Wyo. Code R. 078-0001-10
Effective Date: 06/03/2015 to 07/26/2019
Rule Type: Superceded Rules & Regulations
Reference Number: 078.0001.10.06032015
Section 1. The Practice of a Marriage and Family Therapist. The practice of a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist is the rendering of professional couples, marital and family therapy services and treatment to individuals, family groups, organizations, couples, marital pairs, singly or in groups. Couples, marital and family therapy includes, but is not limited to, performing mental health procedures, the assessment, diagnosis and treatment, including psychotherapy, of nervous, emotional, and mental disorders, whether cognitive, affective or behavioral, within the context of couples, marital and family systems. Couples, marital and family therapy involves the professional application of psychotherapeutic and family systems theories and techniques in the delivery of services to individuals, couples, marital pairs and families for the purpose of treating such diagnosed nervous and mental disorders.
(a) The practice of marriage and family therapy may be either face-to-face that involves the synchronous interaction between an individual or groups of individuals using what is seen and heard in person to communicate, or
(b) Via methods of electronic delivery that involves the use of electronic or other means (e.g. telephone, computers, etc.) to provide the service.
(i) When using electronic delivery means, all use must be in compliance with all professional ethical standards and all other requirements in these rules;
(ii) Special care should be taken to ensure the confidentiality and security of the provision of services; and
(iii) The Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist shall provide only those services that are legal within the state that the recipient of services lives.
Section 2. General Requirements for Licensure. It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the Board receives all documentation necessary to prove to the Board's satisfaction that the applicant meets all the requirements for licensure herein. The applicant shall provide satisfactory evidence to the Board that they:
(a) are of majority age;
(b) have no felony convictions, and no misdemeanor convictions involving moral turpitude, although exceptions to this requirement may be granted by the Board if consistent with the public interest;
(c) are legal inhabitants of the United States; and
(d) satisfy the requirements established in these rules.
(a) All educational requirements for licensure shall be met through the completion of a master's degree program in marriage and family therapy from a Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) or Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs- Marriage and Family Counseling (CACREP-MCFC) accredited program.
(b) Applicants who have completed couple, marriage and family therapy programs not accredited by COAMFTE or CACREP-MCFC may be deemed to have met the educational requirement provided they meet the following criteria:
(i) The graduate degree program, and any applicable additional graduate level course work, was completed at an educational institution accredited by one of the regional or national institutional accrediting bodies recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
(ii) The program was substantially similar in content as required by COAMFTE or CACREP-MCFC including instructor qualifications, clinical supervision, practicum and internship requirements and course work.
(iii) The official transcripts, course prefixes, and course descriptions clearly identify the educational program as preparing persons to be couples, marriage and family therapists.
(iv) Course work shall be completed in a master's or doctoral program or subsequent graduate level course work.
(v) The applicant has completed a minimum of seventy-two (72) quarter hours or forty-eight (48) semester hours of graduate level course work.
(vi) Course work was completed in each of the core areas defined herein:
(A) Individual and Family Development (9 semester credits)- Courses in this area include content on individual and family development across the lifespan. Content should provide knowledge of individual personality development and its normal and abnormal manifestations. The applicant should have relevant coursework in human development across the life span which includes special issues that affect an individual's development. This material should be integrated with systems concepts. Topic areas may include human development, child/adolescent development, psychopathology, personality theory, human sexuality, and other psychosocial development including career development, or other courses related directly to human development. Test and measurement courses are not acceptable in this area.
(B) Theoretical Knowledge of Couples, Marital and Family Therapy (9 semester credits)- Courses in this area address the historical development, theoretical and empirical foundations, and contemporary conceptual directions of the field of couples, marriage and family therapy. Content enables students to conceptualize and distinguish the critical epistemological issues in the profession of couples, marriage and family therapy and provide a comprehensive survey and substantive understanding of the major models of marriage, couples, and family therapy. All courses in this area must have a major focus from a systems theory orientation. Topic areas may include systems theory, family subsystems, blended family, gender issues in families, cultural issues in families, or other courses directly related to couples, marital and family theory. Survey or overview courses in which systems is one of several theories covered are not appropriate. Courses in which systems theory is the major focus and other theories are studied in relation to systems theory are appropriate.
(C) Clinical Knowledge of Couples, Marital and Family Therapy (9 semester credits)- Courses in this area address, from a relational/systemic perspective, psychopharmacology, physical health and illness, traditional psychodiagnostic categories, and the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of major mental health issues. Content addresses contemporary issues, which include but are not limited to gender, sexual functioning, sexual orientation, sex therapy, violence, addictions, and abuse, in the treatment of individuals, couples, and families from a relational/systemic perspective. Material addresses a wide variety of presenting clinical problems. Courses in this area should have a major focus on advanced family systems theories and systemic therapeutic interventions. This area is intended to provide a substantive understanding of the major theories of systems change and the applied practices evolving from each theoretical orientation. Major theoretical approaches may include strategic, structural, object relations family therapy, behavioral family therapy, communications family therapy, intergenerational family therapy, systemic sex therapy, or other courses directly related to couples, marital and family therapy. Survey or overview courses in which family therapy is one of several types of theories covered is not acceptable.
(D) Research (3 semester credits)- Courses in this area include significant material on research in couple and family therapy. Content focuses on research methodology, data analysis and the evaluation of research including quantitative and qualitative research and its methods. Individual personality, test and measurement, and library research courses are not acceptable toward this area.
(E) Professional Identity & Ethics (3 semester credits)- Courses in this area are intended to contribute to the professional development of the therapist. Content includes professional identity, including professional socialization, scope of practice, professional organizations, licensure, and certification. Coursework focuses on ethical issues related to the profession of individual, couples, marriage and family therapy. Other areas that need to be addressed include the AAMFT Code of Ethics, confidentiality issues, the legal responsibilities and liabilities of clinical practice and research, family law, record keeping, reimbursement, the business aspects of practice, and familiarity with regional and federal laws as they relate to the practice of individual, couple and family therapy. Religious ethics courses and moral theology are not accepted towards this area.
(F) Clinical Practicum/Internship (9 semester credits)- Applicants shall complete a supervised clinical practicum/internship with individuals, couples, and families.
(vii) Three (3) semester credits is equivalent to four (4) quarter credits.
(a) A minimum of three thousand (3,000) hours of supervised clinical training/work experience in individual, couple, marriage and family therapy under the direct supervision of a designated qualified clinical supervisor is required for all applicants. This experience shall meet the requirements set forth in these rules.
(i) All three thousand (3,000) hours of supervised clinical training/work experience required shall be completed after the award of the graduate degree.
(ii) Of the three thousand (3,000) hours required, at least one thousand two hundred (1,200) hours shall be direct client contact hours.
(A) Of the one thousand two hundred (1,200) direct client contact hours at least five hundred (500) hours must be direct clinical services to couples and families. This requirement shall not apply to persons holding a provisional license prior to July 1, 2015
(iii) The balance of the remaining indirect hours shall consist of work experience that supports the direct client contact hours, e.g. charting, preparation, meetings, trainings, and/or the other duties of marriage and family counseling.
(b) An applicant shall have a minimum of one hundred (100) post graduate hours of clinical supervision with a DQCS as described in Chapter 18.
Section 5. Professional Recommendation Requirement for Licensure. Applicants shall demonstrate their integrity, professionalism and character in couples, marriage and family therapy through three (3) professional recommendations which attest to applicant’s abilities and professional performance.
(a) The Board shall accept a passing score as established by the examination provider on one of the following examinations:
(i) The Association of Marital and Family Therapists Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB) examination; or
(ii) Other examination as may be approved by the Board.
(b) Applicants are allowed only three (3) attempts to pass the exam requirement. The Board may allow an applicant to make one (1) more attempt to pass the exam requirement upon approval of a remediation plan submitted by the applicant.
Section 7. License by Reciprocity. An individual holding a license in good standing to engage in the practice of marriage and family therapy under the laws of another state having licensure requirements substantially similar to those required by the Act and these rules may, upon approval of the board, be issued a license as a Marriage and Family Therapist in this state.
(a) Applicants may be issued a provisional license to practice under supervision while completing deficiencies identified and required by the Board provided they possess a graduate degree comparable to those required by the Act and these rules.
(a) The terms “Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist” or “Marriage and Family Therapist” shall be used only after the applicant is granted licensure by the Board.
(b) The Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist shall comply with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy “Code of Ethics” incorporated into these rules in Chapter 15.