Utah LAMFT Requirements: Hours, Exams & Step-by-Step Guide

Path to Licensure as an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) in Utah

Utah regulates marriage and family therapists through the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL) and the Marriage and Family Therapist Licensing Board. The “LAMFT” in Utah is formally called the Associate Marriage and Family Therapist license, and it is the training license you hold while accruing post‑graduate supervised experience toward full MFT licensure.

Below is a step‑by‑step outline of what the Utah board actually requires, with emphasis on the hours and the state’s own terminology.

---

1. Understand what the Associate MFT license is (and is not)

• The Associate Marriage and Family Therapist license is a post‑graduate license that allows you to practice under supervision while working toward full Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) licensure.
• For the associate license itself, Utah focuses on:
  • Your degree (master’s or doctorate in MFT or equivalent), and
  • Your graduate clinical practicum hours.

Utah does not specify something like “1,500 hours of direct experience and 1,500 hours of supervised experience” for the associate license. Instead, it defines a practicum minimum (see Section 3 below). (dopl.utah.gov)

The larger supervised hour total (thousands of hours) applies when you later apply for full MFT licensure, not when you first become an associate.

---

2. Educational requirement for Associate MFT (LAMFT)

To qualify for the Associate MFT license in Utah, you must document one of the following: (dopl.utah.gov)

1. COAMFTE‑accredited degree path

   • Official transcripts showing completion of a master’s or doctorate degree from a marriage and family therapy program accredited by COAMFTE (Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education).

2. Equivalent accredited program path

   • Certified transcripts showing completion of a clinical master’s degree in marriage and family therapy or equivalent, from a program accredited by a professional accrediting body that is approved by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the American Council on Education at the time you obtained the education.

In either case, you must also meet the practicum requirement described next.

---

3. Practicum hour requirements for Associate MFT

For the Associate MFT license itself, Utah requires completion of a graduate clinical practicum with the following minimum totals: (dopl.utah.gov)

• Total practicum hours (minimum):
  • 400 hours of clinical practicum.
• Within those 400 hours:
  • At least 100 hours of face‑to‑face supervision.
  • At least 300 direct contact hours of face‑to‑face supervised clinical practice.
  • At least 150 of those direct contact hours must be with couples or families who are physically present in the therapy room.

Put another way, the practicum requirement can be summarized as:

• 400+ total practicum hours
  • 100+ hours = supervision (face‑to‑face with a supervisor)
  • 300+ hours = direct client contact in supervised clinical practice
    • 150+ of those direct hours specifically with couples/families in‑person

These are the only specific “hour” numbers tied to initial Associate MFT licensure. Utah does not break this down into categories like “1,500 direct / 1,500 supervised” for the associate license.

Note that the term practicum is separately defined in the Utah Administrative Code as a clinical training program at an accredited school, under general supervision, in a setting other than the student’s private practice. (rules.utah.gov)

---

4. Associate MFT vs. Associate MFT Extern: different practicum hour minimums

Utah also has an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist Extern license. This is for applicants who are slightly deficient in specific graduate coursework but are otherwise close to meeting education requirements. The practicum hours for the Extern license are higher: (dopl.utah.gov)

• Total practicum hours (Extern minimum):
  • 600 hours of clinical practicum.
• Within those 600 hours:
  • At least 100 hours of face‑to‑face supervision.
  • At least 500 direct contact hours of face‑to‑face supervised clinical practice.
  • At least 250 of those direct hours must be with couples or families physically present in the therapy room.

For the standard Associate MFT license (i.e., LAMFT), the minimum is 400 total practicum hours with the 100/300/150 breakdown. For the Extern route, it is 600 total practicum hours with the 100/500/250 breakdown.

---

5. Post‑graduate supervised experience (for full MFT) and how it relates to LAMFT

Although your question is about the Associate license, it is helpful to understand where the larger “thousands of hours” requirement lives:

• Utah’s Marriage and Family Therapist Licensing Act Rule (R156‑60b‑302b) specifies that applicants for full MFT licensure must complete a minimum of 4,000 hours of supervised marriage and family therapy and mental health therapy training. Those 4,000 hours must: (rules.utah.gov)
  • Be completed in not less than two years.
  • Be done as an employee of a public or private agency engaged in mental health therapy.
  • Be under the supervision of a qualified MFT training supervisor (as defined in R156‑60b‑302d).
  • Include at least 100 hours of direct supervision spread throughout the training.
  • Include at least 1,000 hours of mental health therapy, of which at least 500 hours are couple or family therapy with two or more clients participating and at least one physically present.
  • Group therapy hours only count if you function as the primary therapist.

Historically, the application form for full MFT licensure has required 3,000 hours of documented post‑graduate supervised experience, suggesting that Utah has been in the process of bringing statute, rule, and forms into alignment. (dopl.utah.gov)

For purposes of your question:

• These 4,000 (or 3,000) supervised post‑graduate hours are not required to obtain the Associate (LAMFT) license.
• They are accumulated after you hold the Associate/Extern license, as part of your path to full MFT licensure.

---

6. Step‑by‑step: what you must document to become an Associate MFT in Utah

Based on current DOPL guidance and rules, the practical checklist for LAMFT looks like this: (dopl.utah.gov)

1. Complete the qualifying degree

   • Finish a master’s or doctorate in marriage and family therapy (COAMFTE‑accredited)
     or
   • Finish a clinical MFT (or equivalent) master’s from a CHEA‑approved or ACE‑recognized accredited institution, with coursework meeting the Utah MFT requirements.

2. Complete the required practicum hours

   • Graduate practicum totaling at least 400 hours, including:
     • 100+ hours of face‑to‑face supervision;
     • 300+ hours of direct face‑to‑face supervised clinical practice;
     • 150+ hours of that direct practice with couples/families physically in the room.

3. Gather documentation

   • Official or certified transcripts showing degree completion and accreditation details.
   • Evidence on transcripts or program documentation that you completed a practicum meeting the hour breakdown above.
   • Any additional education course requirement pages (DOPL may request course descriptions or syllabi for specific content areas).

4. Submit the Associate MFT application to DOPL

   • Use the Associate Marriage and Family Therapist application (online or manual) via Utah DOPL’s Marriage and Family Therapy licensing page. (dopl.utah.gov)
   • Pay the required fees and respond to any background/criminal‑history questions.

5. Once licensed as an Associate

   • Begin or continue post‑graduate supervised practice under a board‑qualified MFT supervisor to work toward the multi‑thousand‑hour requirement for full MFT licensure (as defined in R156‑60b‑302b). (rules.utah.gov)

---

7. How this compares to your example hour split

Using your example (“1,500 hours of direct experience and 1,500 hours of supervised experience”):

• Utah does not use that kind of split for the Associate (LAMFT) license.
• Instead, for the associate license, the only specific hour breakdown is within the graduate practicum:
  • 400 total practicum hours;
  • 100 supervision + 300 direct contact;
  • 150 of those direct hours must be couples/families in the room. (dopl.utah.gov)

The larger supervised experience requirements arise after you obtain the Associate license, as part of the pathway to full MFT licensure, and are currently framed in rule as a 4,000‑hour supervised training requirement with specific sub‑requirements for supervision and couple/family hours. (rules.utah.gov)

---

In summary, to be licensed as an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT) in Utah, the central hour requirement is a graduate practicum of at least 400 hours, structured exactly as described above. The associate license is then used as the vehicle to accrue your longer-term supervised training hours needed to become a fully licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.