License portability

Ah, to be a medical doctor. To only have to pass the boards once, and then be done with it. Forever. Marriage and family therapists -- who, at least in theory, practice the same art no matter where they roam -- are subject to a mishmash of licensure laws around the 50 states, with various requirements for education, experience, and examinations. Taking your MFT license to a new state can be a nightmare, as you may be forced to provide transcripts and syllabi from classes taken decades ago, register as an intern no matter how long you've been licensed, and in some states, go through another testing process. If you are considering ever moving to another state -- and even if you're not considering it now, most people eventually do -- here are five things you can do to make license portability easier.

1. Graduate from a COAMFTE-Accredited program. The education requirements of most states specify that in order to be licensed as an MFT, you must have gone to a COAMFTE-accredited program or a reasonable equivalent. Spare yourself the trouble of having to prove equivalency, which can be a tedious process.
2. Do your prelicensed hours under an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. In states that specifically require an AAMFT Approved Supervisor in order for licensure hours to count (North Carolina is one example among many), all supervisors go through the training. In states that do not require this, far fewer do. This presents some obvious problems if you move from a state that didn't require AAMFT-Approved supervision to one that does.
3. Get an early start with the state to which you're moving. Establishing educational equivalency and suitable experience for licensure in a new state can be very time-consuming. Most states have their requirements online, but you should contact the state licensing board directly to figure out exactly what paperwork you will need to file -- and who, in your current state, will need to sign off on it.
4. Don't stop at 3,000 hours of prelicensed experience. While this is the numerical requirement in many states, a number of states require more. Gathering 3,200 hours will make you a bit safer. Ideally, if you know what state you will be moving to early enough, you can craft your prelicensure experience to meet that state's standards.
5. Document well. Any time there is a disagreement about whether you have met a certain requirement in your new state, you will need documentation to back up your side. Keep careful documentation of your supervision, your education, and what types of hours you're doing (individual client contact, family client contact, supervision, etc.), as some states require hours to be specifically categorized. Naturally, not all states agree about what those categories should be. You may have exactly the education and experience your new state wants, but if you can't prove it, you will not get licensed there.

It's tempting to add a sixth rule here -- "Don't involve California" -- since some of the greatest difficulty in license portability in the country is experienced by those coming into or out of the Golden State. But we need more MFTs here, so if you're thinking about it, do come to California. Just prepare yourself, as California is the only state in the country that licenses MFTs without using the National MFT Exam. And our other California MFT license requirements can get a little goofy too.