BILL NUMBER: AB 2552 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Leno
FEBRUARY 20, 2004
An act to amend Sections 4980.02, 4980.40,
4980.43, 4980.44, and 4987.7 of, to amend the heading of Chapter 13
(commencing with Section 4980) of Division 2 of, and to amend the
heading of Article 6 (commencing with Section 4987.5) of Chapter 13
of Division 2 of, the Business and Professions Code, relating to
marriage and family therapy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2552, as amended, Leno. Marriage and family therapy.
Under existing law, the Board of Behavioral Sciences is
responsible for licensing and regulating the practice of marriage and
family therapy. Under existing law, the practice of marriage and
family therapy includes the application of certain therapy principles
and methods.
This bill would include the use, application, and integration of
specified coursework and training among those principles and methods.
Existing law requires an applicant for a license to practice
marriage and family therapy to pass a board administered written
examination or oral examination, and specifies that an applicant who
passed a previously administered written examination may be required
to take and pass another written examination.
This bill would instead require an applicant who has not taken and
passed an oral examination to take and pass a written clinical
vignette examination.
Existing law requires an intern who is employed or volunteering in
a private practice to be under the direct supervision of a licensee
who is employed and practices at the same site as the intern's
employer.
This bill would in addition authorize an intern to be supervised
by a licensee who is an owner or shareholder of the private practice.
The bill would also authorize a supervisor to arrange for
alternative supervision during the supervisor's vacation or sick
leave, if certain requirements are met.
Existing law requires an unlicensed marriage and family therapist
intern who performs professional services to inform each client or
patient that he or she is unlicensed and under the supervision of
specified licensees, including a licensed physician and surgeon who
has completed a residency in psychiatry and meets additional
requirements.
This bill would delete this licensee from the list of authorized
supervising licenses.
Existing law requires the name of a marriage and family therapy
corporation to contain one or more of certain words, including
"counseling," "counselor," or "therapist."
This bill would in addition authorize the use of the word "therapy"
in a marriage and family therapy corporation's name.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The heading of Chapter 13 (commencing with Section
4980) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code is amended
to read:
CHAPTER 13. MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS
SEC. 2. Section 4980.02 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4980.02. For the purposes of this chapter, the practice of
marriage and family therapy shall mean that service performed with
individuals, couples, or groups wherein interpersonal relationships
are examined for the purpose of achieving more adequate, satisfying,
and productive marriage and family adjustments. This practice
includes relationship and premarriage counseling.
The application of marriage and family therapy principles and
methods includes, but is not limited to, the use of applied
pyschotherapeutic techniques, to enable individuals to mature and
grow within marriage and the family, the provision of explanations
and interpretations of the psychosexual and psychosocial aspects of
relationships, and the use, application, and integration of the
coursework and training required by Sections 4980.37, 4980.40, and
4980.41.
SEC. 3. Section 4980.40 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4980.40. To qualify for a license, an applicant shall have all
the following qualifications:
(a) Applicants applying for licensure on or after January 1, 1988,
shall possess a doctor's or master's degree in marriage, family, and
child counseling, marital and family therapy, psychology, clinical
psychology, counseling psychology, or counseling with an emphasis in
either marriage, family, and child counseling or marriage and family
therapy, obtained from a school, college, or university accredited by
the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or approved by the
Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. The board
has the authority to make the final determination as to whether a
degree meets all requirements, including, but not limited to, course
requirements regardless of accreditation or approval. For purposes
of this chapter, the term "approved by the Bureau for Private
Postsecondary and Vocational Education" shall mean unconditional
approval existing at the time of the applicant's graduation from the
school, college, or university. In order to qualify for licensure
pursuant to this subdivision, any doctor's or master's degree program
shall be a single, integrated program primarily designed to train
marriage and family therapists and shall contain no less than 48
semester or 72 quarter units of instruction. The instruction shall
include no less than 12 semester units or 18 quarter units of
coursework in the areas of marriage, family, and child counseling,
and marital and family systems approaches to treatment.
The coursework shall include all of the following areas:
(1) The salient theories of a variety of psychotherapeutic
orientations directly related to marriage and family therapy, and
marital and family systems approaches to treatment.
(2) Theories of marriage and family therapy and how they can be
utilized in order to intervene therapeutically with couples,
families, adults, children, and groups.
(3) Developmental issues and life events from infancy to old age
and their effect upon individuals, couples, and family relationships.
This may include coursework that focuses on specific family life
events and the psychological, psychotherapeutic, and health
implications that arise within couples and families, including, but
not limited to, childbirth, child rearing, childhood, adolescence,
adulthood, marriage, divorce, blended families, stepparenting, and
geropsychology.
(4) A variety of approaches to the treatment of children.
The board shall, by regulation, set forth the subjects of
instruction required in this subdivision.
(b) (1) In addition to the 12 semester or 18 quarter units of
coursework specified above, the doctor's or master's degree program
shall contain not less than six semester or nine quarter units of
supervised practicum in applied psychotherapeutic techniques,
assessment, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of premarital,
couple, family, and child relationships, including dysfunctions,
healthy functioning, health promotion, and illness prevention, in a
supervised clinical placement that provides supervised fieldwork
experience within the scope of practice of a marriage and family
therapist.
(2) For applicants who enrolled in a degree program on or after
January 1, 1995, the practicum shall include a minimum of 150 hours
of face-to-face experience counseling individuals, couples, families,
or groups.
(3) (A) Supervised practicum hours, as specified in this
subdivision, shall be evaluated, accepted, and credited as hours for
trainee experience by the board.
(B) The practicum hours shall be considered as part of the 48
semester or 72 quarter unit requirement.
(c) As an alternative to meeting the qualifications specified in
subdivision (a), the board shall accept as equivalent degrees, those
master's or doctor's degrees granted by educational institutions
whose degree program is approved by the Commission on Accreditation
for Marriage and Family Therapy Education.
(d) All applicants shall, in addition, complete the coursework or
training specified in Section 4980.41.
(e) All applicants shall be at least 18 years of age.
(f) All applicants shall have at least two years' experience that
meets the requirements of this chapter in interpersonal
relationships, marriage and family therapy and psychotherapy under
the supervision of a licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed
clinical social worker, licensed psychologist, or a licensed
physician certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry
and Neurology. Experience shall not be gained under the supervision
of an individual who has provided therapeutic services to that
applicant. For those supervisorial relationships in effect on or
before December 31, 1988, and which remain in continuous effect
thereafter, experience may be gained under the supervision of a
licensed physician who has completed a residency in psychiatry. Any
person supervising another person pursuant to this subdivision shall
have been licensed or certified for at least two years prior to
acting as a supervisor, shall have a current and valid license that
is not under suspension or probation, and shall meet the requirements
established by regulations.
(g) The applicant shall pass board administered written or oral
examinations or both types of examinations. An applicant who passed
a written examination and who has not taken and passed an oral
examination shall be required to take and pass a written clinical
vignette examination.
(h) The applicant shall not have committed acts or crimes
constituting grounds for denial of licensure under Section 480. The
board shall not issue a registration or license to any person who has
been convicted of any crime in this or another state or in a
territory of the United States that involves sexual abuse of children
or who is required to register pursuant to Section 290 of the Penal
Code or the equivalent in another state or territory.
(i) (1) An applicant applying for intern registration who, prior
to December 31, 1987, met the qualifications for registration, but
who failed to apply or qualify for intern registration may be granted
an intern registration if the applicant meets all of the following
criteria:
(A) The applicant possesses a doctor's or master's degree in
marriage, family, and child counseling, marital and family therapy,
psychology, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, counseling
with an emphasis in marriage, family, and child counseling, or social
work with an emphasis in clinical social work obtained from a
school, college, or university currently conferring that degree that,
at the time the degree was conferred, was accredited by the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges, and where the degree conferred
was, at the time it was conferred, specifically intended to satisfy
the educational requirements for licensure by the Board of Behavioral
Sciences.
(B) The applicant's degree and the course content of the
instruction underlying that degree have been evaluated by the chief
academic officer of a school, college, or university accredited by
the Western Association of Schools and Colleges to determine the
extent to which the applicant's degree program satisfies the current
educational requirements for licensure, and the chief academic
officer certifies to the board the amount and type of instruction
needed to meet the current requirements.
(C) The applicant completes a plan of instruction that has been
approved by the board at a school, college, or university accredited
by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges that the chief
academic officer of the educational institution has, pursuant to
subparagraph (B), certified will meet the current educational
requirements when considered in conjunction with the original degree.
(2) A person applying under this subdivision shall be considered a
trainee, as that term is defined in Section 4980.03, once he or she
is enrolled to complete the additional coursework necessary to meet
the current educational requirements for licensure.
(j) An applicant for licensure trained in an educational
institution outside the United States shall demonstrate to the
satisfaction of the board that he or she possesses a qualifying
degree that is equivalent to a degree earned from a school, college,
or university accredited by the Western Association of Schools and
Colleges, or approved by the Bureau of Private Postsecondary and
Vocational Education. These applicants shall provide the board with
a comprehensive evaluation of the degree performed by a foreign
credential evaluation service that is a member of the National
Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), and shall
provide any other documentation the board deems necessary.
SEC. 4.
SEC. 3. Section 4980.43 of the Business and Professions Code
is amended to read:
4980.43. (a) For all applicants, a minimum of two calendar years
of supervised experience is required, which experience shall consist
of 3,000 hours obtained over a period of not less than 104 weeks.
Not less than 1,500 hours of experience shall be gained subsequent to
the granting of the qualifying master's or doctor's degree. For
those applicants who enroll in a qualifying degree program on or
after January 1, 1995, not more than 750 hours of counseling and
direct supervisor contact may be obtained prior to the granting of
the qualifying master's or doctor's degree. However, this limitation
shall not be interpreted to include professional enrichment
activities. Except for personal psychotherapy hours gained after
enrollment and commencement of classes in a qualifying degree
program, no hours of experience may be gained prior to becoming a
trainee. All experience shall be gained within the six years
immediately preceding the date the application for licensure was
filed, except that up to 500 hours of clinical experience gained in
the supervised practicum required by subdivision (b) of Section
4980.40 shall be exempt from this six-year requirement.
(b) All applicants, trainees, and registrants shall be at all
times under the supervision of a supervisor who shall be responsible
for ensuring that the extent, kind, and quality of counseling
performed is consistent with the training and experience of the
person being supervised, and who shall be responsible to the board
for compliance with all laws, rules, and regulations governing the
practice of marriage and family therapy. Experience shall be gained
by interns and trainees either as an employee or as a volunteer in
any allowable work setting specified in this chapter. The
requirements of this chapter regarding gaining hours of experience
and supervision are applicable equally to employees and volunteers.
Experience shall not be gained by interns or trainees as an
independent contractor.
(c) Supervision shall include at least one hour of direct
supervisor contact for each week of experience claimed. A trainee
shall receive an average of at least one hour of direct supervisor
contact for every five hours of client contact in each setting. A
person gaining postdegree experience shall receive an average of at
least one hour of direct supervisor contact for every 10 hours of
client contact in each setting in which experience is gained. For
purposes of this section, "one hour of direct supervisor contact"
means one hour of face-to-face contact on an individual basis or two
hours of face-to-face contact in a group of not more than eight
persons. The contact may be counted toward the experience
requirement for licensure, up to the maximum permitted by subdivision
(d). All experience gained by a trainee shall be monitored by the
supervisor as specified by regulation. The 5 to 1 and 10 to 1
ratios specified in this subdivision shall be applicable to all hours
gained on or after January 1, 1995.
(d) (1) The experience required by Section 4980.40 shall include
supervised marriage and family therapy, and up to one-third of the
hours may include direct supervisor contact and other professional
enrichment activities.
(2) "Professional enrichment activities," for the purposes of this
section, may include group, marital or conjoint, family, or
individual psychotherapy received by an applicant. This
psychotherapy may include up to 100 hours taken subsequent to
enrolling and commencing classes in a qualifying degree program, or
as an intern, and each of those hours shall be triple counted toward
the professional experience requirement. This psychotherapy shall be
performed by a licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed
clinical social worker, licensed psychologist, licensed physician
and surgeon certified in psychiatry by the American Board
of Psychiatry and Neurology, or a licensed physician and surgeon
who has completed a residency in psychiatry.
(e) (1) A trainee may gain the experience required by subdivision
(f) of Section 4980.40 in any setting that meets all of the
following:
(A) Lawfully and regularly provides mental health counseling or
psychotherapy.
(B) Provides oversight to ensure that the trainee's work at the
setting meets the experience and supervision requirements set forth
in this chapter and is within the scope of practice for the
profession as defined in Section 4980.02.
(C) Is not a private practice owned by a licensed marriage and
family therapist, a licensed psychologist, a licensed clinical social
worker, a licensed physician and surgeon, or a professional
corporation of any of those licensed professions.
(2) Experience may be gained by the trainee solely as part of the
position for which the trainee volunteers or is employed.
(f) (1) An intern may gain the experience required by subdivision
(f) of Section 4980.40 in any setting that meets both of the
following:
(A) Lawfully and regularly provides mental health counseling or
psychotherapy.
(B) Provides oversight to ensure that the intern's work at the
setting meets the experience and supervision requirements set forth
in this chapter and is within the scope of practice for the
profession as defined in Section 4980.02.
(2) An applicant shall not be employed or volunteer in a private
practice, as defined in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (e), until registered as an intern.
(3) While an intern may be either a paid employee or a volunteer,
employers are encouraged to provide fair remuneration to interns.
(4) Except for periods of time during a supervisor's vacation or
sick leave, an intern who is employed or volunteering in private
practice shall be under the direct supervision of a licensee
enumerated in subdivision (f) of Section 4980.40. The supervising
licensee shall either be employed by and practice at the same site as
the intern's employer, or shall be an owner or shareholder of the
private practice. Alternative supervision may be arranged during a
supervisor's vacation or sick leave if the supervision meets the
requirements of this section.
(5) Experience may be gained by the intern solely as part of the
position for which the intern volunteers or is employed.
(g) All persons shall register with the board as an intern in
order to be credited for postdegree hours of experience gained toward
licensure, regardless of the setting where those hours are to be
gained. Except as provided in subdivision (h), all postdegree hours
shall be gained as a registered intern.
(h) Except when employed in a private practice setting, all
postdegree hours of experience shall be credited toward licensure so
long as the applicant applies for the intern registration within 90
days of the granting of the qualifying master's or doctor's degree
and is thereafter granted the intern registration by the board.
(i) Trainees, interns, and applicants shall not receive any
remuneration from patients or clients, and shall only be paid by
their employers.
(j) Trainees, interns, and applicants shall only perform services
at the place where their employers regularly conduct business, which
may include performing services at other locations, so long as the
services are performed under the direction and control of their
employer and supervisor, and in compliance with the laws and
regulations pertaining to supervision. Trainees and interns shall
have no proprietary interest in the employer's business.
(k) Trainees, interns, or applicants who provide volunteered
services or other services, and who receive no more than a total,
from all work settings, of five hundred dollars ($500) per month as
reimbursement for expenses actually incurred by those trainees,
interns, or applicants for services rendered in any lawful work
setting other than a private practice shall be considered an employee
and not an independent contractor. The board may audit applicants
who receive reimbursement for expenses, and the applicants shall have
the burden of demonstrating that the payments received were for
reimbursement of expenses actually incurred.
(l) Each educational institution preparing applicants for
licensure pursuant to this chapter shall consider requiring, and
shall encourage, its students to undergo individual, marital or
conjoint, family, or group counseling or psychotherapy, as
appropriate. Each supervisor shall consider, advise, and encourage
his or her interns and trainees regarding the advisability of
undertaking individual, marital or conjoint, family, or group
counseling or psychotherapy, as appropriate. Insofar as it is deemed
appropriate and is desired by the applicant, the educational
institution and supervisors are encouraged to assist the applicant in
locating that counseling or psychotherapy at a reasonable cost.
SEC. 5.
SEC. 4. Section 4980.44 of the Business and Professions Code
is amended to read:
4980.44. (a) An unlicensed marriage and family therapist intern
employed under this chapter shall:
(1) Have earned at least a master's degree as specified in Section
4980.40.
(2) Be registered with the board prior to the intern performing
any duties, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (e) of
Section 4980.43.
(3) File for renewal of registration annually for a maximum of
five years after initial registration with the board. Renewal of
registration shall include filing an application for renewal, paying
a renewal fee of seventy-five dollars ($75), and notifying the board
whether he or she has been convicted, as defined in Section 490, of a
misdemeanor or felony, or whether any disciplinary action has been
taken by any regulatory or licensing board in this or any other
state, subsequent to the issuance of the initial registration or the
registrant's last renewal.
(4) Inform each client or patient prior to performing any
professional services that he or she is unlicensed and under the
supervision of a licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed
clinical social worker, licensed psychologist, or a licensed
physician and surgeon certified in psychiatry by the American Board
of Psychiatry and Neurology.
(5) Continued employment as an unlicensed marriage and family
therapist intern shall cease after six years unless the requirements
of subdivision (b) are met. No registration shall be renewed or
reinstated beyond the six years from initial issuance regardless of
whether it has been revoked.
(b) When no further renewals are possible, an applicant may apply
for and obtain new intern registration status if the applicant meets
the educational requirements for registration in effect at the time
of the application for a new intern registration. An applicant who
is issued a subsequent intern registration pursuant to this
subdivision may be employed or volunteer in any allowable work
setting except private practice.
SEC. 6.
SEC. 5. The heading of Article 6 (commencing with Section
4987.5) of Chapter 13 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions
Code is amended to read:
Article 6. Marriage and Family Therapy Corporations
SEC. 7.
SEC. 6. Section 4987.7 of the Business and Professions Code
is amended to read:
4987.7. The name of a marriage and family therapy corporation
shall contain one or more of the words "marriage," "family," or
"child" together with one or more of the words "counseling,"
"counselor," "therapy," or "therapist," and wording or abbreviations
denoting corporate existence. A marriage and family therapy
corporation that conducts business under a fictitious business name
shall not use any name that is false, misleading or deceptive, and
shall inform the patient, prior to the commencement of treatment,
that the business is conducted by a marriage and family therapy
corporation.