LMFT Licensure in Delaware: Requirements, Hours and Exams

Delaware's pre-licensure rung is itself a license, not a registration.

The statute defines a licensed associate marriage and family therapist as an individual licensed as an associate marriage and family therapist who is obtaining experience under professional direct supervision for the purpose of becoming licensed as an LMFT.

The associate license runs 2 years and may be renewed up to 2 times, so at most 6 years on an associate license.

Rule 3000-5.1.1 then gates the LMFT: successful applicants must hold an active LAMFT.

The rule's limited exception lets someone who has already completed the experience requirements and holds an acceptable degree apply for the LMFT directly — the Board reviews the experience and education documentation and, if acceptable, permits the AMFTRB exam, and the LMFT issues once the pass is on file.

The statute asks for a master's or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a recognized educational institution with a minimum of 45 semester credits, or a graduate degree in an allied field plus graduate-level work the Board determines is equivalent to an MFT master's.

The rule names the acceptable allied fields: counseling, social work, psychology, and psychiatry.

A COAMFTE-accredited MFT degree qualifies as it stands.

A non-COAMFTE MFT degree or an allied-field degree must be based on at least 45 credit hours matching the rule's listed content areas — relational and systemic foundations, assessment and diagnosis, human development, diversity, clinical treatment with individuals, couples and families, ethics, research and more — and must include 9 credit hours earned through an internship with at least 300 hours of direct client counseling, 150 of which were spent on couples and family therapy.

Plan around two numbers: 3,200 and 1,600.

The statute requires, following completion of the master's degree, 2 years of supervised marriage and family therapy experience — not less than 3,200 hours obtained over not more than 4 consecutive years, at least 1,600 of which is supervised clinical experience acceptable to the Board.

The rule adds the floor and the shape: no less than 2 but no more than 4 consecutive years, and a fixed split of the 1,600 supervised hours.

Hours worked under a supervisor who does not meet Rule 6.3.1 do not count toward the 1,600 supervised hours, though they may count toward the 1,600 that need not be supervised — which makes your supervisor's credentials part of the hour math.

The 500-hour couple-and-family quota is fixed too, so a caseload light on relational work will not stretch to cover it.

The exam is the AMFTRB standardized examination or another examination acceptable to the Board.

The timing is the quirk: an LAMFT applicant must meet every LMFT requirement except the experience requirement, and no LAMFT applicant may take the exam without prior Board approval — approval rests on acceptable education under Rule 6.2 and a submitted supervision plan under Rule 6.3.

A score equal to or greater than the pass point set by the AMFTRB is required, and the LAMFT issues once the Board receives proof of the pass.

An applicant using the Rule 5.1.1.2 exception submits experience and education documentation directly for the LMFT and receives permission to take the exam only if the Board accepts it.

The research found no state jurisprudence exam in the sources read.

Before any hours count, the Board must approve the supervision plan: the plan for professional direct supervision is submitted to and approved by the Board prior to acquiring the experience.

Rule 6.3.1 lists acceptable supervisors: a Delaware-licensed LMFT; a holder of the AAMFT approved supervisor designation; an AAMFT approved-supervisor candidate acceptable to the Board; an LMFT licensed in another state in good standing for at least 5 years who passed the AMFTRB exam; or, on a compelling clinical reason the applicant must establish, another licensed behavioral health professional with an essential competency — the rule names psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, physicians and advanced practice registered nurses as examples.

The statute defines professional direct supervision as face-to-face consultation on a regularly scheduled basis.

Whether video counts toward that is not stated in the sources read: the board's art-therapy rule says face-to-face includes live video conferencing, but no MFT statute or rule says so — ask the Board before counting video supervision.

Supervisor changes must be reported in writing within 30 days and are subject to Board approval.

Delaware's definition of the practice reaches past counseling alone: it includes the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders, whether cognitive, affective, or behavioral, within the context of interpersonal relationships, and spans psychotherapy, assessment instruments, counseling, consultation, treatment planning and supervision with individuals, couples and families.

An LMFT's licensed work therefore includes diagnosis inside that relational and systemic frame.

Both titles are protected: no one may hold themself out as a licensed marriage and family therapist or a licensed associate marriage and family therapist without a license under the chapter, and using a title that conveys licensure without one is a misdemeanor under the chapter's penalty section.

Reciprocity has two doors.

Under § 3054(a) the Board grants a license to an applicant with current licensure in good standing in another state, the District of Columbia or a US territory whose standards are substantially similar to Delaware's, and Rule 5.2.3 puts the burden of proof on the applicant, who must submit the other jurisdiction's statute and rules for the Board's comparison.

Under § 3054(b), an applicant from a state whose standards are not substantially similar still qualifies with a license held in good standing for at least 5 years plus a passed exam: the statute accepts the AMFTRB National Examination or other MFT licensing exam acceptable to the Board, while Rule 5.2.4 names only the AMFTRB exam — confirm with the Board before relying on this route if you took a different exam.

Good standing is defined by reference to the discipline-related qualifications in § 3052(a)(4)-(8).

There is no MFT compact, so this reciprocity section is the path in, however long you have practiced.

All licenses renew biennially on September 30 of even-numbered years, online through the Division of Professional Regulation.

An LMFT renews with at least 40 acceptable CE hours from the previous licensure period, including 3 hours of ethics and 3 hours in cultural inclusion, equity, and diversity; the load for an initial licensure period shorter than two years is prorated, from zero hours to 30 depending on where in the cycle the license was granted.

Associate license holders are not required to complete CEs.

Acceptable CE includes hours approved by national organizations such as NBCC, AAMFT or APA and any activity whose purpose is maintaining professional competence; teaching, presenting or peer-reviewed writing can account for up to 20 hours.

Two rule amendments fall in the window.

Rule 3000-5.0 — the LMFT rule whose current text carries the active-LAMFT-first requirement, its limited exception and the 500/500/500/100 supervised split — was amended effective December 1, 2024 (28 DE Reg.

467); the research could not isolate which provisions the amendment changed relative to the prior text.

Rule 3000-12.0, the renewal and CE rule, was amended effective March 1, 2023 (26 DE Reg.

771); the 3-hour cultural inclusion, equity, and diversity requirement appears in the current text, but its adoption date was not isolated either.

A guide written before these dates may carry the older wording, so check hour and CE language against the current rules or confirm with the Board.

Three application mechanics sit outside the hour rules.

Fingerprints and criminal history checks are at the applicant's expense, and an applicant may not be licensed until the state and federal criminal history reports have been produced.

At each licensure date, each licensee submits proof of membership in good standing in a national certifying organization acceptable to the Board — a condition of renewal under § 3008(b), not part of the CE count.

And the Board adopts the current AAMFT Code of Ethics: the practice of every LMFT and LAMFT must conform to its principles, and a violation is grounds for discipline.

None of these changes the hour math, but each can stall an application that is otherwise complete.