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SB-707, As Passed Senate, June 17, 2026
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SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 707
A bill to amend 1978 PA 368, entitled
"Public health code,"
by amending sections 16903 and 16909 (MCL 333.16903 and 333.16909),
section 16903 as amended by 2006 PA 388 and section 16909 as
amended by 1997 PA 188, and by adding sections 16909a and 16914.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 16903. (1) An individual licensed under this part as a 1
marriage and family therapist shall use only the title "licensed 2
marriage and family therapist" or "licensed marriage counselor" or 3
the abbreviation "l.m.f.t." in representing his or her the 4
individual's services in the practice of marriage and family 5
therapy to the public. 6
(2) Unless exempt under section 16905(3), only an individual 7
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licensed under this part may advertise that he or she the 1
individual offers marriage any of the following: 2
(a) Marriage and family therapy. ; marriage 3
(b) Marriage or family counseling service or advice. ; 4
marriage 5
(c) Marriage or family guidance service or advice. ; marriage 6
(d) Marriage or family relations service or advice. ; marriage 7
(e) Marriage or family problems service or advice. ; marriage 8
(f) Marriage or family relations advice or assistance. ; 9
service 10
(g) Service in the alleviation of a marital or family problem. 11
; or service 12
(h) Service of similar import or effect that is included in 13
the practice of marriage and family therapy. 14
(3) The board may grant a limited license to an individual who 15
has met the requirements of section 16909(a) and (b) 16909(1)(a) 16
and (b) or 16909a(1)(a) and (b) in order to permit that individual 17
to obtain the experience required under section 16909(c). 18
16909(1)(c) or 16909a(1)(c). The board shall not renew a limited 19
license for more than 6 years. A limited licensee shall do all of 20
the following: 21
(a) Use only the title "limited licensed marriage and family 22
therapist" or "limited licensed marriage counselor". 23
(b) Not represent that he or she the limited licensee is 24
engaged in the independent practice of marriage and family therapy. 25
(c) Practice only under the supervision of a fully licensed 26
marriage and family therapist. 27
(d) Confine his or her the limited licensee's practice to an 28
organized health care setting or other arrangement approved by the 29
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board. 1
(4) An individual engaged in obtaining experience required 2
under section 16909(b) 16909(1)(b) or 16909a(1)(b) may use the 3
title "marriage and family therapist intern" or "marriage and 4
family therapist trainee" during the training period. The board 5
shall not require an individual obtaining experience required under 6
section 16909(b) 16909(1)(b) or 16909a(1)(b) to hold a limited 7
license. 8
(5) The following words, titles, or letters or a combination 9
thereof, with or without qualifying words or phrases, are 10
restricted in use only to those individuals authorized under this 11
part to use the terms and in a way prescribed by this part: 12
"marriage advisor" or "marriage consultant"; "family counselor", 13
"family advisor", "family therapist", or "family consultant"; 14
"family guidance counselor", "family guidance advisor", or "family 15
guidance consultant"; "marriage guidance counselor", "marriage 16
guidance advisor", or "marriage guidance consultant"; "family 17
relations counselor"; "couples counselor"; "couples therapist"; 18
"marriage relations counselor", "marriage relations advisor", or 19
"marriage relations consultant"; or "marital counselor" or "marital 20
therapist". 21
Sec. 16909. (1) The board shall grant a license as a marriage 22
and family therapist to an individual who meets all of the 23
following requirements: 24
(a) Provides satisfactory evidence to the board of meeting 25
either of the following educational qualifications: 26
(i) Has a master's or higher graduate degree from an accredited 27
training program in marriage and family therapy approved by the 28
board. 29
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(ii) Has a master's or higher graduate degree from an 1
accredited college or university approved by the board and has 2
completed all of the following graduate-level courses at an 3
accredited college or university approved by the board: 4
(A) Three courses in family studies that total at least 6 5
semester or 9 quarter hours. 6
(B) Three courses in family therapy methodology that total at 7
least 6 semester or 9 quarter hours. 8
(C) Three courses in human development, personality theory, or 9
psychopathology that total at least 6 semester or 9 quarter hours. 10
(D) At least 2 semester or 3 quarter hours in ethics, law, and 11
standards of professional practice. 12
(E) At least 2 semester or 3 quarter hours in research. 13
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2), provides 14
satisfactory evidence to the board of having completed supervised 15
clinical marriage and family therapy experience in conjunction with 16
the applicant's educational program. The clinical marriage and 17
family therapy experience described in this subdivision shall must 18
meet all of the following requirements: 19
(i) Be obtained either in a clinical practicum during graduate 20
education or in a postgraduate marriage and family institute 21
training program acceptable to the board. 22
(ii) Be obtained over not less than 8 consecutive months. 23
(iii) Be verified by a supervisor who has a master's or higher 24
graduate degree from an accredited college or university approved 25
by the board and meets 1 of the following: 26
(A) Is a marriage and family therapist. 27
(B) Is a certified licensed master's social worker or a social 28
worker registered under article 16 of the occupational code, 1980 29
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PA 299, MCL 339.1601 to 339.1610.as that term is defined in section 1
18501. 2
(C) Is a licensed professional counselor as that term is 3
defined in section 18101. 4
(D) Is a physician as that term is defined in section 17001 or 5
17501 and practicing in a mental health setting. 6
(E) Is a fully licensed psychologist as that term is defined 7
in section 18201 and is fully licensed. 8
(F) Is an approved supervisor or supervisor-in-training 9
through a program conducted by the American association Association 10
for marriage and family therapy Marriage and Family Therapy and 11
approved by the board. 12
(iv) Include not less than 300 direct client contact hours in 13
supervised clinical marriage and family therapy experience, at 14
least 1/2 of which were completed in a setting in which families, 15
couples, or subsystems of families were physically present in the 16
therapy room. 17
(v) Be supervised in a ratio of at least 1 hour of supervision 18
for each 5 hours of direct client contact, for a total of not less 19
than 60 hours of supervision concurrent with the 300 hours of 20
supervised direct client contact. 21
(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2), provides 22
satisfactory evidence to the board of having completed a minimum of 23
1,000 direct client contact hours in supervised marriage and family 24
therapy experience, at least 1/2 of which was completed with 25
families, couples, or subsystems of families physically present in 26
the therapy room, that meets all of the following conditions: 27
(i) Is verified by the supervising licensed marriage and family 28
therapist. 29
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(ii) Is obtained following the completion of the degree 1
required by subdivision (a)(i), is obtained following the completion 2
of the degree required by subdivision (a)(ii) and concurrent with or 3
following the course work specified in subdivision (a)(ii)(A), (B), 4
(C), (D), and (E), or is obtained as part of a doctoral program in 5
marriage and family therapy from an accredited college or 6
university approved by the board, which experience may include 7
experience obtained under subdivision (b)(i). 8
(iii) Is supervised in a ratio of at least 1 hour of supervision 9
for each 5 hours of experience, for a total of not less than 200 10
hours of supervision concurrent with the 1,000 hours of supervised 11
experience. Not less than 100 hours of supervision under this 12
subparagraph shall must be individual supervision with no more than 13
1 other supervisee present. The remaining supervision under this 14
subparagraph may be group supervision involving no more than 6 15
supervisees with 1 supervisor. The supervision shall must be given 16
in face-to-face contact with the individual obtaining marriage and 17
family therapy experience. 18
(2) The board shall waive the requirements of subsection 19
(1)(b) and (c) for an applicant who provides satisfactory evidence 20
to the board of having obtained a doctoral degree from an 21
accredited doctoral training program in marriage and family therapy 22
approved by the board. 23
(3) This section is repealed effective January 1, 2028. 24
Sec. 16909a. (1) Beginning January 1, 2028, subject to this 25
section, to be granted a license as a marriage and family 26
therapist, an individual must meet all of the following 27
requirements: 28
(a) The individual provides satisfactory evidence to the 29
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department that the individual holds a master's or higher graduate 1
degree from an accredited training program in marriage and family 2
therapy approved by the board, the Commission on Accreditation for 3
Marriage and Family Therapy Education, or a regionally accredited 4
body. The department, in consultation with the board, shall 5
promulgate rules establishing standards to approve programs under 6
this subdivision. 7
(b) The individual provides satisfactory evidence to the 8
department of having completed supervised clinical marriage and 9
family therapy experience in conjunction with the individual's 10
educational program. 11
(c) The individual provides satisfactory evidence to the 12
department of having completed 3,000 hours of supervised postdegree 13
clinical marriage and family therapy experience in not less than 24 14
months, at least 500 hours of which were completed in a setting in 15
which families, couples, or subsystems of families were present in 16
the same location or a setting in which families, couples, or 17
subsystems of families met by way of 2-way real-time secure 18
technology that allowed direct, contemporaneous interaction by 19
sight or sound. The supervision required under this subdivision 20
must include not less than 100 hours of supervision by a supervisor 21
with not less than 50 of those 100 hours consisting of either 22
individual supervision or dyadic supervision with no more than 1 23
other supervisee present. The remaining 50 of the 100 hours of 24
supervision required under this subdivision may be group 25
supervision involving no more than 6 supervisees with 1 supervisor. 26
The 100 hours of supervision described in this subdivision must be 27
in person or use 2-way real-time secure technology with the 28
individual obtaining the supervised clinical marriage and family 29
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therapy experience. To qualify as a supervisor under this 1
subdivision, an individual must meet the requirements described in 2
subsection (4). The department, in consultation with the board, may 3
promulgate rules to do the following: 4
(i) Revise the number of supervised clinical hours required 5
under this subdivision if necessary to ensure a marriage and family 6
therapist's eligibility to enroll as a provider with Medicare. 7
(ii) Supplement the requirements for supervisors under this 8
subdivision, including, but not limited to, by requiring additional 9
professional experience or the completion of continuing education. 10
(2) The board shall waive the requirements of subsection 11
(1)(b) and (c) for an applicant who provides satisfactory evidence 12
to the board of having obtained a doctoral degree from an 13
accredited doctoral training program in marriage and family therapy 14
approved by the board. 15
(3) The department, in consultation with the board, may 16
promulgate rules to supplement the requirements for licensure under 17
this part as a marriage and family therapist as the department 18
determines is necessary to adapt to changes in federal law or 19
national industry standards for marriage and family therapists. 20
(4) To qualify as a supervisor under subsection (1)(c), an 21
individual must be 1 of the following: 22
(a) A marriage and family therapist. 23
(b) An individual who meets both of the following 24
requirements: 25
(i) The individual is 1 of the following: 26
(A) A licensed master's social worker as that term is defined 27
in section 18501. 28
(B) A licensed professional counselor as that term is defined 29
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in section 18101. 1
(C) A psychologist as that term is defined in section 18201 2
who is fully licensed. 3
(ii) The individual is an approved supervisor through a program 4
conducted by the American Association for Marriage and Family 5
Therapy and approved by the board. 6
(5) As used in this section, "Medicare" means that term as 7
defined in section 2701. 8
Sec. 16914. (1) Notwithstanding the requirements of part 161, 9
the department, in consultation with the board, shall promulgate 10
rules requiring a licensee seeking renewal of a license to furnish 11
the department with satisfactory evidence that, during the license 12
cycle immediately preceding the application for renewal, the 13
licensee has attended continuing education courses or programs 14
approved by the board in subjects related to the practice of 15
marriage and family therapy and designed to further educate 16
licensees. 17
(2) As required under section 16204, the department, in 18
consultation with the board, shall promulgate rules requiring each 19
applicant for license renewal to complete as part of the 20
educational courses or programs required under subsection (1) an 21
appropriate number of hours or courses in pain and symptom 22
management. 23
(3) The continuing education requirements of this section 24
apply beginning with the first renewal cycle after January 1, 2028. 25