Licensing Out-of-State Applicants:

Ohio's MFT laws are different from many of the other states' laws. Ohio has a two-tier licensure system: MFT and IMFT. Ohio students are eligible to sit for the national examination as soon as they g raduate from their MFT program. Once they have passed the examination, an applicant can be licensed as an MFT. The licensee then begins their accumulation of hours toward IMFT licensure.

In the state of Ohio, accumulating hours toward becoming an Independent MFT can only be obtained post-licensure, not post-graduate. In most states outside of Ohio, post-graduate hours count toward Independent licensure because there is only one tier of licensure in those states.

An applicant who is coming to the state of Ohio with post-graduate hours from another state may be eligible to bypass the first tier of licensure and become licensed as an IMFT. Please refer to Administrative Code 4757-29-01(C)(6).

The same educational requirements apply for both in state and out of state applicants. The educational requirements are outlined in Administrative Code 4757-25-01. Please refer to this rule as well as to the Marriage and Family Therapist License Requirements link on this website.

Instructions:
If transferring an MFT license from another state, applicants will need to submit:

1. Request for Application form (check box for Endorsement) MFT Forms
2. Official transcripts
3. The Educational Requirements Worksheet (if applicable)
4. Criminal Background Check
5. Official licensure application (available upon request)
6. Out-of-state license verification

If not tested or licensed in another state, but applicant has completed required supervision hours toward IMFT licensure:

1. Request for Application form (check box for Examination) MFT Forms
2. Official transcripts
3. The Educational Requirements Worksheet (if applicable)
4. Criminal Background Check
5. Official licensure application (available upon request)
6. Documentation of out-of-state supervision hours

* All forms and the Criminal Background Check information can be found on the Forms page.