|
Becoming An AAMFT Approved Supervisor
Marriage and family therapists who
wish to obtain the AAMFT Approved Supervisor designation must
identify and contract with an Approved Supervisor at the
beginning of their training. The Approved Supervisor will
guide and monitor the progress of the supervisor candidate,
and will eventually recommend that the AAMFT award the
Approved Supervisor designation to a candidate who has
successfully completed the training process. This process is
referred to as supervision mentoring.
Once the
Approved Supervisor is satisfied that the supervisor candidate
has met all requirements for the designation's application,
the Approved Supervisor oversees the supervisor candidate's
application for the designation. The AAMFT will conduct a
quantitative review of the application to ensure that all
requirements have been met and, if so, will award the Approved
Supervisor designation to the supervisor candidate.
Becoming
an AAMFT Approved Supervisor involves three steps, described
in detail below. In short, they are:
1.
Prepare to train-ensure prerequisites are
met; identify an Approved Supervisor to serve as the mentor;
develop a plan for fulfilling the training requirements.
2.
Complete training requirements-take a pre-approved
supervision fundamentals course (that requires a Philosophy of
Supervision paper); provide supervision to MFT/trainees;
receive supervision mentoring from an Approved Supervisor;
obtain MFT license or AAMFT Clinical Membership.
3.
Submit application-Complete and submit an application
packet, endorsed by the Approved Supervisor mentor, to AAMFT.
It is recommended that the
Approved Supervisor Designation
Standards and Responsibilities Handbook,
October 2007 be reviewed
in its entirety before beginning the training process.
Step 1: Preparing to Train for the Approved Supervisor
Designation: Becoming a Supervisor Candidate
Prerequisite:
A marriage
and family therapist who is in the process of meeting the
requirements for the AAMFT Approved Supervisor designation is
called a supervisor candidate. Prior to becoming a supervisor
candidate, the MFT must have completed a master's degree in
marriage and family therapy or a closely related field, or
completed a minimum of two years in a marriage and family
therapy doctoral program.
Select a
mentor:
MFTs who
have met the educational prerequisite must identify a current
Approved Supervisor to serve as the supervision mentor
throughout the training process. The AAMFT's
online directory may be
useful in the identification of a supervision mentor. The
selection of a supervisor mentor is an important step, as the
mentor will guide the candidate throughout the training
process, and will ultimately decide if the candidate is ready
to receive the designation. The prospective candidate should
consider the Approved Supervisor's availability and reputation
prior to asking the Approved Supervisor to serve as the
candidate's mentor. By the same token, Approved Supervisors
should carefully consider the time and attention required of
supervisor mentors before agreeing to serve in that role.
A candidate may have two Approved Supervisor mentors during
the training period. In such a case, each Approved Supervisor
must provide half of the required hours of supervision
mentoring. The two Approved Supervisor mentors and the
supervisor candidate should agree at the beginning of the
training process, or as soon as it is clear that two Approved
Supervisor
mentors will be utilized, which Approved Supervisor will
conduct the final evaluation of the supervisor candidate when
the training process has been completed. It is recommended
that the three parties meet together to clarify roles and
responsibilities, and that agreements be documented in
writing.
To serve as a supervision mentor, an Approved Supervisor
should have at least 300 hours of supervision experience
(which may include the 180 hours they provided during their
own training). This is to ensure that Approved Supervisors
have considerable experience of their own before mentoring a
new supervisor.
Develop a
contract and training plan:
Once a
supervision mentor has been selected, the mentor and the
candidate should develop a contract detailing how the Approved
Supervisor will provide the required mentoring. The Approved
Supervisor mentor and supervision candidate should also
develop a training plan-a plan for how, and in what timeframe,
the candidate will fulfill the requirements to obtain the
designation. (Tools for developing a supervision contract and
a training plan can be found by clicking
here.)
Neither the supervision contract nor the training plans need
to be submitted to the AAMFT. Rather, they will be used by the
Approved Supervisor mentor throughout the training process to
evaluate the candidates progress. They will serve as the
outline of the mentoring relationship. Circumstances may
require altering the contract and/or the training plan at some
point in the training process. In such a case, it is
recommended that the situation be discussed as soon as
possible, and that the contract and training plan be
re-written or amended to reflect any new agreements.
Step 2: Training for the Approved Supervisor Designation:
Meeting the Requirements
Once a
contract with an Approved Supervisor mentor has been
established, and a training plan developed, the supervisor
candidate may begin training for the designation. The Approved
Supervisor mentor will oversee each step of the training
process, and ensure that the candidate integrates the various
aspects of the training process into his/her evolving
competence as a MFT supervisor.
There are nine learning objectives of the training process for
supervisor candidates. By the end of the training process,
supervisor candidates must have successfully integrated these
nine learning objectives into a coherent theory and practice
of MFT supervision. At the end of the training process, the
Approved Supervisor mentor will be asked to evaluate whether
the candidate has indeed met these learning objectives.
Please click
here to view the
nine learning objectives.
Timeframe:
A
supervisor candidate must be in training for a minimum of two
years. The training period may extend beyond two years if
necessary, assuming that the candidate is actively engaged in
meeting the requirements and remains in ongoing supervision
mentoring. Should the training extend beyond two years,
Approved Supervisor mentors and candidates should be aware of
time limits for certain requirements, such as the recency of
the supervision course.
Supervision fundamentals course:
During the
training process, supervisor candidates must complete a 30
contact hour course in marriage and family therapy supervision
fundamentals. The course must include both interactional and
didactic instructional methods. There are options for
completing this requirement:
. Completion of an AAMFT pre-approved course. These are
graduate level courses offered by a university,
post-degree
institute, or an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. A list of
pre-
approved courses is available by clicking
here.
. Completion of a graduate MFT supervision course
taught in a
doctoral program that is accredited by the Commission
on
Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education
(COAMFTE). These courses are marked as
"ACCREDITED" on
the
course listing.
. Completion of the AAMFT supervisor course offered at
the
AAMFT Summer Institutes or AAMFT Winter Institutes.
. Combining: (1) Attendance at the entire supervision
track (15
hours) at the AAMFT Annual Conference, and (2)
Completion of
an AAMFT-sponsored distance learning course on MFT
supervision.
Philosophy of Supervision paper:
The supervision
fundamentals course must include the requirement to
write a
Philosophy of Supervision paper. This paper will be
reviewed by
the course instructor. It should also be reviewed by
the Approved
Supervisor mentor and discussed with the supervisor
candidate.
The Philosophy of Supervision paper should reflect the
candidate's incorporation of the
learning objectives.
It provides
a basis for the
mentor and the candidate to review the
candidate's evolving
competence as a clinical supervisor.
Guidelines for writing the
Philosophy of Supervision paper can be
found
here.
Time limit on course:
The supervision fundamentals course
must be taken within five years of the supervisor
candidate's
application for the designation.
Course
verification:
With the final application, supervisor
candidates must submit verification that the
supervision
fundamentals course was completed. The verification may
be a
certificate or letter of completion, and must indicate
the dates,
contact hours, instructor, and sponsor of the course. A
transcript
will suffice if the course was taken in a university
setting.
Provide
supervision to trainees:
The
supervisor candidate must provide 180 hours of clinical
supervision to MFTs and/or MFT trainees during the two-year
training period. During this time, the candidate must actively
supervise at least two supervisees for at least nine months
each. Characteristics of MFT supervision are described in the
Responsibilities and Guidelines
section.
Receive
supervision mentoring:
Supervisor
candidates must receive at least 36 hours of supervision
mentoring from a current AAMFT Approved Supervisor during the
two-year training period. Supervision mentoring should
continue throughout the entire period of one's candidacy, even
if the 36 hours have been completed. If the training period
extends beyond two years, at least 18 hours of supervision
mentoring must be obtained within the two years prior to the
submission of the application packet.
A candidate may have two Approved Supervisor mentors. Each
Approved Supervisor must provide a minimum of 18 hours of the
supervision mentoring. At the conclusion of the training
process, both Approved Supervisor mentors will sign the
candidate's
Approved Supervisor Application.
Each mentor will complete a
Supervision Mentoring Report. Only one
Approved Supervisor is required to complete the
Approved
Supervisor's Evaluation. Generally, this will be the Approved
Supervisor mentor who is the last to mentor the candidate
before the application is submitted to the AAMFT.
Additional characteristics of supervision mentoring are
discussed in the
Responsibilities and Guidelines section.
Obtain
AAMFT Clinical Membership:
Applicants
for the Approved Supervisor designation must be AAMFT Clinical
Members, or demonstrate that they have been evaluated for and
offered Clinical Membership. Often, MFTs will be Clinical
Members well before becoming a supervisor candidate. If not,
this should be completed as soon as possible during the
training period.
Note: It is not required that a supervisor candidate or an
Approved Supervisor accept or maintain AAMFT Clinical
Membership, but they must be able to demonstrate that they
have been offered Clinical Membership.
To join the AAMFT, please
click here.
Clinical
Experience:
Prior to
applying for the Approved Supervisor designation, supervisor
candidates must have two years of clinical experience beyond
obtaining an MFT license or two years of clinical experience
beyond receiving AAMFT Clinical Membership. If this
requirement is met by an MFT license, the only qualifying
license is a marriage and family therapy license. A license in
another mental health discipline (social work, psychology,
etc.) is not acceptable.
Step 3: Submitting the Approved Supervisor Application Packet
When the
supervisor candidate and the Approved Supervisor mentor agree
that all training requirements have been met, they should work
together to complete the application packet. The application
packet will include documentation that the candidate has
fulfilled all the training requirements (course, supervision
mentoring, etc.) It will also include the Approved Supervisor
mentor's assessment of the supervisor candidate's readiness to
receive the designation. If the Approved Supervisor mentor
believes that the supervisor candidate has not fulfilled the
training requirements or met the learning objectives for the
designation, the mentor and the candidate should agree to a
plan to rectify the deficiency.
The completed Approved Supervisor application packet will be
mailed to the AAMFT along with the non-refundable application
processing fee. The application packet should include all of
the following:
1.
Approved Supervisor Application: The application
should be completed by the supervisor candidate. The Approved
Supervisor mentors should review the application for accuracy.
Both the candidate and the mentors should sign the application
form.
2.
Supervision Mentoring Report: The Approved
Supervisor mentor should complete the mentor report. If two
Approved Supervisor mentors were involved in the candidate's
training, each mentor must complete a report form.
3.
Approved Supervisor's
Evaluation: The Approved
Supervisor mentor must complete this form. With the submission
of this form to the AAMFT, the mentor affirms that she or he
believes the supervisor candidate should receive the Approved
Supervisor designation.
4. Supervision Course Verification:
The supervisor candidate must provide verification
(certificate, letter,
transcript) that he/she completed a MFT supervision
fundamentals course as described earlier.
5. Non-refundable application processing fee
- $200. This fee covers the processing and review of the
application. If the supervisor candidate is awarded the
designation, he or she will receive an invoice for the
Approved Supervisor annual fee.
Application review:
The AAMFT will conduct a review of the application to verify
that the requirements have been met. The review process
generally takes two weeks to complete once the application
packet is received by the AAMFT. If the review confirms that
all requirements have been met and documented, the supervisor
candidate will be awarded the designation.
If you
have questions or wish to request materials, contact:
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
112 South Alfred Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Email:
central@aamft.org
Phone: 703-838-9808
Fax: 703-838-9805
|
