AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS -- MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS AND MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS (Changes the direct client contact hour requirements for applicants for licensure of marriage and family therapist associate and applicants for licensure of marriage and family therapist.)

S3026

2026 -- S 3026
========
LC006011
========

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
____________
A N A C T
RELATING TO BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS -- MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS
AND MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS

Introduced By:
Senator Melissa A. Murray

Date Introduced:
March 05, 2026

Referred To:
Senate Health & Human Services
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
1
SECTION 1. Sections 5-63.2-10 and 5-63.2-15 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-63.2
2
entitled "Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists" are hereby amended to
3
read as follows:
4

5-63.2-10. Qualifications of licensed marriage and family therapist associates and
5
licensed marriage and family therapists.
6
(a) The department shall issue the appropriate license to applicants who meet the
7
qualifications of this section.
8
(1)
Prerequisites for licensure of a marriage and family therapist associate.
A license
9
as a “marriage and family therapist associate” shall be issued to an applicant who meets the
10
following qualifications:
11
(i) Is of good character;
12
(ii) Has completed a graduate degree program specializing in marital and family therapy
13
from a college or university accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges,
14
or an equivalent regional accreditation agency;
15
(iii) Has completed sixty (60) semester hours or ninety (90) quarter hours within his or her
16
graduate degree program specializing in marital and family therapy; and
17
(iv)
Has completed a minimum of twelve (12) semester hours or eighteen (18) quarter hours
18
of supervised practicum and a one-calendar year of supervised internship consisting of twenty (20)

1
hours per week, or its equivalent, with emphasis in marriage and family therapy supervised by the
2
department within the college or university granting the requisite degree or by an accredited
3
postgraduate clinical training program, approved by the commission on accreditation for marriage
4
and family therapy education recognized by the United States Department of Education, or
5
education and/or experience that is deemed equivalent by the board.

Has completed a supervised
6
internship or practicum in marriage and family therapy as part of the master's or doctoral program
7
of study. The internship or practicum shall include a minimum of three hundred (300) hours of
8
direct client contact with individuals, family groups, couples, groups, public organizations, or
9
private organizations under the direction of an approved supervisor.
10
(2)
Prerequisites for licensure of a marriage and family therapist.
A license as a
11
“marriage and family therapist” shall be issued to an applicant who meets the following
12
qualifications:
13
(i) Has
been awarded a master's degree and has
had a minimum of two (2) years of relevant
14
postgraduate experience, including at least
two

one
thousand
five hundred

(2,000)

(1,500)
hours
15
(the "total required hours")
of direct client contact offering clinical or counseling or therapy

16
services with emphasis in marriage and family therapy
, with at least one thousand four hundred
17
(1,400) of the total required hours earned by the applicant after the applicant has been

subsequent
18
to being
awarded a master’s degree
or doctorate
. A maximum of one hundred (100) hours of the
19
total required hours may be earned during a graduate degree program provided in § 5-63.2-
20
10(a)(1)(ii). A minimum of three hundred (300) hours of the total required hours must be spent with couples,
21
families, or groups of two (2) or more individuals
;
or
22

(ii) Has been awarded a doctoral degree and has had a minimum of two (2) years of relevant
23
postgraduate experience, including at least one thousand (1,000) hours of direct client contact offering
24
clinical or counseling or therapy services with emphasis in marriage and family therapy and has completed a
25
marriage and family therapy doctoral program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage
26
and Family Therapy Education; and
27

(ii)
(iii)
Has had a minimum of one hundred (100) hours of post-degree supervised case
28
work spread over two (2) years; provided, that the supervision was provided by a person who, at
29
the time of rendering the supervision, was recognized by the board as an approved supervisor; and
30

(iii)
(iv)
Has passed to the satisfaction of the board an examination conducted by it to
31
determine the applicant’s qualifications for licensure as a marriage and family therapist or is
32
applying for licensure under the provisions of § 5-63.2-15.
33
(b) A candidate shall be qualified for licensure as a marriage and family therapist associate,
34
or a marriage and family therapist upon the affirmative vote of at least four (4) members of the
35
board, two (2) of whom must be marriage and family therapists on the board.

LC006011 - Page 2 of 4
1

5-63.2-15. Licensure by endorsement.
2

(a)
A license as a clinical mental health counselor
or marriage and family therapist
may be
3
issued, in the discretion of the board, without examination, to an applicant who is a clinical mental
4
health counselor where the applicant is licensed or certified in another state whose requirements
5
are equivalent to or exceed the requirements established pursuant to this chapter.
6

(b) A license as a marriage and family therapist may be issued, without examination, to an
7
applicant who is a marriage and family therapist where the applicant is licensed in another state as
8
a marriage and family therapist and has been licensed as a marriage and family therapist in another
9
state for at least one year.
10
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
========
LC006011
========

LC006011 - Page 3 of 4
EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS -- MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS
AND MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS
***
1
This act would change the direct client contact hour requirements for applicants for
2
licensure of marriage and family therapist associate and applicants for licensure of marriage and
3
family therapist. The act would permit an applicant to receive a license as a marriage and family
4
therapist without examination when the applicant is licensed as such in another state for one year
5
or longer.
6
This act would take effect upon passage.
========
LC006011
========

LC006011 - Page 4 of 4