Experience requirements

1. The two years (full time, or up to forty-eight months part time) of supervised, postgraduate experience required by subsection 3 of North Dakota Century Code section 43-53-06 must meet the following: 2. In calculating two years of supervised postgraduate experience in marriage and family therapy, the board shall accept a minimum of three thousand hours, of which one thousand five hundred hours of direct clinical client contact, including the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness as specified in subsection 3 with two hundred hours of postgraduate supervision by a North Dakota or other approved jurisdiction licensed marriage and family therapist supervisor over a period of not less than twenty-four months, full time, and no more than forty-eight months, part time. All additional work used to complete this two-year experience may be supervised in a legal and ethical manner by a licensed marriage and family therapist credentialed for supervision or a licensed mental health professional as specified in the North Dakota Century Code chapter 43-53 approved supervisor definition. 3. The applicant must demonstrate at least five hundred hours of the direct clinical client contact required in each of the following categories of cases: a. Unmarried couples, married couples, and separating and divorcing couples; b. Family groups, including children; and c. Individual services. This contact shall include experience in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness. The board may consider waiving part of this requirement for good cause shown. 4. The supervision by a North Dakota or other jurisdiction licensed marriage and family therapist shall take place in individual and group settings, according to the following: a. The individual supervision shall take place in a setting in which a supervisor and not more than two supervisees are present. b. The group supervision shall take place in a setting in which a supervisor and not more than six supervisees, but not less than three supervisees, are present. 5. Supervision must involve: a. At least two hundred hours of face-to-face contact between the supervisor and supervisee of which at least one hundred hours must be in individual settings. b. One hundred hours of supervision per year full time or fifty hours per year part time. c. A focus on the raw data from the supervisee's clinical work that is made directly available to the supervisor through means of written clinical materials, direct observation, and audio or video recordings. d. During the period of supervised experience, an associate may be employed on a salary basis or be used within an established supervisory setting. The established settings must be structured with clearly defined job descriptions and areas of responsibility. The board may require that the applicant provide documentation of all work experience. e. During the postgraduate supervision, both the supervisor and the associate may have disciplinary actions taken against their licenses for violations of the act or administrative rules. f. Supervision must be conducted under a supervision agreement, which must be submitted to the board on the official form within sixty days of the initiation of supervision. The associate must receive a minimum of one hour of supervision every two weeks. There is no limit to the number of hours that can be completed via two-way interactive audio and visual communications. All supervision hours completed though real-time two-way interactive communication that has both audio and visual count as in-person supervision hours. g. The associate must receive a minimum of one hour of supervision every two weeks. h. An associate may have no more than two board-approved supervisors at a time, unless given prior approval by the board or its designee. i. The associate may receive credit for up to five hundred clock-hours toward the required three thousand hours of supervised clinical services. There is no limit to the number of hours that can be completed via two-way interactive audio and visual communications. All supervision hours completed though real-time two-way interactive communication that has both audio and visual count as in-person supervision hours. 6. A supervisee must verify the required supervised experience by completing a form supplied by the board. The form must be signed by the applicant's supervisor and be deemed truthful subject to penalties for making a false statement under North Dakota Century Code section 12.1-11-02. The form must include the setting, nature, and extent of the supervised experience, the time period involved, the number of hours of clinical client contact, the number of hours of supervision, and the name and qualifications of each supervisor.