Mason Orso
Staff Writer
On Sept. 25, the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Board (AMFTRB) hosted the 32nd-annual meeting of state delegates in Philadelphia.
Each of the states, the District of Columbia and Guam have licensure laws for marital family therapists.
Dr. Joanni Sailor is the President of AMFTRB, an associate professor and director of Cameron Psychology Clinic.
Sailor said AMFTRB is responsible for serving as a regulatory board.
“We provide information for research, we help to develop policies or recommendations for the state and we facilitate communication among our stakeholders to help the state make really important decisions,” Sailor said.
The board looks at decisions such as portability of licensure, ensuring competency, managing license renewal issues and addressing disciplinary actions.
Sailor said AMFTRB plays a supportive role by providing recommendations and suggestions to the state.
“We look at what each state is doing,” Sailor said, “and we bring that information together to look for ways that we can continue to assist the state in the decisions that they are making.”
Sailor said AMFTRB brings great minds together to resolve complex problems.
AMFTRB is most known for owning, developing and administering the national exam for marriage and family therapists.
Through the exam, the board determines competency on the front end.
“We need people who are competent, will do no harm, and … capable of providing for a very vulnerable population.” Sailor said.
AMFTRB regularly monitors the national exam. The board recently reviewed at least 200 questions to determine if they were appropriate.
The questions are based off what entry level practitioners would need to know in the mental health field.
In addition to the national exam, the state of Oklahoma evaluates ethics using a jurisprudence exam.
After the focus on competency, AMFTRB looks to create a pathway to mobility.
Each state has varying academic and work experience criteria to determine if therapists are eligible to acquire a license.
“The challenge with that is a single person can be licensed in the state but decide they are going to move and find out that [new] state requirements are different. That creates a barrier in the portability of their licensure,” Sailor said.
AMFTRB submitted a proposal to the state of Oklahoma requesting a change in license requirements to help make licenses transferrable across state lines.
An individual licensed in another state must be in good standing.
They cannot have any ethical complaints filed against them, and they must have had their license for at least five years.
“The majority of the states and Guam have accepted that,” Sailor said. “We have moved a little bit closer in the pathway to mobility.”