Applying for LMFT with non-Texas License

The requirements for obtaining licensure as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) are set forth in 22 TAC §§801.76, 882.2, and 882.5. See the Council’s Statutes and Rules webpage. Texas does not have a reciprocity agreement for MFT license types with any other state.

If you hold or have ever held MFT license issued by another state AND do not hold a Texas LMFT Associate license, please follow the instructions below.
If you currently hold Texas LMFT Associate license and wish to apply for upgrade to independent LMFT, please see Applying as Texas LMFT Associate to Upgrade to LMFT.

In general, to receive an LMFT, an applicant must apply with the Council, pay the required fee, and provide proof of the following:

Click each link to be taken to an explanation of documenting that requirement.

Passing Score on Licensing Exam

Do not apply for license before passing licensing exam. If you have not passed the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB) or California Exam for independent LMFT, see Application to Request AMFTRB Exam Authorization Code

Conferral of a qualifying degree from an accredited program or school
Verification of Supervised Graduate Practicum or Internship
Supervisory Agreement Form
Completion of the Texas MFT Jurisprudence exam, dated no earlier than six months before the date staff receives the online application for license
A certified self-query from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB)
A fingerprint-based background check
Verification of any license in another jurisdiction
See also Key Forms and Publications and After Your Application Has Been Submitted.

Official Transcript of Degree Required

Applicants must hold at least one of the following

a master’s or doctorate degree in marriage and family therapy from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE); OR
a master’s degree from a program that began on or after on or after January 1, 2017; was accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs – Marriage, Couples, and Family Counseling (CACREP MCFC) specialization; and included at least 12 months or 9 graduate semester hours of supervised clinical internship or practicum with at least 300 hours of experience, of which at least 150 hours must be direct client contact hours and of the 150 hours at least 75 hours must be direct client contact with couples and families; OR
a master’s or doctorate degree from an accredited school in marriage and family therapy or in a related mental health field with a planned course of study in marriage and family therapy with at least 45 semester hours for an applicant who started a program before August 1, 2017 or at least 60 semester hours for an applicant who started a program on or after August 1, 2017; and with the required minimum course content as described in 22 TAC §801.114.

Request your school(s) email an official transcript(s), showing qualifying degree was conferred and/or related coursework completed, to transcripts@bhec.texas.gov. Alternatively, staff may accept an official transcript mailed to BHEC MFT, 1801 Congress Ave., Ste. 7.300, Austin, Texas 78701, as long as the transcript is still in an unopened envelope sealed by the school.

Verification of Supervised Graduate Practicum or Internship

For any qualifying program begun on or after August 1, 2017, staff must be able to verify the number of hours the student accrued during their graduate supervised internship or practicum. Also, under certain conditions, 22 TAC §801.142 allows staff to grant credit for student hours accrued above the number of hours required for academic qualifications to be credited as post-licensed supervised experience hours. To document academic achievement and possible excess practicum hours, complete Part 1 of the Supervised Clinical Practicum and Experience Verification Form (available below); then, send to your school(s) at which you completed a graduate practicum or graduate internship course. A separate form must be received from each school. A separate form must be used to report experience gained via a master’s practicum or internship course – apart from experience gained through a doctoral practicum or internship course. Your school’s faculty or administrator will complete the form(s) and return to you or to the board.

Passing Score on Licensing Exam

If you have not passed the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB) or California Exam for independent LMFT see Application to Request AMFTRB Exam Authorization Code [link to 2. Exam App webpage].

If you took the AMFTRB exam using Texas’ exam authorization code, on or about the 10^th of the month following the month in which you sat for the exam, AMFTRB will release your exam score to Texas staff.
If you took the AMFTRB exam for another state’s licensing authority AND received a license from that state, the non-Texas licensing agency may verify that you passed the AMFTRB exam on the document used to verify your non-Texas license. Otherwise, you must contact AMFTRB to have your passing score transferred to Texas (see AMFTRB’s webpage). More information about license verification is below, under the heading “Verification of any license in another jurisdiction.”
If you passed the California exam for full, independent LMFT license, Texas staff must receive license verification with attestation of California exam scores directly from CA BBS. More information about license verification is below, under the heading “Verification of any license in another jurisdiction.”

Marriage and Family Therapy Jurisprudence Exam

The MFT Jurisprudence Examination is an online learning experience similar to an open-book test on the Texas laws and rules that govern the practice of marriage and family therapy. Complete the MFT Jurisprudence Examination via the link on the webpage. Retain and submit the completion certificate. The date on the completion certificate cannot be any earlier than six months before the date your application is received.

National Practitioner Data Bank Self-Query Report

Visit https://www.npdb.hrsa.gov/pract/selfQueryBasics.jsp for instructions on how to obtain a Self-Query Report from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). You may submit the results several ways:

The NPDB may email to you a certified self-query report in PDF. Do not alter the PDF. You may upload the certified report PDF when you complete your online application for license.
OR after your online application has been submitted, you may forward the emailed, certified NPDB self-query report PDF to NPDB@bhec.texas.gov.
OR the NPDB will mail the self-query report to you. Mail the NPDB self-query report to the Texas SW Board so it is still in the unopened envelope sealed by NPDB. Mail to BHEC MFT, 1801 Congress Ave., Ste. 7.300, Austin, Texas 78701.

Fingerprinting Process

After the Council’s Online System confirms your application submission, the system will generate an email message with a link to instructions on how to submit your fingerprints for the statutorily required fingerprint-based background check. See our Fingerprint Information webpage for more information.

Verification of Licensure in Other Jurisdiction

Complete Part I of Verification of Licensure in Other Jurisdiction (available below), then send it to the non-Texas licensing agency that issued your license. The non-Texas licensing agency should complete the form and submit it to the Texas MFT Board at bhecmft@bhec.texas.gov. A separate form must be received for each license you currently hold or have ever held in the past.

Some state agencies generate their own form, staff may consider the data on the state-agency-generated form – if data is not included on the state-agency-generated form, staff may ask the applicant for additional information / documentation. The state-agency may send their own generated form to bhecmft@bhec.texas.gov.
Some state agencies no longer issue any type of license verification, but rather provide an online, primary source. If that’s the case for one or more of the licenses you hold, please note that in your online application or send in an email to bhecmft@bhec.texas.gov after your application has been submitted. If another state’s online license verification does not include all the data needed, staff may ask the applicant for additional information/documentation.

NOTE: Generally, a non-Texas licensing agency includes verification of supervised clinical experience on the Verification of Licensure in Other Jurisdiction form. However, if for some reason the non-Texas licensing agency is unable or unwilling to verify supervised experience or the data is insufficient to satisfy Texas requirements, staff may request additional information. Staff may consider supervised experience accrued after issuance of a non-Texas license that is documented by your non-Texas supervisor on Texas Supervised Experience Verification Form (SEV Form, available below). You must submit this SEV Form with a copy of your non-Texas LMFT Supervisor’s credentials. A supervisor may only attest to supervised experience of which they have direct knowledge. Staff must receive a separate SEV Form and credentials from each supervisor.

Supervisory Agreement Form

If after receiving all available information in regard to your application for Texas independent LMFT, staff cannot document that all requirements for Texas LMFT have been satisfied, staff may issue a Texas LMFT Associate license as long as staff has received and approved a Texas LMFT Supervisor for the applicant. See the Council’s Find a Supervisor webpage for a list of LMFT Supervisors. Before staff may issue an LMFT Associate license, staff must receive and approve of the supervisory relationship documented on the Supervisory Agreement Form (SAF, available below). Submit the SAF with a copy of your Texas LMFT Supervisor’s current renewal card. Both you and your supervisor will need to maintain a copy of this form for the duration of your supervision.

Key Forms and Publications:

See the Council’s How To User Guide webpage for

How To Create An Online Account (if you don’t already have one) and
How To Apply for MFT License.

Also, see relevant forms from the MFT Board’s Forms and Publications webpage below.

After Your Application Has Been Submitted

Staff will review all materials and either issue LMFT license or a deficiency notice with instructions. Generally, staff send a deficiency notice via email. When expecting a message from staff, please periodically check your junk and spam folders. Some recipient’s email platforms filter staff messages (from our “.gov” address) into junk or spam folders.

You can check the status – whether your LMFT license has been issued or whether renewal process has been completed – via the Council’s Online Search/Verify a License webpage/portal. The portal displays publicly releasable information directly from the Council’s licensing database in real time. It is the most up-to-date information. No login is required; so, the information is available to applicants, licensees, supervisors, potential employers, etc.

One day after issuance of a license, a printable PDF of the license certificate will be in the licensee’s online licensing account secure inbox. The licensee may print the certificate as needed for display. Or a licensee may use the drop-down menu under “Manage My License” to print the license certificate.

The license renewal due date is set to coincide with the last day of the licensee’s birth month. Thus, the first renewal period may be less than 2 full years. See renewal requirements in 22 TAC §§801.261, 882.50(b), and 883.1(d)(2). Visit the Council’s Statute and Rules webpage, the Council’s How to Report Your Continuing Education webpage, and the Council’s Human Trafficking Awareness FAQs webpage for link to list of Texas HHSC-approved human trafficking awareness courses.

In case it is useful to you: The Council provides an easily searched courtesy copy of the current rules in its Consolidated Rulebook for Marriage and Family Therapy on its Statutes and Rules webpage. The Consolidated Rulebooks are updated shortly after a new or revised rule is adopted. The Texas Secretary of State maintains the official version of the rules on its website for Title 22 of the Texas Administrative Code, Parts 35 and 41.

PLEASE NOTE: Rules and procedures are subject to change. You may wish to subscribe to Email Updates from the Board. The Email Updates include notice of board meetings, proposed rule changes, and notice of newly adopted rules, as well as other significant operational changes. To subscribe, complete the form on the Email Updates webpage; then follow the prompts and instructions to complete the subscription confirmation process.