A. Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists
The Marriage and Family Therapist licensing law, specifically Section 4980.40 of the Business and Professions Code, requires that an applicant for licensure shall satisfy all of the following qualifications: a) meet the education requirements; b) be at least 18 years of age; c) have at least two years of supervised experience; d) successfully pass a California law and ethics examination and a clinical examination; and e) not have committed acts or crimes constituting grounds for denial of licensure. Section 4980.43 further defines this requirement by specifying that two calendar years of supervised experience is required, consisting of at least 3,000 hours obtained over a period of at least 104 weeks. Hours of experience shall not have been gained more than six years prior to the date the application for licensure was received by the board, except that up to 500 hours of clinical experience gained in the supervised practicum.

Experience may be gained only when the applicant is employed or volunteering in a setting that lawfully and regularly provides mental health counseling or psychotherapy. A private practice, as defined by Section 4980.06, means a type of nonexempt setting that meets all of the following requirements: a) the practice is owned by a health professional independently or jointly who is licensed, and; b) the practices provides clinical mental health services, and c) one or more of the licensed health professions are responsible for the practice and client payment/reimbursement. Only individuals who have received their qualifying master’s degree and are registered as associates may work in a private practice setting. Applicants must keep weekly logs of all hours of experience gained and may claim no more than a total of 40 hours of experience in any seven consecutive days. (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 4980.43.)

The supervised work experience breaks down into the following categories: a minimum of 1,750 hours of direct counseling with individuals, groups, couples or families, that includes not less than 500 total hours of experience in diagnosing and treating couples, families, and children; and a maximum of 1,250 hours of nonclinical practice, consisting of direct supervisor contact administering and evaluating psychological tests, writing clinical reports, writing progress or process notes, client-centered advocacy, and workshops, seminars, training sessions, or conferences directly related to marriage and family therapy that have been approved by the applicant’s supervisor (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 4980.43.)

With respect to supervision, Section 4980.03 of the Business and Professions Code specifies that applicants for the MFT license may be supervised by an LMFT, an LCSW, an LPCC, an LEP (so long as they are only supervising educationally related mental health services), a licensed psychologist, or a physician or surgeon certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Each of these supervisors must meet additional criteria. The regulations provide that the supervisor must be licensed for at least two years prior to commencing any supervision, that his/her license must be in good standing (i.e., his/her license is not on probation or suspension), and that he/she must have practiced psychotherapy or supervised marriage and family therapist trainees, associate marriage and family therapists, associate professional clinical counselors, or associate clinical social workers for at least two years within the five year period immediately preceding any supervision.

The supervisor is required to provide at least one hour of individual/triadic supervision, or two hours of group supervision in each week where any qualifying experience is gained. The regulations require a one to five ratio for counseling/psychotherapy hours of experience gained by trainees, and one unit (one individual, one triadic or two group hours) of supervision for the first ten client hours and another unit of supervision for any additional hour above ten in a week gained by registered associate. Applicants for the license must have at least 52 hours of individual or triadic supervision (gained in at least 52 separate weeks). The remainder of supervision may be either individual, triadic or group. Supervision may not be obtained from one’s spouse or relative, nor may it be obtained from a former therapist or from someone with whom the applicant has a personal relationship which undermines the authority or effectiveness of the supervisor. Applicants who work in an exempt setting may receive supervision via videoconferencing. Applicants working in a non-exempt setting may receive supervision via videoconferencing until January 1st, 2026, at which time it will be reviewed for continuation. Applicants are required to have their supervisor sign a Supervision Agreement within 60 days of the commencement of supervision.

The Supervision Agreement is intended to make supervisors and supervisees aware of the responsibilities the supervisor has to the supervisees and the licensing board. Additionally, the regulation requires supervisors to take reasonable steps to ensure that a supervisee properly assesses and examines the patient, implements an appropriate treatment plan, and is acting both within the scope of his/her license and competence. The supervisor is required to monitor the quality of counseling/psychotherapy performed by direct observation, audio or video recording, review of progress and process notes or records, or by any other means deemed appropriate by the supervisor.

B. Licensed Clinical Social Workers
The Clinical Social Worker licensing law, in Section 4996.2 of the Business and Professions Code, requires two years of supervised post-graduate experience. Section 4996.23 further defines this requirement by specifying that the applicant must have at least 3,000 hours of experience, which must be completed within a minimum of two years, in providing clinical social work services consisting of psychosocial diagnosis, assessment, treatment (including psychotherapy and counseling), client-centered advocacy, consultation, evaluation, research, direct supervisor contact, and workshops, seminars, training sessions or conferences directly related to clinical social work that have been approved by the applicant’s supervisor. The applicant should have a minimum of two years of supervised experience to be obtained over a period of not less than 104 weeks and shall have been gained within the six years immediately preceding the date of which the application for licensure was received by the board.

Students and post-graduate applicants, prior to registration, may work at governmental entities, schools, colleges or universities, nonprofit and charitable organizations, and licensed health facilities. Only Registered Associate Clinical Social Workers (ASW) may work in private practice settings. All required supervised experience must be accrued by the applicant while registered with the Board as an ASW. (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 4996.23.)

To qualify for the LCSW license, the law requires a minimum of 2,000 hours of experience in clinical psychosocial diagnosis, assessment, and treatment, including psychotherapy or counseling. Of these 2,000 hours, a minimum of 750 must be face-to-face individual or group psychotherapy. A maximum of 1,000 hours may be gained in client-centered advocacy, consultation, evaluation, and research, direct supervisor contact, and workshops, seminars, training sessions or conferences directly related to clinical social work that have been approved by the applicant’s supervisor. No more than 40 hours of experience may be gained in any given week. ASWs must have at least 52 weeks of individual or triadic supervision, thirteen of which must be supervised by an LCSW. (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 4996.23.1)

Supervision is defined in Section 4996.20 as “ensuring the extend, kind, and quality of counseling performed consistent with the education, training, and experience of the supervisee.” Similar to the MFT licensing laws, ASWs must keep weekly logs of their hours, and must have their supervisors complete the Supervision Agreement. Further, ASWs and supervisors, like MFTs, who assume responsibility for providing supervision to those working toward a license are required to complete and sign a supervisory plan. (16 C.C.R. § 1869.)

To gain hours of experience in a given week, either one hour of individual or triadic supervision or two hours of group supervision is required in that week. An ASW must receive one unit (one individual or two group hours) of supervision for the first ten client hours and another unit of supervision for any additional hour above ten in a week. Applicants who work for exempt settings may receive supervision via video-conferencing. Applicants working in a non-exempt setting may receive supervision via videoconferencing until January 1st, 2026, at which time it will be reviewed for continuation. Insofar as eligible supervisors are concerned, Section 4996.23 specifies that 1,700 hours of experience must be gained under the supervision of an LCSW, and the remaining 1,300 hours may be gained under the supervision of a licensed mental health professional acceptable to the BBS. These mental health professionals are defined in the Regulations as Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Licensed Psychologists, an Licensed Educational Psychologist (up to 1,200 hours so long as they are only supervising educationally related mental health services), or physicians and surgeon certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Like the MFT licensing law, supervision may not be obtained from a spouse or relative, nor may it be obtained from someone with whom the applicant has a personal relationship which undermines the authority or effectiveness of the supervision.

C. Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors
The Professional Clinical Counselor licensing laws (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 4999.46) require that supervised work experience be gained post-degree. All hours of supervised work experience must be gained while registered as an active associate professional clinical counselor. The one exception is the supervised work hours gained immediately after graduation, but prior to registration as a PCC intern. These hours may be credited towards licensure experience requirements if the individual applies for registration within 90 days of the qualifying degree conferral date and the experience is obtained at a workplace that, prior to the registration applicant gaining supervised experience hours, requires a completed Live Scan fingerprinting. The individual actually has to receive the registration number in order to count the hours. APCCs cannot work in a private practice setting until officially been issued an associate registration by the board.

Similar to the MFT licensing laws, the PCC licensing laws require PCC interns to complete 3,000 hours of supervised experience in no less than 104 weeks. To gain hours of experience in a given week, either one hour of individual or triadic supervision or two hours of group supervision is required in that week. An APCC must receive one unit (one individual/triadic or two group hours) of supervision for the first ten client hours and another unit of supervision for any additional hour above ten in a week. Of the 104 weeks of supervision, at least 52 weeks must be weeks in which the intern received at least one hour of individual or triadic supervision. A maximum of 40 hours of work experience may be gained in a week. Applicants working in a governmental entity, a school, a college, or a university, or an institution that is both non-profit and charitable may obtain the required direct supervisor contact via videoconferencing. Applicants working in a non-exempt setting may receive supervision via videoconferencing until January 1st, 2026, at which time it will be reviewed for continuation The supervised work experience breaks down into the following categories: a minimum of 1,750 hours of direct counseling with individuals, groups, couples or families; and a maximum of 1,250 hours of nonclinical practice, consisting of direct supervisor contact administering and evaluating psychological tests, writing clinical reports, writing progress or process notes, client-centered advocacy, and workshops, seminars, training sessions, or conferences directly related to professional clinical counseling that have been approved by the applicant’s supervisor (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 4999.46.)

Experience may not be gained under the supervision of a spouse or relative by blood or marriage. Also, experience that is obtained under the supervision of a supervisor with whom the applicant has had or currently has a personal, professional, or business relationship that undermines the authority or effectiveness of the supervision will not be credited toward licensure. (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 4999.12).

D. Psychologists
The Psychologist licensing law, particularly Section 2914 of the Business and Professions Code, specifies that applicants for the license must complete 3,000 hours of supervised experience, which must be completed within a minimum of two years. (16 C.C.R. § 1387.) At least one year of this experience must be gained after being awarded the doctorate in psychology. A year of supervised professional experience shall consist of not less than 1,500 hours.

The year of supervised experience (1,500 hours) must be completed within thirty consecutive months. When an applicant accumulates all the required experience post- doctorally, it must be completed within a period of sixty consecutive months. With respect to pre-doctoral hours, supervised professional experience may not be accumulated until the applicant has completed 48 semester/trimester or 72 quarter units of graduate level coursework in psychology not including thesis, internship, or dissertation. (16 C.C.R § 1387).

The 1,500 hours of supervised experience that may be obtained prior to the awarding of the doctorate degree may be obtained in a training program approved by a university, college or school that has a training agreement with the educational institution to provide such supervised experience. Predoctoral SPE may be accrued: a) in a formal internship placement accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), or which is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) or the California Psychology Internship Council (CAPIC) and registration with the board is not required, or b) as an employee of an exempt setting (registration with the board is not required); or c) as a registered psychological associate (registration with the board is required); or d) pursuant to a Department of Mental Health Waiver. If the applicant has his or her doctorate and is accruing hours post-doctorally, registration with the Board of Psychology is required unless the applicant is working at one of the exempt settings mentioned above. (16 C.C.R § 1387.

Most post-graduate applicants will need to register with the Board as a Registered Psychological Associate (RPA). A Registered Psychological Associate may gain hours of experience under employment and supervision of a Psychologist. (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 1391.5.)

A Registered Psychological Associate must be under the direction and supervision of a licensed Psychologist who is employed in the same setting as the RPA is employed and be available to the RPA100 percent of the time the RPA is accruing experience hours (16 C.C.R § 1391.6) The supervisor must provide a minimum of one hour per week of individual face-to-face supervision to the RPA. The supervisor must not have a disciplinary action pending against his or her license, is not on probation, has no familial or interpersonal relationship with the supervisee and is otherwise in compliance with the Psychology Licensing Law or the Medical Practice Act and their respective regulations. (16 C.C.R § 1387.1)

For Registered Psychologists, the “primary supervisor” is allowed to delegate a portion of the required supervision to another licensed Psychologist or to suitable alternative supervisors, including LMFTs. (16 C.C.R § 1387 (c).) The primary supervisor shall provide at least 1 hour of face-to-face, direct, individual supervision each week. The trainee should be provided with supervision for 10% of the total time worked each week. Like the MFT licensing law and regulations, a supervisor may not supervise a supervisee who has been a psychotherapy client of the supervisor, and the supervisee must maintain a weekly log of all hours of experience gained toward licensure. (16 C.C.R § 1387.)

With respect to the specific kinds of hours that may be obtained, (i.e., psychotherapy, diagnosis, and treatment) the law and regulations do not, in much detail, delineate the required 3,000 hours. The experience gained must, of course, be within the scope of practice of a licensed Psychologist, which is rather broad. For instance, the practice of psychology includes psychological testing and psychological services rendered to organizations (i.e., organizational psychology), and the licensing law specifies that the application of psychological principles and methods is not necessarily restricted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of psychological problems and emotional and mental disorders of individuals and groups.

Additionally, regulations require that the applicant’s supervised professional experience consists of a “planned, structured and administered sequence of professionally supervised, comprehensive clinical training experiences.” The regulations also provide that the professional experience includes “socialization into the profession of psychology and shall be augmented by integrated modalities, including mentoring, didactic exposure, role-modeling, enactment, observational/vicarious learning, and consultative guidance” and “activities which address the integration of psychological concepts and current and evolving scientific knowledge, principles, and theories to the professional delivery of psychological services to the consumer public.” The regulations also provide that the supervised professional experience does not include custodial tasks such as filing, transcribing, or other clerical duties. The lack of specificity as to required kinds of hours permits licensure as a psychologist without demonstrated experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional conditions/disorders. (16 C.C.R § 1387.)