MO HB516

Requires marital and family therapist license applicants to hold a master's or doctoral degree from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education or equivalent as defined by committee regulation.

Mandates 24 months of postgraduate supervised clinical experience acceptable to the state committee for licensure applicants.

Requires applicants to complete a minimum of 3 semester hours of graduate-level coursework in diagnostic systems, either within their degree program or as post-master's coursework, with demonstrated supervision of diagnosis as a core component of postgraduate clinical experience.

Permits license applicants to pass examination demonstrating knowledge of profession techniques, research, applications, professional affairs, and ethics.

Allows individuals with current marriage and family therapy licenses from other states or territories to obtain Missouri licensure without examination if requirements are substantially equivalent, subject to verification and consent to disciplinary history examination.