseling, and nonclinical practice that satisfies the requirements for licensure as a marriage and family therapist. See California Business and Professions Code 4980.03
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • license: means license, certificate, registration, or other means to engage in a business or profession regulated by this code or referred to in Section 1000 or 3600. See California Business and Professions Code 23.7
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Business and Professions Code 21
  • Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs, unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Business and Professions Code 15
  • supervision: means responsibility for, and control of, the quality of mental health and related services provided by the supervisee. See California Business and Professions Code 4980.43.1

(b) The applicant’s degree that qualified the person for the out-of-state license is a master’s or doctoral degree that was obtained from an accredited or approved institution.

(c) The applicant complies with the fingerprint requirements established by Section 144.

(d) The applicant completes the coursework specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) from an accredited institution or an approved institution or from an acceptable provider of continuing education as specified in Section 4980.54. Undergraduate coursework shall not satisfy these requirements.

(1) A minimum of 12 hours of coursework in California law and professional ethics that includes, but is not limited to, instruction in advertising, scope of practice, scope of competence, treatment of minors, confidentiality, dangerous clients, psychotherapist-client privilege, recordkeeping, client access to records, state and federal laws relating to confidentiality of patient health information, dual relationships, child abuse, elder and dependent adult abuse, online therapy, insurance reimbursement, civil liability, disciplinary actions and unprofessional conduct, ethics complaints and ethical standards, termination of therapy, standards of care, relevant family law, therapist disclosures to clients, the application of legal and ethical standards in different types of work settings, and licensing law and the licensing process.

(2) At least one semester unit, or 15 hours, of instruction that includes an understanding of various California cultures and the social and psychological implications of socioeconomic position.

(e) The applicant obtains a minimum of seven contact hours of training or coursework in child abuse assessment and reporting, as specified in Section 28, and any regulations promulgated pursuant to that section.

(f) On or after January 1, 2021, the applicant shall show proof of completion of at least six hours of coursework or applied experience under supervision in suicide risk assessment and intervention using one of the methods specified in Section 4980.396.

(g) The applicant passes the board-administered California law and ethics examination specified in subdivision (d) of Section 4980.40. The clinical examination specified in subdivision (d) of Section 4980.40 shall be waived for an applicant qualifying under this section.

(h) This section was developed based on an examination of the licensure requirements for marriage and family therapists on a national level. This section shall not be construed to apply to any provisions under this division or Division 3 (commencing with Section 5000) other than this act.

(Repealed and added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 380, Sec. 3. (SB 679) Effective January 1, 2020.)

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