LMFT Licensure in Utah: Requirements, Hours and Exams

The statute keeps the associate application light in its own terms: under §58-60-305(2) an associate applicant complies with the application, fee and degree provisions of (1)(a) through (c) — with (1)(c)(ii)'s criteria established by rule — and the background check in (1)(h).

DOPL's associate application page fills in the evidence: official transcripts from a COAMFTE-accredited marriage and family program, or a clinical master's degree in marriage and family therapy or equivalent from a program accredited by a professional accrediting body approved by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation of the American Council on Education at the time the applicant obtained the education.

The same page sets a clinical practicum floor, quoted below.

DOPL's license list also shows the Associate Marriage and Family Therapist Extern license, whose conditions the pages read do not state.

The degree rule has two routes and the statute states both in one sentence.

An applicant must produce certified transcripts evidencing completion of a master's or doctorate degree in marriage and family therapy from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education, or from an accredited institution meeting criteria for approval established by rule under Section 58-1-203.

The statute itself sets no unit count; the criteria for the second route live in Utah Admin.

Code R156-60b, which was not among the sources read, so this page cannot state them.

If your degree is not from a COAMFTE program, ask DOPL how the institution-based route applies before you apply, and expect to document course content the way the associate application page describes.

Two hour rules sit in §58-60-305, and the sources read do not settle which applies today.

Subsection (1)(e) requires not less than 1,200 direct client care hours obtained after the education requirement: inside them, not less than 100 must be direct clinical supervision hours under a clinical supervisor, not less than 25 must be direct observation hours, and not more than 25 may be group supervision hours shared with more than one other licensure applicant.

The rule as read sets no couples-or-families sub-quota.

Applicants also complete at least two hours of division-approved suicide-prevention training after the degree, under (1)(f).

(1)(d) separately requires 3,000 hours of clinical supervision, or two years of it, if federal law requires that for Medicare eligible-professional status under CMS rules.

Federal rules at 42 CFR 410.53 already set a two-year or 3,000-hour test for MFT Medicare eligibility, so whether (1)(d) is currently triggered, and whether DOPL's application asking for a 3,000-hour total applies that condition, is not resolved by the pages read.

Confirm the operative total with the division.

DOPL's exam page requires the National Marital and Family Therapy (MFT) Exam administered by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB), evidenced by an official score report of passing submitted with the license application.

The 2025 statute added a second door in §58-60-305(1)(g)(ii).

An applicant who does not pass can instead document at least one examination attempt that did not result in a passing score, complete not less than 500 additional direct client care hours — not less than 25 of them direct clinical supervision hours and not less than five of them direct observation hours by a mental health therapist or supervisor — and submit two recommendation letters: one from the applicant's direct clinical supervisor, and one from another licensed mental health therapist who has directly observed the applicant's direct client care hours and is not the direct clinical supervisor.

Confirm with DOPL how the alternative is processed before you plan around it.

Utah works supervision into the 1,200 direct client care hours rather than setting a separate supervision block: not less than 100 of those hours must be direct clinical supervision under a clinical supervisor, not less than 25 must be direct observation, and no more than 25 may be group supervision hours shared with more than one other applicant.

Who may supervise, and whether video supervision counts, are governed by Utah Admin.

Code R156-60b, which was not among the sources read, so this page leaves both open.

Two dated DOPL announcements do apply.

Beginning January 1, 2027, all supervisors must complete required training to maintain their approved supervisor status.

And since January 1, 2023, the division no longer accepts backdated supervisor verification forms, so get each supervisor's verification documented as the hours accrue rather than reconstructed afterwards.

DOPL gives relocating therapists two routes on its endorsement page.

If you are currently licensed as the equivalent of an MFT in another state, territory or district of the United States, you may qualify for licensure by endorsement.

If you hold the equivalent license but do not meet that route's requirements, the page offers a practice-hours alternative: lawful practice of not less than 3,000 hours, of which at least 1,000 hours are in mental health therapy.

There is no MFT interstate compact, so an out-of-state clinician's path into Utah runs through these DOPL routes, not any multistate privilege.

DOPL's site also lists a separate application path for out-of-state applicants not applying by endorsement; ask the division which fits your record before filing.

Marriage and Family Therapy license renewals are due on September 30 of even years, with a 103-dollar renewal fee.

Each renewal requires 40 hours of continuing education, of which 15 hours must be directly related to marriage and family therapy, 6 hours in ethics/law and 2 hours in suicide prevention.

On format, up to 10 hours may come from online self-study courses; the remaining 30 must be accrued as part of an in-person course or via live, interactive webinars.

Licensees completing their first CE cycle who have not been licensed two full years owe a prorated amount: 1.6 hours of CE for each month licensed, measured from the license issue date to the expiration date.

DOPL emails a renewal notice 90 days before expiration, and the renewal page warns that practising on an expired license is unlawful conduct and a criminal offense under Utah Code.

The statute on this page is §58-60-305 as amended by Chapter 443 of the 2025 General Session, effective May 7, 2025.

The current text provides a 1,200 direct client care hour floor in (1)(e), a 3,000-hour or two-year clinical supervision requirement in (1)(d) written as a condition tied to federal Medicare rules, and an exam alternative in (1)(g)(ii) for a first failed attempt.

The pages read hold only this post-amendment version, so what Chapter 443 changed from cannot be stated here.

Around the statute, DOPL's board page carries two dated operational changes: the supervisor-training mandate beginning January 1, 2027, and the January 1, 2023 cutoff for backdated supervisor verification forms.

Because Utah Admin.

Code R156-60b was not read either, rule-level amendments are not reflected here; check DOPL's proposed-rule-changes page if your timeline straddles these dates.