Michigan LLMFT Hours Requirements: The 1,000-Hour Path to LMFT

What the Michigan LLMFT Is

Michigan's statute gives the pre-license credential two titles: "limited licensed marriage and family therapist" or "limited licensed marriage counselor" (MCL 333.16903(3)(a)). LARA names the license itself the "Marriage and Family Therapist Educational Limited License," and LLMFT is LARA's own abbreviation for it, not a term the statute defines. The full credential is the "licensed marriage and family therapist," abbreviated "l.m.f.t." (MCL 333.16903(1)), issued by the Michigan Board of Marriage and Family Therapy under Part 169 of the Public Health Code.

The pool is the smallest of Michigan's three clinical tracks: 144 active LLMFT holders and 922 LMFTs statewide, per LARA's active license count as of September 23, 2026.

What the Limited License Allows, and Where

Holding the limited license comes with fixed conditions. The licensee may not represent that they are engaged in independent practice, must practice "only under the supervision of a fully licensed marriage and family therapist," and must confine that practice "to an organized health care setting or other arrangement approved by the board" (MCL 333.16903(3)(b) to (d)).

The rule spells out what qualifies as that approved setting: a health facility, a mental or psychiatric hospital, a training institute, a court family counseling service, a church counseling program, a marriage and family therapy practice, a governmental agency, or "a private practice of a fully licensed mental health practitioner" (R 338.7201(2)).

Is the Limited License Required for the 1,000 Hours?

Michigan does not make the limited license mandatory for the post-degree stage. The statute only authorizes the board to issue one: it "may grant a limited license ... in order to permit that individual to obtain the experience required under section 16909(c)" (MCL 333.16903(3)). LARA's guide states the practical expectation in the same non-mandatory register: "If the hours are completed in Michigan, an educational limited license should be held while accruing the experience."

The earlier practicum stage is a different matter entirely: it requires no limited license. A person completing that practicum "may use the title 'marriage and family therapist intern' or 'marriage and family therapist trainee' during the training period," and the board may not require a limited license for that stage (MCL 333.16903(4)).

The 1,000 Direct Client Contact Hours

The core requirement is "a minimum of 1,000 direct client contact hours in supervised marriage and family therapy experience, at least 1/2 of which was completed with families, couples, or subsystems of families physically present in the therapy room" (MCL 333.16909(1)(c)). Half of 1,000 puts the relational floor at 500 hours.

These hours are obtained "following the completion of the degree," or concurrent with or after the required coursework on the non-COAMFTE education path, or "as part of a doctoral program in marriage and family therapy" (16909(1)(c)(ii)). They are verified by "the supervising licensed marriage and family therapist" (16909(1)(c)(i)).

The statute allows the two stages to overlap: the 1,000 hours "may include experience obtained under subdivision (b)(i)", meaning the practicum hours covered next (16909(1)(c)(ii)).

Supervision: 1 Hour Per 5, 200 Total, 100 Individual

Supervision on the 1,000-hour stage is set by both a ratio and a total: "at least 1 hour of supervision for each 5 hours of experience, for a total of not less than 200 hours of supervision concurrent with the 1,000 hours" (16909(1)(c)(iii)).

Inside that 200, "not less than 100 hours of supervision under this subparagraph shall be individual supervision with no more than 1 other supervisee present. The remaining supervision under this subparagraph may be group supervision involving no more than 6 supervisees with 1 supervisor" (16909(1)(c)(iii)).

The Separate 300-Hour Practicum

Before the post-degree stage, the statute sets a distinct practicum requirement: "not less than 300 direct client contact hours," at least half relational, completed "over not less than 8 consecutive months," with "at least 1 hour of supervision for each 5 hours of direct client contact, for a total of not less than 60 hours of supervision" (16909(1)(b)).

Six kinds of supervisor qualify for the practicum: a master's-level LMFT, a certified or registered social worker, a licensed professional counselor, a physician practicing in a mental health setting, a fully licensed psychologist, or an AAMFT approved supervisor or supervisor-in-training (16909(1)(b)(iii)).

The COAMFTE Doctoral Waiver

An applicant with a doctoral degree from a board-approved program can skip both experience stages at once. The board "shall waive the requirements of subsection (1)(b) and (c) for an applicant who provides satisfactory evidence to the board of having obtained a doctoral degree from an accredited doctoral training program in marriage and family therapy approved by the board" (16909(2)). That waiver reaches the 300-hour practicum and the 1,000-hour post-degree requirement together.

The LLMFT Renews No More Than 5 Times

The limited license runs one year at a time. The rule states it is "renewed annually and may not be renewed more than 5 times" (R 338.7203(2)). The statute states the same ceiling measured in years: the board "shall not renew a limited license for more than 6 years" (MCL 333.16903(3)).

A 1-year license renewed 5 times covers 6 years, so the rule and the statute describe the same limit from two angles. Neither source provides an extension request past it.

The AMFTRB Exam

The licensure exam is the Marital and Family Therapy National Examination, developed by the AMFTRB and administered by the Professional Testing Corporation (PTC). It runs "during the third full week of each month, Saturday to Saturday," with an application deadline of "the first Monday of the month preceding the month in which the candidate wishes to take the examination" (R 338.7207, R 338.7209; board exam page).

Before registering with PTC, a candidate emails bplhelp@michigan.gov and receives an approval code. Eligibility opens "as soon as the Educational Limited MFT license is issued or, if applying for a full MFT license, as soon as the education and verification of supervised clinical experience during the educational program are received" (board exam page).

Verifying the Hours: Two Forms

The "Supervisor's Verification of 1,000 Direct Client Contact Hours in Marriage and Family Therapy Experience" (LARA/BPL-MFT1000HRS, Rev. 11/2025) is "ONLY REQUIRED FOR FULL LICENSURE," and a separate form is completed by each supervisor. On it, the supervisor certifies that at least half of the hours were relational, that "at least one fifth of these hours were face to face hours of supervision," that at least one fifth of those supervision hours had no more than one other supervisee present, that the remainder was group supervision with no more than six supervisees, and the total direct client contact hours across a start and end date.

The "Supervisor's Verification of 300 Direct Client Contact Hours" (LARA/BPL-MFT300HRS, Rev. 11/25) covers the practicum instead. It is required for the limited license, or for full licensure if no limited license was held, and "a separate form must be submitted directly to this office by each supervisor," the one form on this track whose instructions name the supervisor as the sender. The supervisor checks one of six listed credential types and certifies the half-relational split and the 8-consecutive-month practicum window.

What LARA Charges

Fees are current as of the LARA licensing guides revised January 26, 2026, paid by card through MiPLUS.

LMFT Renewal: Every 3 Years, No Added CE

The full LMFT license renews every 3 years. Michigan sets no continuing education requirement for the LMFT beyond the implicit bias training and the human trafficking certification every Michigan licensee carries at renewal, regardless of track. There is no separate CE law layered on top for marriage and family therapists.

Two Education Routes

A COAMFTE-accredited master's or higher satisfies the education requirement on its own. The alternative is a master's or higher from an accredited college that includes three courses, 6 semester or 9 quarter hours each, in family studies, family therapy methodology, and human development, personality theory, or psychopathology, plus 2 semester or 3 quarter hours each in ethics, law and standards, and in research (16909(1)(a)).

Licensed in Another State? Endorsement to the LMFT

An applicant fully licensed as an MFT in another state or Canadian province can endorse into Michigan by passing the AMFTRB exam or the California LMFT Clinical Examination (R 338.7213).

A Reconciled 1,000-Hour Record

Take a candidate who logs exactly 1,000 direct client contact hours, 500 of them relational. That meets the "at least 1/2" floor (16909(1)(c)) exactly, with nothing to spare.

Supervision on that same stage runs 200 hours, the total the 1-hour-per-5 ratio produces on 1,000 hours (16909(1)(c)(iii)). Of the 200, 100 are individual with no more than one other supervisee present, meeting the "not less than 100" floor exactly, and the remaining 100 are group, within the 6-supervisee cap. Every hour of it happens face-to-face. Nothing here is a stated minimum on top of another; it is one record that clears every floor in the statute at once.

Common Mistakes on the Michigan LLMFT Track

Related Michigan Guides

FAQ: Michigan LLMFT Hours Requirements