State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title20 > Chap383a > Sec20-195cSec. 20-195c. Qualification for licensure. Fees. (a) Each applicant for licensure as a marital and family therapist shall present to the department satisfactory evidence that such applicant has: (1) Completed a graduate degree program specializing in marital and family therapy from a regionally accredited college or university or an accredited postgraduate clinical training program approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education and recognized by the United States Department of Education; (2) completed a supervised practicum or internship with emphasis in marital and family therapy supervised by the program granting the requisite degree or by an accredited postgraduate clinical training program, approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education recognized by the United States Department of Education in which the student received a minimum of five hundred direct clinical hours that included one hundred hours of clinical supervision; (3) completed a minimum of twelve months of relevant postgraduate experience, including at least (A) one thousand hours of direct client contact offering marital and family therapy services subsequent to being awarded a master's degree or doctorate or subsequent to the training year specified in subdivision (2) of this subsection, and (B) one hundred hours of postgraduate clinical supervision provided by a licensed marital and family therapist who is not directly compensated by such applicant for providing such supervision; and (4) passed an examination prescribed by the department. The fee shall be two hundred fifty dollars for each initial application.
(b) The department may grant licensure without examination, subject to payment of fees with respect to the initial application, to any applicant who is currently licensed or certified in another state as a marital or marriage and family therapist on the basis of standards which, in the opinion of the department, are substantially similar to or higher than those of this state. No license shall be issued under this section to any applicant against whom professional disciplinary action is pending or who is the subject of an unresolved complaint.
(c) Licenses issued under this section may be renewed annually in accordance with the provisions of section 19a-88. The fee for such renewal shall be two hundred fifty dollars. Each licensed marital and family therapist applying for license renewal shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the commissioner of having participated in continuing education programs. The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to (1) define basic requirements for continuing education programs, (2) delineate qualifying programs, (3) establish a system of control and reporting, and (4) provide for waiver of the continuing education requirement for good cause.
(P.A. 85-507, S. 2, 5; P.A. 87-212, S. 1, 4; P.A. 89-251, S. 104, 203; P.A. 95-289, S. 3; P.A. 97-213, S. 2, 13; 97-311, S. 18; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 99-2, S. 53, 72; P.A. 00-135, S. 8, 21; P.A. 02-89, S. 46; P.A. 07-252, S. 76.)
History: P.A. 87-212 added provision that the degree program in a related mental health field be approved by a certifying authority for the profession in which the degree is offered and made a technical change; P.A. 89-251 increased the fee from $150 to $450; P.A. 95-289 amended Subsec. (a), changing certification to licensure and increasing requirements, grandfathering in those certified as of the effective date of the act i.e. October 1, 1995, and reducing application fee from $450 to $250, and amended Subsec. (b), changing certification to licensure and eliminating the requirement that an out-of-state applicant be currently practicing; P.A. 97-213 amended Subsec. (a)(1) to allow licensure if applicant has completed an accredited postgraduate clinical program and to delete provision that any person certified under chapter shall be deemed licensed, amended Subsec. (a)(2) to substitute "twenty-four consecutive months" for "eighteen consecutive months", amended Subsec. (a)(3) to insert Subpara. designators, added new Subsec. (c) re requirements for licensure in effect prior to January 1, 1998, and made technical changes, effective June 26, 1997; P.A. 97-311 added provisions as Subsec. (c) substantially similar to those added by P.A. 97-213, except that in P.A. 97-213 the word "and" appeared before "(2) successfully completed" whereas in P.A. 97-311, which passed the second house after P.A. 97-213, the word "or" appeared before "(2) successfully completed"; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 99-2 amended Subsec. (c) by extending from 1998 to 2000 the time for application for and granting of a license and by making a technical change, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 00-135 made technical changes and added new Subsec. (d) re continuing education, effective May 26, 2000; P.A. 02-89 deleted as obsolete Subsec. (c) requiring the commissioner to grant a license not later than February 6, 2000, to any person who applies for licensure prior to January 1, 2000, and submits satisfactory evidence of certain relevant experience or successful completion of certain educational programs and redesignated Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (c); P.A. 07-252 amended Subsec. (a)(2) to delete minimum number of months required for supervised practicum or internship and time period within which to complete such practicum or internship, effective July 12, 2007.
