MFT Local Supervisor Guide

Clinical Training Handbook

State Supervisor Requirements Click Here 

For general information regarding clinical training, Click Here

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Visit them here: https://careerservices.nu.edu 

We would love to hear from you! Please note, that our office works with a vast group of students and therefore, we do recommend that you go ahead and schedule out a meeting with a group, Q & A session, or a 1-1 session with our Clinical team. Please note that the 1-1 sessions do get booked quickly, and we encourage you to schedule these in advance if you need the 1-1 session. Please see our link below:

Schedule an Appointment

 For more immediate or urgent matters, we can set up a more immediate, 1-1 zoom meeting based on the level of urgency. If you need an immediate meeting, please provide us with exact details and specific questions by emailing, MFTTraining@nu.edu, to see if this will be necessary. Or we can address your questions/concerns via email for a quicker response.

Local Clinical Supervisor Responsibilities

This section outlines the responsibilities of Local Clinical Supervisor in the clinical experience. 

1.    Shall be responsible for the student's legal practice during clinical training and abide by all state/province/local regulations for the clinical supervision of students. 

2.    Shall be responsible for assuring that all clinical experience gained by the student is within the parameters of marriage and family therapy. 

3.    Shall be appropriately credentialed to provide clinical supervision for a person completing postgraduate MFT training in the state/province/location where the supervision is taking place. 

4.    Shall have the requisite training and experience to provide competent MFT relational/systemic supervision to MFT students and graduates. 

5.    Shall provide NU with a current copy of their current license, resume, liability insurance certificate, and verification of any required supervisor training and/or relevant graduate coursework as required by state regulations and notify NU and the student immediately of any action that may affect his/her license. 

6.    Shall, if providing supervision as an Offsite Local Clinical Supervisor, attach a completed, signed copy of the Offsite Supervisor Agreement Letter between the supervisor and the student's clinical placement site. The standard template or California version of the template may be used for this purpose.

7.    Shall review the resources provided by National University.

8.    Shall provide 1 hour of weekly individual supervision across the clinical placement year, for a minimum of 52 hours of individual supervision, of which 12 must be in-person and at least 50 hours of which supervision includes observable data (e.g., review of video and/or audio clips or live observation of the student’s direct clinical contact) as part of the regular supervision session. Any supplemental local supervision that utilizes digital technology, in which participants are not in the same location, may be provided only if appropriate mechanisms/precautions are in place to ensure the confidentiality and security of the means of technology delivery. 

9.    Shall complete an online evaluation of the student’s clinical and professional performance at the clinical placement site based on observable data of the student’s clinical skills. 

10.    Shall monitor the student’s clinical and professional activities and verify his/her participation in the specified clinical requirements by attesting to such via the NU-approved online clinical tracking system. 

11.    Shall complete all the required online student evaluation forms by the prescribed time. 

12.    Shall participate in course-required meetings with clinical faculty. 

13.    Shall be familiar with the laws and regulations that govern the practice of Marriage and Family Therapy, and, those that directly affect the MFT student. 

14.    Shall review, abide by, and hold the student to the standards of AAMFT's Code of Ethics and any state specific Code of Ethics and laws that apply to the practice of MFT. 

15.    Shall provide the trainee with a policy and procedure for crisis intervention and other client/clinical emergencies, those that are mandated by law (e.g., child abuse, danger to self/others). 

16.    Shall bring any concerns that arise about the student and/or the clinical experience to the attention of the Clinical Administrative Team (MFTtraining@nu.edu). 

17.    Shall be permitted to participate in the student’s final clinical evaluation at the end of her/his clinical training. 

18.    Shall abide by the WASC Senior College and University Commission accreditation nondiscrimination policy that states programs will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, age, creed, ethnic, or national origin, handicap, or political or sexual orientation. 

Licensure Requirements Per State:

If you are unsure of your state's hour requirements please visit this form: State Requirements.

From this list you can select the state you wish to review from the dropdown and you will be directed to your state requirments.

To graduate students must have a total of 100 NU supervision hours and the following local supervision hours:

• •  At least 52 individual supervision hours with their Local Clinical Supervisor. Individual weekly supervision should be with the student and the Local Clinical Supervisor and may include another trainee. Local group supervision counts as group (not individual) supervision (includes at least three trainees). Local supervision only counts when it occurs with the Local Clinical Supervisor. Telephone or other electronic means of supervision count toward the required hours but at least 12 of these local supervision hours must be in-person.
• •  At least 50 observable data (video or audio) university group supervision hours must be obtained to meet graduation requirements.
• •  Students are strongly encouraged to share their video or audio recordings during local supervision as well as feedback from local supervisors is very valuable. * Per COAMFTE, ONLY observable data hours shared in university group supervision with program faculty count toward graduation requirements.
• •  Students are strongly recommended to share observable data with their local supervisor weekly so the local supervisor can continue reviewing data and providing feedback in local supervision. If a student shares observable data during University group supervision, all students in that group are able to count that hour as observable data. When no data has been shared, then students submit that class time as Group Case Report. Students will need to complete a minimum of 50 observable data hours in their University group supervision approved in Tevera by their NU clinical faculty. Questions about “what counts” should be directed to the NU clinical faculty and additional resources can be found in the MFT Clinical Support Module in the learning platform.
• •  Role plays do NOT count toward the required observable data supervision hours.
• •  Students may count an hour of co-therapy with their NU approved Local Clinical Supervisor as both an hour of therapy and an hour of live supervision. However, an additional hour of individual supervision (separate from the co-therapy) must occur during the same week.
• •  Co-therapy requires planning and debrief. If there is no pre-planning or follow-up, it isn’t effective co-therapy or supervision.
• •  Students cannot count co-therapy as observable data supervision if they are doing co-therapy with another therapist or even with their site supervisor who is not a designated supervisor of record (Local Clinical Supervisor). The Local Clinical Supervisor will verify student hours by approving clinical activities in the clinical tracking system. Additionally, the Local Clinical Supervisor submits a formal evaluation of the student’s work at the end of each clinical course. The due dates for these assignments are specified in the course syllabus. At the end of each course, an approved hour log is generated. These two sets of documentation – the evaluation and the approved hour log – complement each other and provide NU the confidence that they can certify the student has met the standards for competence and professional identity.

 

Students can receive point reductions in their courses if they do not meet hours requirements.

In compliance with the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) version 12.5 Accreditation Standards, the program permits students to engage in telesupervision to meet graduation requirements. Students will need to coordinate with their Local Clinical Supervisor to determine how the local supervision will be with compliant with relevant federal, state, or provincial regulatory requirements. This includes the secure HIPAA-compliant platform that will be used for telesupervision.

Students should also review and follow the AMFTRB Guidelines for Telehealth and Telesupervision (https://amftrb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/AMFTRB-Teletherapy-Guildelines-9-21.pdf) 

Students are required to complete the following items prior to being approved to see clients at a site and count hours. 

Before you start Practicum I and are cleared to engage in therapy with clients, you will need to complete ALL tasks in ELC.

The tasks are separated into three areas: Pre-Application tasks, Site Application tasks, and Local Clinical Supervisor Application tasks.

The list of all tasks is featured below. Detailed instructions are featured when you select the + sign in Tevera.

• Pre-Application Tasks:

o Required: Resource Acknowledgement

o Required: Pre-Requisite Course Review

o Required: NU International and Relocation Attestation

o Required: Clinical Readiness Quiz

o Required: HIPAA Compliance Quiz

o Required: Clinical Readiness Orientation

o Required: Upload Confirmation of Background Check

o Required: Re-Acknowledgement related to criminal and mental health history 

• Site Application Tasks:

o Student Completes Site Proposal

o MFT Student Location and Licensure Confirmation

o MAMFT Site Agreement

o Authorized Site Representative Completes Site Profile – (NEW SITES ONLY)

o Site Walkthrough – (NEW SITES ONLY)

• Local Clinical Supervisor Application Tasks:

o Supervisor Proposal

o Supervisor Profile (NEW SUPERVISOR ONLY) or Supervisor Completes Demographic Confirmation Form (PRE-APPROVED SUPERVISOR ONLY)

o Supervisor Uploads Documents

o Student & Local Supervisor Review Supervisor Check-In Process

o Student Upload Certificate of Liability Insurance

o Student Initiates Clinical Placement Agreement

o Offsite Supervisor Agreement (only applicable if supervisor is not employed by site)

o Add the University Time Track

o JotForms Task

• Students in a 45 credit program may begin their clinical work after the completion of their 9th course in their program.

• Students in a 48 credit program may begin their clinical work after the completion of the 10th course in their program.

• Students in a 54 credit program may begin their clinical work after after the completion of the 11th course in their program.

• Students in a 60 credit program may begin their clinical work after after the completion of the 13th course in their program.

Questions on this? Please reach out to your Academic and Finance Advisor, located on your Student Portal, contacts page.

Students will know that they are cleared to begin clinical training and be eligible to enroll in their first Practicum (clinical course) only after they received a Clinical Eligibility notice from the Clinical Training Team. This notice will be a response to their Clincial Eligibility JotForm they submitted as part of their final task in Tevera. They will see their status in Tevera change and receive a group/faculty information assigned to their clinical course.

Consistent with the Clinical Handbook, page 6, “Students must complete the MAMFT Clinical Preparation Process (CPP) to be eligible for enrollment in clinical courses and to start at their site. All tasks in the MAMFT CPP must be approved prior to enrollment in the first clinical course.”

This ultimately means that students CANNOT see clients until they are fully approved for clinical training by the Clinical Admin Team. This also means that hours can only be counted, starting with the official start date of the Practicum I course.

Please ensure that you are staying compliant with these policies as being out of compliance can lead to possible state and program level implications. 

• Student’s current caseload
• Student’s current approved hours (direct therapy, relational, individual supervision, and raw data supervision)
• Student’s hours are in comparison to the recommended hours for the end of the course
• Changes, if any, student needs to make to complete hours per the recommended clinical sequence
• Student’s preferred model and application to student’s clients
• Student’s clinical development (strengths and areas for improvement)
• Any concerns (from student and supervisor)
• Any suggestions (from student and supervisor)

If for whatever reason you need to terminate work with a student, we do recommend that you provide at least 4-weeks of a notice to your supervisee. 

Please inform the MFT Clinical Team at your earliest convenience if you are going to terminate a student at MFTtraining@nu.edu. 

MFT Clinical Leadership will follow up with you regarding your reasons for termination and to offer any support.

Students will be asked to fill out the following form as part of the termination process:

Site Withdrawal Form

You can access demographic information regarding MAMFT students and NU faculty at this link:

https://www.nu.edu/marriage-and-family-therapy-application-process/mamft-students-faculty-demographics/