LMFT Licensure in Arkansas: Requirements, Hours and Exams

Arkansas issues exactly two MFT licenses, and the rule treats both as licenses.

The entry rung is the Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LAMFT), defined as a person who holds a current, valid license to practice marriage and family therapy services under the supervision of a licensed marriage and family therapist, and the rule adds that this license is not intended to be permanent.

Timing matters at the start: an associate-level licensee may offer services only beginning on the date of approval of a valid and current supervision agreement filed with the board, and no client may be seen prior to that date.

The Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) license keeps every LAMFT requirement except that pre-arranged supervision agreement and swaps in evidence of 3,000 client contact hours and 175 supervision hours acceptable to the board.

Applicants also need the criminal background check mandated by Arkansas Code § 17-27-313 and must be US citizens or hold current documentation of legal alien work status.

The degree is a graduate degree in marriage and family therapy or a related field from a regionally accredited institution, whose graduate semester hours meet or exceed the content standards adopted by the board or by COAMFTE.

Every applicant also documents a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours of counseling/therapy-in-content coursework, and the adopted standards for LAMFT and LMFT are the current COAMFTE standards and must meet Arkansas core curriculum standards.

The MFT core curriculum runs six graduate credit hours of foundations of relational/systemic practice, six of clinical treatment with individuals, couples, and families, three each in diverse, multicultural, and underserved communities, research and evaluation, professional identity, law, ethics, and social responsibility, biopsychosocial health and development, and systemic/relationship assessment and mental health diagnosis, a practicum/internship of nine graduate credit hours minimum in three graduate courses over a minimum of nine months, and one credit hour of technology-assisted counseling.

Two rules trip up transcripts: all course hours must carry a B- grade or above, and grades of C+ or below will not be accepted.

The totals are fixed: 3,000 client contact hours and 175 supervision hours acceptable to the board.

Within the 3,000, at least 2,000 must be direct client contact, and no more than 1,000 hours of indirect client contact may count, and only in Level 2.

The first 500 direct hours are Level 1, and no indirect hours can be counted there.

LAMFTs must log a minimum of 1,000 direct client contact hours in family/relational/group therapy.

Post-master's coursework cannot count toward the totals, but they can shrink: 100 CCH and 5 supervision hours per 3 graduate semester hours (or 4 quarter credits) earned beyond the master's degree.

Upon completing Level 1, an associate may also petition the board in writing, with the contracted supervisor's recommendation, to take the NCMHCE; if the board approves and the associate passes, the totals drop by 500 CCH and 25 supervision hours, and no more than 2,000 CCH and 100 supervision hours may be applied to Level 2 experience.

The rule states no minimum number of months.

Two written hurdles stand between the LAMFT and the LMFT.

Marriage and family therapist applicants must satisfactorily complete the AMFTRB examination unless they meet the criteria in 17 CAR § 75-901, and all applicants must verify a successful passing score on the Arkansas Board of Examiners in Counseling Jurisprudence Exam — with one exception: applicants granted automatic licensure under 17 CAR § 75-904, meaning uniformed service members stationed in Arkansas, uniformed service veterans who reside in or establish residency in the state, and qualifying spouses.

The board contracts each year for the Marital and Family Therapy National Examinations with AMFTRB and for the jurisprudence exam with NBCC, and cut-off scores set by the national agencies are the minimum scores the board accepts.

Students in the final semester of graduate study who have completed or are enrolled in the core curriculum may be admitted to the written exam before graduating, which can save months on the timeline.

Oral interviews may also be required if the board deems them necessary.

Supervision must be provided by an Arkansas LMFT who holds approved supervisor status from the board and whose license is in good standing — the board's own status is the criterion, not AAMFT's approved-supervisor designation.

Earning it takes being fully licensed in Arkansas for three years, a three-hour post-master's graduate course in clinical supervision that included 18 hours of supervised experience in supervision, and a pass on the jurisprudence exam and an oral interview, and a supervisor is limited to twelve supervision agreements at any given time.

The ratio is two-stage: one hour of supervision per ten hours of client contact for the first 500 direct hours (Level 1), then one per twenty hours for the remaining 2,500 (Level 2).

Of the 175 supervision hours, group supervision — three to six supervisees — may not exceed half, and dyadic supervision is recorded as individual.

Your supervision agreement must be board-approved before any therapy service, supervisor changes need board approval, and contact-hour reports are due every six months with a 30-day grace period.

The rule defines the practice broadly: marriage and family therapy reaches the description, evaluation, and modification of marital, family, and individual behavior within the context of marital and family systems, including marital formation and dissolution.

Holding an Arkansas license — or a compact privilege — is the prerequisite to offering, rendering, or delivering counseling services in Arkansas to individuals or groups located in Arkansas, and the requirement applies to telemedicine as well as traditional face-to-face work; serve a client located in another state and that state's laws apply to you.

The exemptions are narrow.

Clergy authorized by their congregation, synagogue, denominational institution, or agency for pastoral counseling are exempt, as are volunteers whose services are authorized and supervised by the sponsoring organization — but a minister with a private marriage and family therapy practice must be licensed, volunteer titles may not include counselor or therapist, and payment of any type to a volunteer means the volunteer has entered the private sector and must be licensed.

Endorsement is the route in, and its shape depends on what you hold.

An applicant who has continually maintained full licensure as an LPC, LMFT, or the equivalency may be eligible for licensure endorsement, with a license verification from each state and good-standing verification.

Holders of an associate, provisional, or intern license from another state may also apply: they document their hours, and the board sets the remainder.

Waiver of the NCE, NCMHCE, or the AMFTRB may be granted when another examination is equivalent or the endorsement rules are met.

In-movers' supervision hours must be board-approved unless the applicant has held a current full license in good standing for three years from their state of origin.

A separate automatic route under § 75-904 covers uniformed service members stationed in Arkansas, veterans who reside in or establish residency in the state, and qualifying spouses holding a similar-scope license in good standing; the board grants it on the § 75-904(c) fee and evidence.

There is no MFT compact as of September 2026; the board's compact rule covers counselors only.

All licenses expire biennially on May 31 of the renewal year, and a lapsed license can be renewed within twelve months of expiration — after that you reapply as a new applicant meeting whatever requirements are then in effect.

Renewal takes a minimum of 24 clock hours of continuing education and/or training in the 24 months prior to renewal, including a minimum of 3 clock hours in ethics relevant to the license being renewed, with the remaining hours counseling in nature and supportive of your statement of intent.

Dual LAC/LPC plus LAMFT/LMFT holders still file 24 hours with 3 in ethics, but the remaining 21 must show a balance between counseling and marriage and family therapy content.

Board-approved supervisors add 6 CE hours in supervision content each period, 3 of which must come from board-recognized state associations or an Arkansas university-associated workshop or program.

A licensee may substitute the NCE, NCMHCE, or the AMFTRB exam at the national pass score for CE clock hours, and one-third of file numbers each year may be audited.

The current rulebook is the board's 2026 Rule Revision, 17 CAR ch. 75, a PDF dated 06/29/26; the text prints no effective date, so confirm with the board before relying on it.

Two recent Acts add licensure routes.

Act 2023, No. 457 grants automatic occupational licensure to an Arkansas resident who has been in good standing for at least one year on a similar-scope license issued by another state, or has worked at least three years in the occupation in a state that does not license it, provided they have no disqualifying criminal offense under Arkansas Code § 17-3-102 and no pending complaint, allegation, or investigation, and pass the board's jurisprudence exam unless the board waives it.

The board grants it on the fee, residency, and qualification evidence, and the licensee has one year to meet the remaining requirements, including the board's criminal background check.

Act 2025, No. 231 adds a provisional licensure track: one year and three attempts only to pass a national examination, with the application non-renewable and a failed applicant reapplying as a traditional applicant.

The rule counts the full supervision total as 175 clock hours conducted face to face or through telemedicine, and says technology-assisted supervision may be counted in both levels, as may group supervision.

No percentage cap on technology-assisted supervision appears in the 2026 rule text read.

The claim that technology-assisted supervision cannot exceed 50% of supervision hours in Level 1 comes from an AMFTRB 2025 State Licensure Survey cell — a source the research for this page treats as truncated and not citable for figures — and is not in the rule.

If you intend to take most of your supervision by video, keep complete records of who supervised what and when, and confirm the arrangement with the board before you count on it.