Marriage and Family Therapist

(a)Definitions. In this Article:

(1)“Accredited educational institution” shall mean any educational institution which grants a doctoral or master’s degree and is accredited by a regional accrediting body in the United States or by another accrediting or recognized approval agency recognized by the Board including state, national or foreign approving agencies.

(2)“Clinical supervision” shall mean the supervision of no more than six

(6)persons at the same time who are acquiring and completing clinical experience in accordance with Guam law. Clinical supervision is that aspect of instructional supervision which draws upon data from direct firsthand observation of actual teaching, or other professional events, and involves face-to-face and other associated interactions between the observer(s) and the person(s) observed in the course of analyzing the observed professional behaviors and activities and seeking to define and/or develop next steps toward improved performance. This includes, but is not limited to the following: case consultation, the assessment and diagnosis of presenting problems, development and implementation of treatment plans, and the evaluation of the course of treatment.

(3)“Consultant” shall mean a credentialed professional who provides expert service, advice, or makes recommendations for a fee or pro bono, by phone, internet, in person, or by other means to an individual licensed on Guam as a Marriage and Family Therapist for the purposes of maximizing therapeutic benefit for a client.

(4)“Family” shall mean all forms of households that consist of members with emotional bonds and mutual obligations that define themselves as families. “Family” as used here includes, but is not limited to, nuclear families, once married couples with children, a single parent with children, nonmarried couples with children, blended families, remarried couples, and couples without children.

(5)“Marriage and Family Therapy” shall mean the application of psychotherapeutic techniques in the delivery of services to individuals, couples, families, or groups in order to diagnose and treat mental, emotional, and nervous disorders, whether these are behavioral, cognitive, or affective, within the context of the individual’s relationships. Marriage and Family Therapy includes, but is not limited to:

(A)assessment and diagnosis of presenting problems through inquiry, observation, evaluation, and integration of diagnostic information; CH. 12 MEDICAL PRACTICES - PART II

(B)designing and developing treatment plans by incorporating and integrating recognized psychotherapeutic theories, in establishing treatment goals and interventions collaboratively with clients; and

(C)implementing and evaluating the course of treatment by incorporating psychotherapeutic theories to assist individuals, couples, families and groups.

(6)“Marriage and Family Therapist (herein referred to as MFT)” shall mean a person licensed on Guam to practice Marriage and Family Therapy as defined in these rules and regulations.

(7)“Psychotherapy” shall mean a specialized, formal interaction between an MFT or other Mental Health Professional, and a client (an individual, couple, family, or group) in which a therapeutic relationship is established to help resolve symptoms of a mental disorder, psychosocial stressor, family problem, or other difficulty, which is designed to enhance problem solving skills and coping abilities. Therapy can be used interchangeably with counseling and psychotherapy.

(8)“Family therapy” shall mean systematic interventions for the purpose of enabling family members to understand the behavior of individuals in relation to the ongoing operations of the family group. This approach enables family members to generate a wider range of options for coping with problems, and to learn problem solving skills.

(9)“Individual therapy” shall mean planned interventions to help a client enlarge competencies and increase problem solving skills and coping abilities.

(10)“Group therapy” shall mean the gathering together of unrelated individuals at the direction of a group facilitator or therapist for a therapeutic purpose.

(11)“Couples therapy” shall mean therapeutic interventions with married or unmarried couples to resolve problems and conflicts in their relationship.

(b)Qualifications for Licensure.

(1)The provisions of this Act shall take effect two years after enactment. At that time, the Board shall issue a license as a Marriage and Family Therapist to an applicant who:

(A)has a doctorate or master’s degree from an accredited educational institution with a program in psychology, counseling, marriage and family therapy, or other psycho-therapeutic discipline. The applicant must be able to show documentation of:

(i)a minimum of ninety quarter hours or sixty semester hours of graduate studies (as suggested by the Counsel for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs [CACREP]) that:

(ii)includes course content in the following areas:

(aa)Professional Identity;

(bb)Social and Cultural Diversity;

(cc)Human Growth and Development;

(dd)Career Development;

(ee)Helping Relationships;

(ff)Group Work;

(gg)Assessment; CH. 12 MEDICAL PRACTICES - PART II

(hh)Research and Program Development;

(ii)Professional Ethics;

(jj)Foundations of Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling/Therapy;

(kk)Contextual dimensions of Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling/Therapy; and

(ll)Knowledge and skill requirements for Marital, Couple, and Family Counselor/Therapist; and

(iii)includes a practicum, consisting of a minimum of one hundred hours; and

(iv)includes an internship, consisting of a minimum of six hundred hours with a minimum of two hundred forty clock hours in direct services with individuals, couples and families, with the majority of the direct service clock hours occurring with couples and family units;

(B)has completed a minimum of three thousand hours of documented post-graduate clinical experience and one hundred hours of supervision by a licensed Individual, Marriage and Family Therapist (IMFT), Certified Professional Counselor (CPC), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), Clinical Psychologist, Psychiatrist or other license deemed by the Board to be substantially equivalent to these professions, who is licensed and authorized to provide such supervision in the United States, its territories or a foreign country determined to be acceptable on a case by case basis by the Board. The three thousand hours of post-graduate clinical experience may include, but is not limited to: face-to-face treatment of clients, keeping clinical notes, supervision, treatment team meetings, consultation, education, treatment planning, observation, and other activities generally recognized to be part of clinical practice. A minimum of one thousand five hundred of the three thousand hours of post-graduate clinical experience must be in the face-to-face treatment of individuals, couples, groups, or families;

(C)has successfully passed the Marital and Family Therapy Examination created by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB), or has passed another examination created by a recognized national or international entity deemed by the Board to be substantially equivalent to the Marital and Family Therapy Examination created by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB); and

(D)has documented completion of training by a professional association or educational institution and approved by the Board that consists of at least six hours of professional ethics, three hours of culturally competent counseling practices with Micronesian communities on Guam and one hour of mandated reporting.

(2)For an individual who has not engaged in post-graduate experience or cannot document a minimum of three thousand hours of post-graduate clinical experience under the supervision of a licensed IMFT, CPC, LCSW, LMHC, LPC, MFT, Clinical Psychologist, Psychiatrist, or other license deemed by the Board to be substantially equivalent to these professions, who is licensed and authorized to provide such supervision in the United States, its territories or a foreign country determined to be acceptable on a case by case basis by the Board; such individual may practice under an internship program approved by the Board prior to engagement in that program in order to gain that supervision on Guam. The three thousand hour internship program may include, but is not limited to: face-to-face treatment of clients, keeping clinical notes, supervision, treatment team meetings, consultation, CH. 12 MEDICAL PRACTICES - PART II education, treatment planning, observations, and other activities generally recognized to be part of clinical practice. A minimum of one thousand five hundred of the three thousand hours must be in the face-to-face treatment of individuals, couples, groups, or families, and a minimum of one hundred hours must be supervision. To provide such supervision on Guam a person must be a licensed Individual Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist or Licensed Clinical Social Worker licensed on Guam who has held a license for a minimum of five years with experience working with couples and families; or a Clinical Psychologist or Psychiatrist licensed on Guam who has held a license for a minimum of three years with experience working with couples and families.

(3)Individuals who hold a current valid license issued by a state of the United States, its territories, or foreign country approved by the Board on a case by case basis as a Marriage and Family Therapist, or other license deemed by the Board to be substantially equivalent to the Guam license for Marriage and Family Therapy, who have passed the Marital and Family Therapy Examination created by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB), or has passed another examination created by a recognized national or international entity deemed by the Board to be substantially equivalent to the Marital and Family Therapy Examination created by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB), shall be eligible for the Guam license for Marriage and Family Therapy.

(4)[No text]

(A)The Board shall issue a “Marriage and Family Therapist Intern License” and number to an applicant who has satisfied all of the applicable requisite provisions of qualifications for licensure pursuant to Subsection (1)(A) of this Section, and who is acquiring the three thousand (3,000) hours of post-graduate clinical experience required for licensure, as provided pursuant to Subsection (1)(B) of this Section.

(B)The Board shall provide the application form to be completed by an applicant for a Mental Health Intern License.

(c)Exceptions to Licensure.

(1)No person may practice Marriage and Family Therapy in Guam who is not licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist by the Board, unless such practice is approved by the Board or other Guam licensing Board. However, this Article does not prohibit:

(A)an employee of the Federal government from performing official duties on federal property;

(B)an LCSW, PC, LPC, CPC, LMHC, MFT, Psychologist, or Psychiatrist currently licensed in another jurisdiction of the United States from consulting with or advising a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist on Guam. However, the consultant, if not licensed on Guam may not provide services to a client directly; or

(C)an active student in good standing, as a requirement of a university program for completion of a degree or a person who is engaged in the completion of the requirement of three thousand hours of post-graduate clinical experience to become licensed as an MFT, under the supervision of a Guam licensed IMFT, LPC, LMHC, MFT, LCSW, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist from performing assigned duties.

(2)Nothing herein prohibits qualified members of other professional groups, such as clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, school psychologists, social workers, or ordained clergy from CH. 12 MEDICAL PRACTICES - PART II doing work of a counseling nature consistent with their training and code of ethics for their respective professions; provided, that they do not hold themselves out to the public by any of the following titles:

(A)family therapist;

(B)marriage therapist;

(C)psychotherapist (other than Clinical Psychologist); or

(D)any combination thereof.

(d)Scope of Practice. Marriage and Family Therapists use psychotherapeutic techniques to prevent, assess, evaluate, diagnose, develop treatment goals, plans and objectives, treat and evaluate outcomes for mental, emotional or behavioral disorders and associated distresses that interfere with mental health.

(e)Client Confidentiality. Client Confidentiality is defined and regulated by the standards set forth in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the ethical rules of the American Counseling Association (ACA), Guam law, and revisions thereof. Breach of client confidentiality, except as provided for by HIPAA the ACA, or Guam law, shall be considered unprofessional conduct and may be grounds for revocation or suspension of the license.

(f)Continuing Education Requirements. A licensee shall complete a total of forty contact hours or four Continuing Education Units directly related to the practice of Marriage and Family Therapy within each two year licensure period to qualify for renewal of licensure. Continuing education credits in early childhood development and literacy as prescribed by the Board and that conforms with the Department of Public Health and Social Services regulations shall be required for renewal of licensure under this Article.

(g)Grandfather Provision. All licensees who hold a current, valid license as an Individual, Marriage and Family Therapist issued by the Guam Board of Allied Health Examiners or as a Licensed Professional Counselor issued by a Guam Board, within eighteen

(18)months of the time this Article is enacted into law, or by August 31, 2017, whichever is later, shall be eligible to apply for a license as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. They may be granted a license as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor if:

(1)they can pass the NCMHCE developed by the NBCC (they shall be deemed eligible by the Board to take the test); or

(2)they can document one thousand (1,000) hours of post Masters clinical work which requires diagnosis and treatment planning; or

(3)they have held a license as an Individual, Marriage and Family Therapist in Guam, a Licensed Professional Counselor in Guam, or any combination of the two

(2)for a minimum of six

(6)years.