Florida

Board of Clinical Social Work,
Marriage & Family Therapy
and Mental Health Counseling

Minimum of an earned master’s degree from a mental health counseling program accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) that consists of at least 60 semester hours or 80 quarter hours of clinical and didactic instruction, including the courses listed below.

NOTE: CACREP accredited programs that are non-mental health counseling programs do not meet this requirement, i.e., Community Counseling, School Counseling, Counselor Education. Ensure your program is accredited in mental health counseling by visiting https://www.cacrep.org/.

• COURSEWORK- Minimum of 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours of graduate-level coursework in each of the following:

1. 1. Human Sexuality
   2. Substance Abuse

Complete the Education Worksheet for mental health counseling to determine if you have satisfied the coursework requirements for licensure

If the course title which appears on the applicant’s transcript does not clearly identify the content of the coursework, the applicant shall be required to provide additional documentation, including, but not limited to, a syllabus or catalog description published for the course.

• PRACTICUM- A practicum letter is not required from CACREP clinical mental health counseling programs or mental health counseling programs.

Minimum of an earned master’s degree from a institutionally accredited program related to the practice of mental health counseling that consists of at least 60 semester hours or 80 quarter hours and meets the following requirements:

NOTE NON-CACREP ACCREDITED PROGRAMS: Ensure your program is institutionally accredited in mental health counseling by visiting https://www.chea.org/.

• COURSEWORK – Minimum of 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours of graduate-level coursework in each of the following 11 content areas:

1. 1. Counseling Theories and Practice,
   2. Human Growth and Development,
   3. Diagnosis and Treatment of Psychopathology,
   4. Human Sexuality,
   5. Group Theories and Practice,
   6. Individual Evaluation and Assessment,
   7. Career and Lifestyle Assessment,
   8. Research and Program Evaluation,
   9. Social and Cultural Foundations,
   10. Substance Abuse, and
   11. Legal, Ethical, and Professional Standards Issues.

Courses in research, thesis or dissertation work, practicums, internships, or fieldwork are not applied toward this requirement. Complete the Education Worksheet for mental health counseling to determine if you have satisfied the coursework requirements for licensure.

If the course title which appears on the applicant’s transcript does not clearly identify the content of the coursework, the applicant shall be required to provide additional documentation, including, but not limited to, a syllabus or catalog description published for the course.

• PRACTICUM- The equivalent of at least 700 hours of university-sponsored supervised clinical practicum, internship, or field experience that includes at least 280 hours of direct client services as required in the standards for CACREP accredited mental health counseling programs. An official of the school (Dean, Department Chair) that awarded your graduate degree must provide a letter on university letterhead verifying the course title and total number of hours completed during the supervised practicum, internship, or field experience. This experience may not be used to satisfy the post-master’s clinical experience requirement.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: For the Board to consider education completed outside the U.S. or Canada, documentation must be received which verifies the institution at which the education was completed was equivalent to an accredited U.S. institution and the coursework met the content and credit hour requirement for graduate level coursework in the U.S. It is the applicant’s responsibility to obtain an evaluation from a recognized foreign equivalency determination service that documents the acceptability of the coursework. The board office must receive an original evaluation mailed directly from the educational evaluation service. For a list of approved Foreign Education Evaluators, please  click here.

Find A Qualified Supervisor:

Did you know that you can obtain a list of supervisors in your area at any time 24 hours a day 7 days a week? Simply use the Department’s Public Data Portal to download a current list of Board approved Qualified Supervisors. For detailed instructions, use the Licensure Data Download Guide. Obtain a letter from your selected Qualified Supervisor and send to the Board Office.

Before Supervision Begins:

Verify that your intern registration number has been issued by the Department and that the Board Office has approved your Qualified Supervisor. To verify, click here. Supervised experience will not count towards licensure until the intern registration has been issued and the Board has approved your supervisor.

During Supervision:

Two (2) years of post-master’s supervised experience under the supervision of a Board approved Qualified Supervisor is required for full licensure.

The supervised experience must consist of:

• At least 100 hours of supervision in no less than 100 weeks;
• 1,500 hours of face-to-face psychotherapy with clients; and,
• One (1) hour of supervision every two (2) weeks.

NOTE: Please see Rule 64B4-2.002, F.A.C., for information regarding group supervision and supervision by electronic methods.

Need to Change or Add a Qualified Supervisor? Follow the steps below:

STEP ONE: Obtain a letter from your new or additional Qualified Supervisor and send to the Board Office. The correspondence must originate from the supervisor with an original signature, include the supervisor’s license number and the applicant’s name as it appears on the application, and state that the supervisor has agreed to provide the applicant with supervision while a registered intern.

STEP TWO: Receive a letter from the Board Office stating that your supervisor has been approved and note the date of approval. Supervision under the new or additional supervisor will not count until he/she has been approved.

Need to Remove a Qualified Supervisor? Follow the steps below:

STEP ONE: Ask the supervisor you are removing to complete the Verification of Clinical Experience Form and select “I am no longer providing this intern with supervision.” Please make sure a supervision end date is listed.

STEP TWO: Submit the Verification of Clinical Experience Form to the Board Office. To submit electronically, click here. The Board will remove your supervisor from your intern file and place a copy of the required form on file for review upon submission of a full licensure application.

After Supervision:

Your post-master’s clinical experience hours obtained under supervision must be documented on the Verification of Clinical Experience Form by the Qualified Supervisor or they will not count towards licensure. To submit electronically, click here. This form is not required until the intern is ready to submit their full licensure application. For information on full licensure requirements and to apply, click here. Please limit one (1) form per Qualified Supervisor.

NOTE: Registered interns must remain under supervision until fully licensed pursuant to Rule 64B4-3.008, F.A.C.