Marriage and family therapists, rehabilitation counselors, mental health counselors, educational psychologists, applied behavior analysts and assistant applied behavior analysts, supervised mental health counselors; licenses; qualifications
M.G.L. c. 112, § 165
in effectc. 112, § 165. Marriage and family therapists, rehabilitation counselors, mental health counselors, educational psychologists, applied behavior analysts and assistant applied behavior analysts, supervised mental health counselors; licenses; qualifications
Section 165. The board may issue a license to an applicant as a marriage and family therapist, a rehabilitation counselor and a mental health counselor; provided, however, that each such applicant shall provide satisfactory evidence to the board that such applicant: (1) is of good moral character; (2) has not engaged or is not engaging in any practice or conduct which would be grounds for refusing to issue a license under section one hundred and sixty-nine; (3) demonstrates to the board, the successful completion of a masters degree in a relevant field from an educational institution licensed by the state in which it is located and meets national standards for granting of a masters degree with a subspecialization in marriage and family therapy, rehabilitation counseling, counseling, or a relevant subspecialization approved by the board. To be eligible for licensure, an applicant must have two additional years of supervised clinical experience in the relevant field in either a clinic or hospital licensed by the department of mental health or the department of public health or accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals or in an equivalent center or institute or under the direction of a supervisor approved by the board. For purposes of this clause, ''Supervision'' shall be defined as no less than two hundred hours of supervised clinical experience, at least one hundred hours of which shall consist of individual supervision with a clinician who has expertise in marriage and family therapy, rehabilitation counseling, educational psychology, or counseling and who holds a masters degree in social work, marriage and family therapy, rehabilitation counseling, educational psychology, counseling or an equivalent field or holds a doctorate degree in psychology, or a medical degree with a subspecialization in psychiatry; (4) successfully passes a written or oral examination administered by the board to determine the applicant's qualifications for licensure for each profession licensed pursuant to this section; and (5) an individual licensed under the provisions of this section who also holds a valid license as a licensed certified social worker pursuant to the provisions of section one hundred and thirty-one or section three of chapter eight hundred and eighteen of the acts of nineteen hundred and seventy-seven shall designate which of such licenses governs each practice in which he is engaged and except when engaged in practice as a lecturer, teacher or researcher, he shall use the designated governing license and license title in connection with said practice, including, advertising, business cards or announcements. Said practice shall conform to the regulations of the board of registration which grants the designated license.
The board shall promulgate rules and regulations specifying the required qualifications of the supervising clinician.
The board may issue a license to an applicant as an educational psychologist; provided, however, that each such applicant, in addition to complying with clauses (1), (2) and (5) of the first paragraph shall provide satisfactory evidence to the board that such applicant:
(1) has successfully completed a relevant masters degree in psychology from an educational institution licensed by the state in which it is located;
(2) has successfully completed the equivalent of two full time academic years of post masters degree experience in school psychological services supervised by a licensed educational psychologist or a person eligible for licensing under this section; provided however, that such supervisor has been regularly involved for at least thirty contact hours per year;
(3) has been certified as a school psychologist by the department of education or holds a comparable certification from another state; and
(4) has successfully passed an oral or written examination administered by the board to determine the applicant's qualifications as an educational psychologist.
The board may issue a license to an applicant as an applied behavior analyst; provided, however, that each applicant, in addition to complying with clauses (1) and (2) of the first paragraph shall provide satisfactory evidence to the board that the applicant:
(1) has successfully completed a doctoral degree program from a recognized educational institution in which the doctoral program included a minimum of 60 graduate credit hours in courses related to the study of behavior analysis or a master's degree program from a recognized educational institution wherein the master's program included a minimum of 30 graduate credit hours in courses related to the study of behavior analysis, or for individuals with a masters or doctoral degree in another field of human services, successful completion of a board-approved certificate program in behavior analysis from a recognized educational institution combined with the successful completion of an approved course sequence formally approved by the board;
(2) has successfully completed a practicum or supervised experience in the practice of behavior analysis that meets the standards established by the board; and
(3) has successfully passed a board-approved examination related to the principles and independent practice of applied behavior analysis.
The board may issue a license to an applicant as an assistant applied behavior analyst; provided, however, that each applicant, in addition to complying with clauses (1) and (2) of the first paragraph shall provide satisfactory evidence to the board that the applicant:
(1) has successfully completed a bachelor's degree program from a recognized educational institution wherein a minimum of 135 classroom hours of instruction specifically in behavior analysis or possesses a bachelor's degree combined with successful completion of a board-approved course sequence or course work which otherwise meets professional standards, as determined by the board;
(2) has successfully completed a practicum or supervised experience in the practice of behavior analysis that meets the eligibility requirements established by the board; and
(3) has successfully passed a board-approved examination related to the principles and practice of applied behavior analysis.
The board may issue a license to an applicant as a supervised mental health counselor; provided, however, that each applicant, in addition to complying with clauses (1) and (2) of the first paragraph, shall provide satisfactory evidence to the board that the applicant: (i) demonstrates to the board the successful completion of a master's degree in a relevant field from an educational institution licensed by the state in which it is located and meets national standards for granting of a master's degree with a sub-specialization in counseling or a relevant sub-specialization approved by the board; and (ii) has successfully passed a board-approved examination.
A supervised mental health counselor shall practice under supervision of a clinician in a clinic or hospital licensed by the department of mental health or the department of public health or accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals or in an equivalent center or institute or under the direction of a supervisor approved by the board.
The board shall promulgate rules and regulations specifying the required qualifications of the supervising clinician.
Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVI/Chapter112/Section165Fetched: 10/20/2026