LAC 46:LX.3317. Qualifications of the LMFT-Approved Supervisor, LMFT-Registered Supervisor Candidate, Board-Approved Supervisor, and Registered Supervisor Candidate

A. Qualifications of an LMFT-Approved Supervisor and a LMFT-Registered Supervisor Candidate 1. Supervision not provided by an LMFT-approved supervisor or an LMFT-registered supervisor candidate as determined by the advisory committee will not be counted toward licensure. 2. A supervisor may not have more than a combined total of 10 supervisees, including PLMFTs and licensees in other disciplines and/or registered supervisor candidates at the same time. 3. A person who wishes to become an LMFT-approved supervisor must be a Louisiana licensed marriage and family therapist and must submit a completed application that documents that he or she meets the requirements in one of two ways. a. The applicant may meet the requirements by meeting the following coursework, experience, and supervision of supervision requirements. i. Coursework requirements: (a). a one-semester graduate course in marriage and family therapy supervision from a regionally accredited institution; or (b). an equivalent course of study consisting of a 15-hour didactic component and a 15-hour interactive component in the study of marriage and family therapy supervision approved by the advisory committee. The interactive component must include a minimum of four persons. ii. Experience requirements: (a). has a minimum of two years experience as a licensed marriage and family therapist. iii. Supervision of Supervision requirements: (a). Thirty-six hours of supervision of supervision for marriage and family therapy must be taken from an LMFT-approved supervisor. b. Designation as an AAMFT approved supervisor qualifies a person to become an LMFT approved supervisor. Documentation must be submitted and recommended by the advisory committee for board approval. 4. LMFT-registered Supervisor Candidate a. A person who wishes to become an LMFT- registered supervisor candidate must submit an application provided by the board upon recommendation of the advisory committee that: i. includes documentation of a minimum of two years of experience as a licensed marriage and family therapist; ii. either documents that he or she has met the coursework and interactional requirement specified in Clause D.3.a.i. or proposes how this requirement shall be met; iii. includes the name of the LMFT-approved supervisor who will be supervising his or her supervision of PLMFTs and the approximate dates such supervision will begin and end. b. The advisory committee will review the application and inform the individual in writing that the proposed supervision of supervision arrangement either has been approved or rejected. Any rejection letter will outline the reasons for rejection. c. An advisory committee member cannot participate in deliberations or votes on any applicant who has been supervised by that advisory committee member. d. Upon completion of the required hours of supervision of supervision, the registered supervisor candidate must submit an application to become an LMFT approved supervisor. B. Qualification of the Board-Approved Supervisor and Registered Supervisor Candidate 1. The board, upon recommendation of the advisory committee, shall grant those persons that make formal application and satisfactorily meet all the requirements of this Rule the position of board-approved supervisor or registered supervisor candidate. 2. The applicant for certification as a board-approved supervisor or registration as a supervisor candidate shall have maintained an active license in good standing as a LMFT for a minimum of two years. 3. The applicant who has an unresolved or outstanding complaint or who is under a consent order or participating in a plan of discipline as a mental health professional must indicate this on his or her formal application and shall be granted board-approved supervisor or supervisor candidate’s status only at the discretion of the advisory committee. C. Requirements for Certification as a Board-Approved Supervisor 1. Applicants for certification as a LMFT board-approved supervisor must make formal application to the board in accordance with advisory committee policy demonstrating that he or she has satisfactorily met the following requirements. a. Experience Requirements. While maintaining a license in good standing as a LMFT, the applicant must have completed a minimum of two years of professional experience as a marriage and family therapist working with individuals, couples, families or groups from a systemic perspective or working as an academic clinical supervisor utilizing a systemic orientation as determined by the advisory committee. b. Coursework Requirements. The applicant must have completed: i. a one-semester graduate course in marriage and family therapy supervision from a regionally accredited institution; or ii. an equivalent course of study consisting of a 15-hour didactic component and a 15-hour interactive component in the study of marriage and family therapy supervision approved by the advisory committee. The interactive component must include a minimum of four persons. c. Supervision-of-Supervision Requirements. The applicant must have completed 36 hours of supervision-of-supervision of marriage and family therapy with the oversight of a designated board-approved supervisor as determined by the advisory committee. Registered supervisor candidates may not qualify to provide supervision-of-supervision to other registered supervisor candidates. d. The applicant for the position of LMFT board-approved supervisor who is not registered as a supervisor candidate may not begin qualified supervision of PLMFTs until receipt of an official approval letter from the board as a LMFT board-approved supervisor. 2. Applicants for certification as a board-approved supervisor must submit with their application for certification a nonrefundable application fee of $100. 3. Designation as an AAMFT board-approved supervisor may qualify a person to become an LMFT board-approved supervisor. AAMFT supervisors must make application to the board in accordance with advisory committee policy in order to certify as board-approved supervisors. AAMFT supervisors who have not certified to be LAMFT board-approved supervisors shall not supervise PLMFTs. Supervision provided by an AAMFT supervisor who has not received certification from the board qualifying them as a LMFT board-approved supervisor shall not count toward licensure. 4. The board-approved supervisor shall attend a LMFT board-approved supervisor’s orientation approved by the advisory committee within one year of the board-approved supervisor’s date of certification. This orientation may also be counted as continuing education toward the board-approved supervisor’s licensure renewal as a marriage and family therapist. a. Board-approved supervisors who fail to meet this requirement within one year of their initial certification as board-approved supervisors will not be approved for new supervisees until the requirement is met. Failure to meet this requirement within two years of the date of approval may result in the suspension of approved supervisor status. b. This requirement may be met during the supervisor candidate’s supervision-of-supervision. If the candidate elects to do so, the orientation hours may count toward the continuing education requirements for renewal of his or her LMFT license. D. Requirements for Registration as a Registered Supervisor Candidate 1. The applicant for registration as a LMFT registered supervisor candidate must submit to the board a formal application and a plan of supervision-of-supervision in accordance with advisory committee policy. a. The registered supervisor candidate’s supervision-of-supervision must include: i. a minimum of two MFT students or PLMFTs supervised for a minimum of nine months each; ii. at least 90 hours of supervision of approved supervisees. These 90 hours of supervision must be completed in no less than one year with the oversight of his or her designated board-approved supervisor. b. The applicant for registration as a LMFT registered supervisor candidate shall not supervise PLMFTs or begin accruing supervisor or supervisee contact hours toward his or her certification as a board-approved supervisor until he or she has received an official letter from the board approving his or her registration as a supervisor candidate. 2. The registered supervisor candidate who has successfully completed his or her plan of supervision-of-supervision must make formal application in accordance with advisory committee policy to be considered for certification as a board-approved supervisor. 3. Final approval of the approved supervisor candidate’s supervised work experience toward certification as an approved supervisor shall be at the discretion of the advisory committee and only upon recommendation of the candidate’s board-approved supervisor(s). E. Renewal of Certification as a Board-Approved Supervisor 1. The board-approved supervisor shall renew his or her board certification to supervise PLMFTs every four years. Supervisors will receive a renewal announcement from the board providing them with their required renewal date and will receive a renewal notice every four years thereafter. 2. To qualify for renewal, board-approved supervisors must: a. maintain an active LMFT license in good standing as defined by this Rule. Applicants for renewal of their board-approved supervisory status that are under a consent order as a licensee may be renewed only at the discretion of the advisory committee; b. complete six clock hours of continuing education in clinical MFT supervision prior to each renewal date for current renewal period. These continuing education hours may also count toward the board-approved supervisor’s renewal requirements and toward the LMFT licensure renewal requirements; i. continuing education for board-approved supervisors must be specifically relevant to the renewal candidate’s role as clinical supervisor of PLMFTs as determined by the advisory committee. The content of workshops and seminars that qualify for continuing education credit for renewal candidates may be in theories and techniques of MFT supervision as well as ethical and legal issues related to MFT supervision, case management, or topics relative to a specific supervised setting; ii. requirements otherwise applicable to continuing education hours for board-approved supervisors are the same as continuing education hours required for maintenance of the supervisor’s LMFT license as defined in these rules; c. successfully complete the board-approved orientation/renewal workshop for supervisors. The orientation may count as either the orientation workshop or a renewal workshop toward the required six hours of required continuing education for board-approved supervisors; d. submit a completed board-approved supervisor renewal application along with any updates to the supervisor’s statement of practice in accordance with advisory committee policy; e. remit a renewal fee of $100. 3. After the renewal candidate has successfully completed the above requirements, the board upon recommendation of the advisory committee shall issue a document renewing the supervisor’s board certification for a term of four years. a. The board approval of any board-approved supervisor who fails to meet renewal requirements shall lapse; however, the failure to renew said approval shall not deprive said supervisor the right of renewal thereafter. b. Board-approved supervisors who do not renew their board-approved supervisor’s status will not be approved for new PLMFTs until the board-approved supervisor has renewed his or her supervisory approval or has successfully reapplied for board-approved supervisor status. c. A board-approved supervisor who has allowed his or her board-approved supervisor status to lapse may renew within a period of two years after the lapsed renewal date upon payment of all fees in arrears and presentation of evidence of completion of the continuing education and orientation requirements. d. Upon late renewal or reapplication, the board-approved supervisor’s four-year renewal cycle will begin on his or her nearest licensure renewal date to the supervisor’s renewal/reapproval. e. Application for renewal after two years from the date of supervisor status lapse will not be considered for renewal. Applicants whose supervisor status has lapsed for two years or more must re-apply for certification as a board-approved supervisor under current requirements. f. Failure to renew or reapply for board approved supervisory status does not necessarily impact the supervisor’s right or ability to renew or reapply as a LMFT.