Washington LMFT Requirements: Hours, Supervision, Exams and Fees

The LMFTA Comes First

Washington's statute names the pre-license credential directly: "licensed marriage and family therapist associate," commonly shortened to LMFTA (RCW 18.225.020). An associate is defined as someone "working towards full licensure in their profession, has a graduate degree in a mental health field under RCW 18.225.090 and is gaining the supervision and supervised experience necessary" to become an LMFT. Associates "may not independently provide ... marriage and family therapy for a fee, monetary or otherwise" and work under an approved supervisor (WAC 246-809-010(1); see RCW 18.225.145(2)). No supervised postgraduate experience is required before someone becomes an associate (WAC 246-809-130(3)(d)), and the applicant instead declares they are working toward full licensure (WAC 246-809-130(3)(e); RCW 18.225.145(1)).

The associate license runs one year and renews on its date of issuance, and there is no limit on how many times it can be renewed (WAC 246-809-990(2); RCW 18.225.145(6)(a)). A six-renewal limit applied before June 6, 2024; anyone cut off by that limit is treated as if the license had expired and can return to active status through the expired-license process (RCW 18.225.145(6)(b)). Each year of the associate license carries 16 hours of continuing education, with 6 hours of professional ethics and law every two years, 2 hours of professional roles and boundaries, and 2 hours of health equity every four years (WAC 246-809-632(1) to (4)).

At the first professional contact with a client, an LMFTA discloses, on a disclosure form, that they practice as an associate under the supervision of an approved supervisor (RCW 18.225.145(3); WAC 246-809-710(2)).

The Degree Behind the LMFTA

Both the associate license and full licensure require "a master's or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy or a behavioral science master's or doctoral degree with equivalent course work from an approved school" (WAC 246-809-120(1)). A behavioral science degree qualifies on its own if it already shows the equivalent course work, or by pairing partial course work with supplemental course work from an approved school that fills the gaps (WAC 246-809-120(2)). Anyone completing that supplemental course work "may count any postgraduate experience hours acquired concurrently with the additional course work," so the hour clock and the coursework can run at the same time (WAC 246-809-120(3)).

The equivalent course work itself is spelled out in credit hours: "a total of forty-five semester credits or sixty quarter credits are required in the nine areas of study," and "a minimum of twenty-seven semester credits or thirty-six quarter credits are required in the first five areas of study: Marital and family systems, marital and family therapy, individual development psychopathology, human sexuality, and research" (WAC 246-809-121(2)). The remaining areas cover professional ethics and law, an elective, and supervised clinical practice (WAC 246-809-121(2)(g) to (i)).

Two shortcuts bypass the course-work count entirely. Anyone who has obtained American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) clinical membership status "is considered to have met the education requirements of this chapter," verified directly from AAMFT to DOH (WAC 246-809-120(4)). And a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) counts as an "approved educational program" on its own (WAC 246-809-110(1)(b)).

The Supervised Experience: 3,000 Hours

"Total experience requirements include a minimum of 3,000 hours" (WAC 246-809-130(3)). Inside that total, 1,000 hours must be direct client contact, and at least 500 of those 1,000 hours must be gained "diagnosing and treating couples and families" (WAC 246-809-130(3)(a)). The 500 is not an additional total on top of the 1,000; it sits inside it.

The 200 supervision hours carry two different splits at once, not two separate totals. One split runs by who provides the supervision: 100 hours with a licensed marriage and family therapist with at least two years of clinical experience, and the other 100 hours may be with an equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner (WAC 246-809-130(3)(b)(i)). The other split runs by format: at least 100 of the 200 hours must be one-on-one supervision, and the remaining hours may be one-on-one or group (WAC 246-809-130(3)(b)(ii),(iii)). Both splits describe the same 200 hours from different angles.

The One-Per-80 Rate

Washington sets one supervision rate for every licensure candidate, on every track: "regular supervision, meeting at least one hour for every 80 hours of the licensure candidate's clinical practice time" (WAC 246-809-020(2)(b)). That rate is a minimum frequency, not a total, and it does not replace the 200-hour qualified-supervision figure above.

For this track, group supervision means "face-to-face or virtual supervision with an approved supervisor, involving one supervisor and no more than six licensure candidates," and one-on-one supervision means "face-to-face or virtual supervision with an approved supervisor, involving one supervisor and no more than two licensure candidates" (WAC 246-809-110(4),(6)). Both modes allow either a face-to-face meeting or a virtual one.

Who Can Supervise

An approved supervisor for this track is "a licensed marriage and family therapist, or an equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner," where an equally qualified practitioner means "a licensed mental health counselor, licensed clinical social worker, licensed psychologist, licensed physician practicing as a psychiatrist, or licensed psychiatric nurse practitioner" (WAC 246-809-110(2),(3)). The supervisor's license must be "without restrictions and have been in good standing for the previous two years" (WAC 246-809-134(1)).

The rule states the relationship bar precisely: the approved supervisor "must not be a blood or legal relative or cohabitant of the licensure candidate, licensure candidate's peer, or someone who has provided psychological services to the licensure candidate within the past two years" (WAC 246-809-134(2)). A "peer" is defined as "a coworker who is not the licensure candidate's employer or supervisor" (WAC 246-809-110(7)), so the peer part of the bar does not cover the candidate's employer or supervisor. The rule says nothing further about employers.

To qualify, a supervisor completes "a minimum of fifteen clock hours of training in clinical supervision" through a supervision course, continuing education credits on supervision, supervision of supervision, or a combination, plus "twenty-five hours of experience in supervision of clinical practice." An AAMFT Approved Supervisor is considered to have met those qualifications instead (WAC 246-809-134(4)). Before supervision begins, the supervisor gives the candidate a declaration stating they meet the requirements of WAC 246-809-134, on DOH 670-099, the "Approved Supervisor Declaration for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Candidates" (March 2025), and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor must "submit proof of AAMFT approval" on that same form (WAC 246-809-134(3); DOH 670-099).

The supervisor also attests to thorough knowledge of the candidate's practice setting, recordkeeping, financial management, ethics of clinical practice, and the candidate's backup plan for coverage (WAC 246-809-134(5)).

The Exam: AMFTRB

Full licensure requires passing the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB) examination, with the passing score set by the testing company together with the AMFTRB (WAC 246-809-140). The exam is a requirement of the full LMFT application, not the associate license.

An applicant requests a seat on DOH 670-165, the "Marriage and Family Therapist/Marriage and Family Therapists Associates Request for Examination" form (May 2024), which states plainly: "You will need to submit this form at least 45 days prior to the administration of the examination you wish to take." A candidate can request the exam anytime after submitting the associate or full application (DOH 670-165).

The Form: DOH 670-005, and What It Gets Wrong

Supervised experience is verified on DOH 670-005, the "Marriage and Family Therapy Supervision and Experience Verification" form (May 2023). Its boxes track the WAC line for line: box A is hours diagnosing and treating couples and families (at least 500), box B is other direct client contact, and boxes A plus B must equal 1,000. Box C is group supervision hours, box D is one-on-one supervision hours (at least 100 required), and boxes C plus D must equal 200. A third figure covers all other hours, and the total of all three sections must reach 3,000. DOH instructs applicants to "use a separate form for each supervisor verifying your postgraduate supervision and professional experience for each practice setting," so more than one supervisor or setting means more than one form (DOH 670-005). For what each Washington verification form asks for across all three tracks, see the Washington supervised experience verification forms.

Two packets bracket the path. The associate application uses DOH 670-096 (March 2025). The full license application uses DOH 670-042 (March 2025). DOH also requires 36 hours of continuing education, including 6 hours of professional ethics, completed after meeting academic requirements and attested on DOH 670-209 (December 2018), before DOH issues the full LMFT (DOH continuing education page; DOH 670-209).

What DOH Charges

All figures come from the fee schedule at WAC 246-809-990. Fees are nonrefundable (WAC 246-809-990(3)).

Renewal After Licensure: Yearly on the Birthday

Once the LMFT issues, the license renews yearly on the license holder's birthday, a different clock from the associate license's date-of-issuance renewal (WAC 246-809-990(1),(2)). Each two-year cycle requires 32 hours of continuing education: 6 hours of professional ethics and law, and 2 hours of professional roles and boundaries. A four-year cycle adds 2 hours of health equity, and a six-year cycle adds 6 hours of suicide-assessment training (WAC 246-809-630(3)).

The associate license keeps its own separate cycle throughout: 16 hours of continuing education every year, with the 6-hour ethics and law block attested at the second, fourth and sixth renewal, 2 hours of professional roles and boundaries, and 2 hours of health equity every four years (WAC 246-809-632(1) to (4)). For that cycle in full, see Washington associate license renewal and CE.

The Arithmetic Behind 3,000 Hours

Take a candidate who logs exactly 500 hours diagnosing and treating couples and families and 500 hours of other direct client contact. That is 500 plus 500, which equals the 1,000-hour direct contact requirement, with the 500-hour couples-and-families minimum satisfied inside it, not on top of it (WAC 246-809-130(3)(a)). On supervision, the same candidate logs 100 hours one-on-one and 100 hours of group supervision, 100 plus 100 equaling the 200-hour supervision requirement, with the 100-hour one-on-one minimum met exactly (WAC 246-809-130(3)(b)(ii),(iii)). Those same 200 hours also have to satisfy the supervisor-type split: 100 hours with a licensed marriage and family therapist, the other 100 with an equally qualified practitioner (WAC 246-809-130(3)(b)(i)). The remaining hours toward the 3,000-hour total, 3,000 minus 1,000 minus 200, equal 1,800 hours of other experience, which the rule does not further categorize.

The supervision rate adds its own arithmetic: 3,000 hours at 80 practice hours per supervision hour is at least 37.5 supervision hours by the rate alone, which is arithmetic, not a rule; the LMFT total of 200 hours of qualified supervision still applies (WAC 246-809-020(2)(b); 246-809-130(3)(b)).

Common Mistakes on the Washington LMFT Track

Related Washington Guides

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