(A) The marriage and family therapist professional standards committee of the counselor, social worker, and marriage and family therapist board shall issue a license to practice as a marriage and family therapist to a person who has done all of the following:

(1) Properly completed an application for the license;

(2) Paid the required fee established by the board under section 4757.31 of the Revised Code;

(3) Achieved one of the following:

(a) Received from an educational institution accredited at the time the degree was granted by a regional accrediting organization recognized by the board a master's degree or a doctorate in marriage and family therapy;

(b) Completed a graduate degree that includes a minimum of ninety quarter hours of graduate level course work in marriage and family therapy training that is acceptable to the committee;

(4) Passed an examination administered by the board for the purpose of determining the person's ability to be a marriage and family therapist;

(5) Completed a practicum that includes at least three hundred hours of client contact.

(B) To be accepted by the committee for purposes of division (A)(3)(b) of this section, marriage and family therapist training must include instruction in at least the following:

(1) Research and evaluation;

(2) Professional, legal, and ethical responsibilities;

(3) Marriage and family studies;

(4) Marriage and family therapy, including therapeutic theory and techniques for individuals, groups, and families;

(5) Human development;

(6) Appraisal of individuals and families;

(7) Diagnosis of mental and emotional disorders;

(8) Systems theory.

(C) The marriage and family therapist professional standards committee shall issue a license to practice as an independent marriage and family therapist to a person who does both of the following:

(1) Meets all of the requirements of division (A) of this section;

(2) After meeting the requirements of division (A)(3) of this section, completes at least two calendar years of supervised training while engaged in the practice of marriage and family therapy.

The two years of supervised training must include two hundred hours of face-to-face supervision while completing a minimum of one thousand hours of documented client contact in marriage and family therapy. Of the required two hundred hours , a minimum of one hundred hours must be individual supervision. Supervision shall be performed by a supervisor whose training and experience meets standards established by the board in rules adopted under section 4757.10 of the Revised Code .

(D) An independent marriage and family therapist or a marriage and family therapist may engage in the private practice of marriage and family therapy as an individual practitioner or as a member of a partnership or group practice.

(E) A marriage and family therapist may diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders only under the supervision of a psychologist, psychiatrist, licensed professional clinical counselor, independent social worker, or independent marriage and family therapist. An independent marriage and family therapist may diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders without supervision.

(F) Nothing in this chapter or rules adopted under it authorizes an independent marriage and family therapist or a marriage and family therapist to admit a patient to a hospital or requires a hospital to allow a marriage and family therapist to admit a patient.

(G) An independent marriage and family therapist or a marriage and family therapist may not diagnose, treat, or advise on conditions outside the recognized boundaries of the marriage and family therapist's competency. An independent marriage and family therapist or a marriage and family therapist shall make appropriate and timely referrals when a client's needs exceed the marriage and family therapist's competence level.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 232, §1, eff. 7/10/2014.

Effective Date: 2002 HB374 04-07-2003; 2008 HB427 04-07-2009