How Registered Interns Can Thrive
Are you a registered MFT or MHC intern looking to fulfill your supervisory requirements?
They will understand and explore:
- Florida requirements (listed below)
- Site supervisor requirements (site supervisor not offered by Thrive Counseling)
- Gatekeeping responsibilities
What to Expect
- Supervisees can expect to be offered support and encouragement throughout the supervisory experience. They will be encouraged to identify and implement a wellness (self-care) routine to increase health and prevent burnout. They will also be asked to evaluate their current boundaries and develop a plan to establish and maintain professional boundaries.
- Supervisees can expect to progress through the counselor development process in a graduated approach. Initial sessions will give higher levels of support, with the goal of building a strong foundation. As skills are sharpened, supervision will reflect the increased responsibility and competency with the supervisee gaining more autonomy.
- Supervisees will be asked to identify areas of strength, challenge, and needed growth, and will work to solidify skills throughout the supervision process. The overarching goal of supervision is to build confidence and competency in areas of rapport building, administrative skills such as note writing, case conceptualization influencing treatment plans, and identifying the most appropriate approach for each client.
- Supervisees will engage in 60 minute individual or triadic (2 supervisees) sessions. Personalized “homework” assignments will be recommended to build upon sessions and guide specific implementation of learned tools and skills.
Florida requirements, per the Florida Department of Health
It is a requirement for MFT and MHC Registered Interns to be supervised throughout the intern process, and for Registered Interns to work under the direct supervision of someone who is licensed.
Registered interns with the state of Florida need 100 supervision hours
- 1 hour for every 15 client contact hour
- 1500 client contact hours
- no less than 2 years
- Client contact hours are the hours spent in direct client contact. You will need to document 1500 hours of direct client contact (post Master’s) throughout your 2 year period of supervision.
The Board has the same supervisory requirements for counselors seeking a license in both Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling. The requirements are listed below, directly from the Florida Board website (floridasmentalhealthprofessions.gov):
- Two (2) years of post-master’s supervised experience under the supervision of licensed mental health counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist with five years of experience, or the equivalent (64B4-31.007 F.A.C., 64B-21.007 F.A.C.) who is qualified as determined by the Board.
- The supervision experience must have consisted of at least 1,500 hours providing psychotherapy face-to-face with clients for the profession for which licensure is sought, and shall be accrued in no less than 100 weeks.
- At least 100 hours of supervision per 1,500 hours of psychotherapy face-to-face with clients provided by the intern; At least one (1) hour of supervision every two (2) weeks; at least one (1) hour of supervision per fifteen (15) hours of psychotherapy, with a minimum of one (1) hour of supervision every two (2) weeks.
- If the applicant obtained group supervision, each hour of group supervision must alternate with an hour of individual supervision.
- Individual supervision is defined as one supervisor supervising no more than two (2) interns.
- Group supervision is defined as one supervisor supervising more than two (2) but a maximum of six (6) interns in the group.”
Updated Florida Telehealth Requirements, per the Florida Department of Health:
On June 11, 2020, during a general board meeting, the Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling discussed the pending expiration of emergency rule 64B4ER20-24, Florida Administrative Code. The emergency rule was implemented in response to preparing for, responding to, and mitigating any effect of COVID-19 and authorized registered interns to provide telehealth services during the next 90 days, expiring on July 3, 2020. Due to continuing concerns with COVID-19 and recommendations for social distancing, the Board voted to modify rule 64B4-2.002, Florida Administrative code. The filed rule language includes the following provisions:
- Registered interns may provide face-to-face psychotherapy by electronic methods if the registered intern has a written telehealth protocol and safety plan in place with their current qualified supervisor which includes the provision that the qualified supervisor must be readily available during the electronic therapy session. The registered intern and their qualified supervisor have determined, through their professional judgements, that providing face-to-face psychotherapy by electronic methods is not detrimental to the patient is necessary to protect the health, safety, or welfare of the patient, the registered intern, or both, and does not violate any existing statutes or regulations.
- Any clinical hours obtained via face-to-face psychotherapy by electronic means shall be considered clinical hours for the purpose of meeting internship requirements.
- Qualified supervisors may utilize face-to-face electronic methods, including telephone only communication, to conduct all supervisory sessions for internship hours if the qualified supervisor determines, through their professional judgment, that such methods are not detrimental to the registered intern’s patients and are necessary to protect the health, safety, or welfare of the qualified supervisor, the registered intern, or both.
- No later than 90 days prior to June 30, 2021, the Board shall review and amend, modify, or repeal paragraphs (6) and (7) above if it determines that same creates barriers to entry for private business competition, is duplicative, outdated, obsolete, overly burdensome, imposes excessive costs, or otherwise negatively impacts the quality of psychotherapy received by Florida citizens."
