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S 3026Licensing & Accreditation

Business and Professions - Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists

This bill reduces required training hours for marriage and family therapists and simplifies the licensing process for out-of-state therapists.

Signed into law67 Yea0 Nay8 Not voting
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 5, 2026Committee Senate Health & Human Services

Plain-English Summary

This legislation updates the licensing requirements for marriage and family therapists and associates in Rhode Island. It simplifies the educational internship requirements for associates, mandating a minimum of 300 hours of direct client contact. For full licensure, the bill reduces the required postgraduate clinical experience from 2,000 to 1,500 hours for master's degree holders and establishes specific criteria for doctoral graduates. Furthermore, it amends the "licensure by endorsement" process, allowing therapists who have been licensed in another state for at least one year to obtain a Rhode Island license without retaking an examination.

For younger readers

This bill changes the rules for becoming a marriage and family therapist, which is a job where people help families and couples who are having a hard time. It changes the amount of practice time a student needs before they can get their license. It lowers the number of hours they have to work under a supervisor after they finish college. It also makes it easier for therapists who already have a license in another state to come and work in Rhode Island without having to take a big test again.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Marriage and family therapistsTherapy students and internsMental health patientsUniversities with therapy programsOut-of-state therapists
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Increases the availability of mental health providers in the state by lowering barriers to entry, potentially helping to address the critical shortage of mental healthcare for underserved communities.
  • Reduces the financial and time burden on therapy students and recent graduates by lowering required hours, allowing them to enter the workforce and earn a living wage sooner.
  • Facilitates workforce mobility through licensure endorsement, potentially attracting a more diverse pool of mental health professionals to the state to better serve a diverse population.
  • Lowers the clinical hour requirements, which could theoretically reduce the level of experience new therapists have when treating vulnerable populations who rely on the social safety net.
  • Streamlined licensure by endorsement could allow providers from states with regressive views on LGBTQ+ issues or reproductive rights to practice in Rhode Island without specific vetting of their ethical alignment with local standards.
  • Easier licensing pathways might encourage the proliferation of corporate, app-based therapy platforms that may underpay workers and commodify mental healthcare.
For Conservatives
  • Reduces government red tape and occupational licensing regulations, allowing individuals to enter their chosen profession with fewer government-imposed hurdles.
  • Promotes free market principles by increasing the supply of providers, which could lead to more competition and potentially lower costs for consumers.
  • Respects the qualifications obtained in other states, reducing bureaucratic waste and the need for redundant testing for experienced professionals.
  • Dilutes professional standards by reducing the required number of clinical hours, potentially compromising the quality of care provided to families.
  • Surrenders a degree of state sovereignty by automatically accepting licenses from other states without ensuring those states' requirements match Rhode Island's specific standards.
  • May accelerate the growth of the mental health industry, which some conservatives view as over-diagnosing normal human behaviors and undermining traditional family dynamics.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 33 additions · 15 deletions

SECTION 1. Sections 5-63.2-10 and 5-63.2-15 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-63.2 entitled "Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists" are hereby amended to read as follows: 5-63.2-10. Qualifications of licensed marriage and family therapist associates and licensed marriage and family therapists.

(a) The department shall issue the appropriate license to applicants who meet the qualifications of this section.

(1) Prerequisites for licensure of a marriage and family therapist associate. A license as a “marriage and family therapist associate” shall be issued to an applicant who meets the following qualifications:

(i) Is of good character;

(ii) Has completed a graduate degree program specializing in marital and family therapy from a college or university accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, or an equivalent regional accreditation agency;

(iii) Has completed sixty (60) semester hours or ninety (90) quarter hours within his or her graduate degree program specializing in marital and family therapy; and

(iv) Has completed a minimum of twelve (12) semester hours or eighteen (18) quarter hours of supervised practicum and a one-calendar year of supervised internship consisting of twenty (20) hours per week, or its equivalent, with emphasis in marriage and family therapy supervised by the department within the college or university granting the requisite degree or by an accredited postgraduate clinical training program, approved by the commission on accreditation for marriage and family therapy education recognized by the United States Department of Education, or education and/or experience that is deemed equivalent by the board. Has completed a supervised internship or practicum in marriage and family therapy as part of the master's or doctoral program of study. The internship or practicum shall include a minimum of three hundred (300) hours of direct client contact with individuals, family groups, couples, groups, public organizations, or private organizations under the direction of an approved supervisor.

(2) Prerequisites for licensure of a marriage and family therapist. A license as a “marriage and family therapist” shall be issued to an applicant who meets the following qualifications:

(i) Has been awarded a master's degree and has had a minimum of two (2) years of relevant postgraduate experience, including at least two one thousand five hundred (2,000) (1,500) hours (the "total required hours") of direct client contact offering clinical or counseling or therapy services with emphasis in marriage and family therapy, with at least one thousand four hundred (1,400) of the total required hours earned by the applicant after the applicant has been subsequent to being awarded a master’s degree or doctorate. A maximum of one hundred (100) hours of the total required hours may be earned during a graduate degree program provided in § 5-63.2- 10(a)(1)(ii). A minimum of three hundred (300) hours of the total required hours must be spent with couples, families, or groups of two (2) or more individuals; or

(ii) Has been awarded a doctoral degree and has had a minimum of two (2) years of relevant postgraduate experience, including at least one thousand (1,000) hours of direct client contact offering clinical or counseling or therapy services with emphasis in marriage and family therapy and has completed a marriage and family therapy doctoral program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education; and (ii)(iii) Has had a minimum of one hundred (100) hours of post-degree supervised case work spread over two (2) years; provided, that the supervision was provided by a person who, at the time of rendering the supervision, was recognized by the board as an approved supervisor; and (iii)(iv) Has passed to the satisfaction of the board an examination conducted by it to determine the applicant’s qualifications for licensure as a marriage and family therapist or is applying for licensure under the provisions of § 5-63.2-15.

(b) A candidate shall be qualified for licensure as a marriage and family therapist associate, or a marriage and family therapist upon the affirmative vote of at least four (4) members of the board, two (2) of whom must be marriage and family therapists on the board. 5-63.2-15. Licensure by endorsement.

(a) A license as a clinical mental health counselor or marriage and family therapist may be issued, in the discretion of the board, without examination, to an applicant who is a clinical mental health counselor where the applicant is licensed or certified in another state whose requirements are equivalent to or exceed the requirements established pursuant to this chapter.

(b) A license as a marriage and family therapist may be issued, without examination, to an applicant who is a marriage and family therapist where the applicant is licensed in another state as a marriage and family therapist and has been licensed as a marriage and family therapist in another state for at least one year.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.