MA Specialization in Couple and Family Therapy Policies and Procedures

For full PDF document with forms and appendices please contact faculty:

Suzanne Bartle-Haring, Ph.D. IMFT-S Co-Program Director
Keeley Pratt, Ph.D. IMFT-S Co-Program Director
Ashley Hicks, Ph.D.
Ashley Landers, Ph.D.

Revised: July 8, 2022

Program Mission:

To train excellent couple and family therapy clinicians for community mental health and other settings.

PART 1: ACADEMIC TRAINING

Program Goals

CFT Masters Students will develop clinical skills to enable them to work effectively with individuals, couples and families.
CFT Masters Students will develop a theory of change that enables them to work with clients from diverse backgrounds.
CFT Masters Students will be well versed in the ethical conduct of Couple and Family Therapy.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Synthesize conceptual and intervention skills within a developing theory of change, using relational/systemic models.
Know the literature available about diverse families and how diverse families access and engage in treatment.
Understand methods of diagnosis and treatment planning.
Know the ethical standards for the professional practice of CFT.
Students will be ready for entry level clinical practice in the field.

The educational objectives of the program emphasize clinical training toward licensure in Ohio.

Diversity and Inclusivity Principles and Commitments in the OSU Couple and Family Therapy Programs

As a Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education accredited program and/or as members of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, we adhere to the code of ethics for Couple and Family Therapy and the Diversity and Inclusivity Statement published on the AAMFT website. Below we have quoted the statement and made additions and alterations as we see fit to make it applicable to our programs (in italics).

“Diversity is a reality of life reflected in the broadest spectrum of the many different ways that individuals identify and exist in the world. Inclusion is acknowledging and appreciating the reality and value of our diversity, intentionally enlisting and engaging the spectrum of different identities and experiences, and respecting what each person brings to the program.”

“We acknowledge that societal power structures, tensions, and complexities related to diversity, and in particular, race, contribute to disparities in power, control, influence, status, privilege, and opportunities among individuals and groups. Therefore, our commitment to inclusion involves the continuous identification and effective elimination of barriers to accessing our educational programs, and our clinical services.”

“It is a core value in our programs to support, promote, and protect diversity, to value all individuals and groups as free from prejudice and oppression as possible, and to foster a climate where equity and mutual respect are intrinsic.”

“By appreciating the importance of inclusion, we acknowledge that the collective and individual talents, skills, and perspectives of our faculty, students, and other communities of interest foster a culture of belonging, collaborative practice, innovation, and mutual respect.”

“Diversity of thought and inclusion of new ideas and perspectives can help us increase creativity, generate new ideas, enhance problem solving, and increase flexibility, productivity, and effectiveness in our clinical work, educational endeavors, research, and partnerships to serve OSU, Columbus, and Ohio.”

Our Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the deep and enduring culture of systemic, institutionalized racism and white supremacy in the United States, with origins that lie in the embrace of slavery and took shape over generations of segregationist legislation and commonplace practices of bias and exclusion. It is implicit, explicit, structural, and effects not only our economic, social, and civic systems, but also our everyday behaviors. It is an insidious health and social determinant that systemically dehumanizes the lives of people of color in America.
We acknowledge that racism is a public health crisis which has enabled longstanding and historical patterns of neglect, abuse, and maltreatment perpetrated on people of color, especially Black Americans. This has led to racial inequities and disparity in economic, housing, educational, and employment opportunities.
For Black Americans, systemic racism can be traced back to the beginning of slavery 400 years ago. For Native Americans, it includes a long history of destroying their cultures and stealing their land. Others in America have suffered by being cruelly separated from their families and loved ones by on-going discrimination in our immigration laws. Racism in all its forms needs to end.
We acknowledge that due to heterosexist societal values—those that put down people who are not heterosexual—individuals who are LGBQ+ are marginalized, and experience instances of harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. Love is love, and heterosexism in all its forms needs to end.
We acknowledge that cisgender norms—agreeing with your gender assigned at birth—and traditional ideas of gender expression (e.g., women are feminine, men are masculine), lead to the marginalization of those who are transgender or nonbinary, leading to instances of violence and discrimination. Transphobia in all its forms needs to end.
We also acknowledge that traditional gender norms can be harmful to all genders by generating stereotypical expectations, which mute the emotional experiences of men, doubt the abilities of women, and put-down those who are nonbinary or present as androgynous. Sexism in all its forms needs to end.
We acknowledge the hardships that people from low socioeconomic statuses endure, only to be met with institutional barriers that limit their chances of success. All people are deserving of a chance at a better life than the one they were born into. Institutional barriers, that do not “even the playing field”, need to be eliminated, starting with equalizing education and increasing resources.
We acknowledge the hardships of those who are born with learning, emotional, and physical differences, and those harmed in life that resulted in these differences. All people have the right at an enjoyable life. Barriers that limit this reality need to be broken down, and resources encouraging an enjoyable life need to be instilled.
We acknowledge that race and racial injustices, and other forms of discrimination based on identifications that depart from the majority are challenging to talk about
We acknowledge that all members of our CFT programs will be challenged by issues of racism, racial injustices, heterosexist norms, cisgender norms, and all issues described above and are responsible for monitoring themselves and growing in their ability to confront themselves and do the work needed to become antiracist and culturally humble.
We acknowledge that the CFT field and our program faculty and staff are not currently representative of the population.
We acknowledge that injustices are ongoing.

Our Commitments

First and foremost, we are committed to the AAMFT Code of Ethics and do not discriminate based on race, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, gender, health status, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or relationship status.
We are committed to supporting the University’s and the College of Education and Human Ecology’s initiatives in ending racism and becoming more inclusive. We will evaluate our statements and ourselves based on these initiatives.
As a collaborative learning community, we are committed to learning how to be more competent in working with communities of color, LGBTQ+ communities, communities with lower SES, communities who are committed to non-monogamous relationships, communities with disabilities, among others. We understand that this learning is life-long.
As a collaborative learning community, we are committed to the value of cultural humility. “Cultural humility, is a process of reflection and lifelong inquiry, involving self-awareness of personal and cultural biases as well as awareness and sensitivity to significant cultural issues of others. Core to the process of cultural humility is the individual’s deliberate reflection of her/his values and biases.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3834043/
We are committed to maintaining a climate of safety that requires the protection of diversity and minoritized students, faculty and staff, while including all in decision making.
We are also committed to providing a climate of safety for students, faculty and staff to do their own work as they grow in cultural humility.
We are committed to monitoring and educating ourselves in our efforts to increase our competence and our practice of cultural humility.
We are committed to be antiracist, and to antiracist practices which we demonstrate in our teaching, supervision, clinical work and research.
We are committed to encouraging and valuing feedback from all students and faculty.
We are committed to courageous conversations about race and racial injustices, and other forms of discrimination based on identifications that depart from the majority.
We are committed to learning from our mistakes and giving others the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
We are committed to holding ourselves and our colleagues accountable for upholding and demonstrating these commitments.
We are committed to the development of a diverse workforce including clinicians and faculty.
We are committed to discussing on-going injustices within the program and to make plans for addressing these as appropriate.
We are committed to collaborating with community partners (internship sites, and other community partners) who share a common goal of eliminating systemic racism.
We are committed to place-based investments in services to support our communities that suffer the greatest health and economic disparities.

Accountability

We will evaluate this statement each year and make changes to it as the need arises.
We will collect data from students about the faculty and staff’s demonstration of these commitments. Feedback from these surveys will be used annually to improve the program and its climate of safety.
Action Step: Input from students about the climate of safety questions for the annual survey will be gathered.
Action Step: New items for the annual survey will be incorporated for Spring 2021 to better assess our climate of safety, and this feedback will be used to develop additional action steps for academic year 21-22.
We will evaluate students on their demonstration of our commitments throughout the program and provide timely and specific feedback in addition to their annual reviews.
We will implement strategies so that all students, especially those who are marginalized, will feel comfortable providing feedback. These strategies include student representatives for the faculty meetings, anonymous suggestion box, bringing in an outside facilitator for a listening session. Throughout the year, we will demonstrate how this feedback is being used to improve the program and its climate of safety.
Action Step: In academic year 21-22 we will invite a speaker to present antiracist strategies in clinical work that all faculty and students will be required to attend. We will invite speakers on topics of diversity and inclusion each academic year moving forward.
Any acts of racism or prejudice will not be tolerated at any level. We understand that those targeted by such heinous acts may not initially feel safe or comfortable with taking action against offenders. The university has established the Bias Assessment and Response Team (BART) reporting system for victims and bystanders/witnesses, located here.
When members of the CFT program (faculty, students, staff) are consistently lacking in their demonstration of our commitments, a remediation plan will be put in place according to the University’s policies and procedures.

Admissions Policy

To be admitted in to the CFT Master’s Program, students must hold a bachelor’s degree with a 3.0 GPA. Above and beyond that, the CFT program requires an admissions interview in which the student meets with all CFT faculty. In this interview students will be asked to discuss their clinical interests, and experience and will be evaluated on their interpersonal skills.

Course Requirements

Students in this program complete the education requirements put forth by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, & Marriage and Family Therapist Board. This also aligns with the accreditation standards for the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education. The list of courses in each of these categories is presented in Appendix A. The program is designed to be completed in 5 full- time semesters including one summer semester. Part-time options are available and designed to meet student needs and faculty availability. Clinical work begins in the 2nd full-time semester and continues through the summer semester and the following academic year. If students have not completed their client contact hours by the end of the their 2nd Spring semester, they may enroll for additional credits and complete their client contact hours in the summer semester.

Scholarships within Education and Human Ecology

All graduate students are encouraged to complete the EHE Graduate Student scholarship application that is available on the EHE Scholarships webpage. (https://ehe.osu.edu/scholarships/) Once the applications are submitted the applications are reviewed and recipients are selected by the Human Sciences graduate student scholarship committee. The committee chair is Department Chair Erik Porfeli and the co-chair was Sue Sutherland. The scholarship applications will be available for all groups starting October 1st and the deadlines are listed below.

The deadlines for awarding cycles may change, please inquire:
Graduate students, both enrolled and prospective students: March 1st

Completion of the EHE graduate student scholarship application is necessary for students to be considered for all of the available scholarships they may be eligible to receive. Currently there are two scholarship funds for HDFS graduate students in particular, the Florence Levy Miller and I. George Miller Memorial scholarship fund (fund# 204987) and the Jennifer Sedgwick Endowment fund (fund# 206454). There are approximately 13 scholarship funds that are for graduate students in Human Sciences in general – and not targeted to one degree program.

Program Administration and Governance

Core Faculty: The CFT program has four full-time faculty members, Suzanne Bartle-Haring, Keeley Pratt, Ashley Landers, and Ashley Hicks. All faculty teach courses in the required curriculum and provide supervision to the students in the program. Each faculty member also fulfills administrative roles.

Co- Director, Suzanne Bartle-Haring, who oversees the operation of the CFT program. Her job is to serve as a liaison with the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE), recruit prospective students, oversee the evaluation processes within the program (Please see Evaluation Section F for further details), and maintains accreditation standards. She maintains and monitors the Time2Track data for student client contact hours and supervision hours, holds monthly CFT faculty meetings, with student representatives, holds 3 program wide meetings annually, coordinates with the Clinic Director to ensure students are obtaining the client contact hours needed, helps with the clinic budget and expenditures, revises policies and procedures manuals for both the Master’s and Ph.D. programs, and distributes the results of the evaluation surveys for the annual program evaluation meeting. She also teaches classes and supervises in both the master’s and Ph.D. program.

Co- Director, Keeley Pratt, also oversees the operation of the CFT program. Her job is to provide an orientation to all incoming students, be available to students in the program for any concerns and feedback, hold monthly CFT faculty meetings, hold 3 program wide meetings annually, hold the annual program evaluation meeting, and serves as liaison with the HDFS Graduate Studies committee for curriculum decisions and admissions.

The Clinic Director is Ashley Hicks. The Clinic Director oversees the activities of the Ohio State University Couple and Family Therapy Clinic, here on campus in Bevis Hall. She is responsible for assigning clients, overseeing supervision at the clinic, maintaining all equipment at the clinic, managing all student assistants, overseeing fee collection and creating a budget for the clinic annually. She teaches classes and supervises in both the master’s and Ph.D. program.

Placement/Internship Coordinator, Ashley Landers, manages internship sites for the doctoral internship program and maintains the internship contracts for the program which can include clinical, teaching and research foci. She also oversees placement sites for the master’s program. She teaches classes in the Master’s and Ph.D curriculums, and provides clinical supervision.

Supervisors: There may be times when the number of students in the program require more supervisors than the three core faculty. This is determined by the state licensure boards ratio of 1 supervisor for every 8 students in group supervision, and the amount of time each core faculty member has to provide supervision given their teaching load and service duties. When supervisors are hired their qualifications are reviewed by the faculty and preference is for AAMFT Approved Supervisors and/or state supervisors in order to provide students with the supervision they need for licensure requirements in the state. Supervisory sufficiency is reviewed annually for the coming year based on the 1 to 8 ratio of supervisor to students.

Evaluation

Student Evaluation

Since the program aims to produce excellent clinicians, students will be evaluated on their clinical work as well as in their academic work. These areas do not always go together. Some students exhibit excellent academic skills, but do not excel in clinical work. Others have excellent clinical skills and do not excel in academic work. Students’ academic performance will be evaluated throughout their training in the form of grades for course work completed. The Counseling, Social Work, and Marriage and Family Therapist Licensing Board in the state of Ohio requires a B or better in all course work in order for the course to be counted toward your degree. In addition, students will receive feedback from the CFT faculty at the end of each year concerning their academic progress. Appendix A contains the end of the year report that master’s students the program are required to submit. This includes an evaluation of the courses taken and grades obtained. If academic progress is not satisfactory, students will be notified in writing and asked to meet with the CFT faculty and submit a plan for improved progress. If sufficient progress is not made the following academic year, individuals may be advised out of the CFT program or encouraged to take a leave of absence if extenuating circumstances exist.

Students will also be evaluated on the Student Learning Outcomes annually and receive that evaluation with their end of the year letter from the CFT faculty. This form can be found in Appendix C. The program uses this form to chart individual student progress and also aggregates the information annually by cohort (year of admission to the program) to evaluate the program.

Evaluation of clinical training takes place each semester. Students will also complete a clinical competency exam. Please see Evaluation sections in the Clinical Training part of this document.

Program Directors’ Evaluation

The program directors will be evaluated annually in May each year. The anonymous program directors evaluation is conducted through the Qualtrics Survey System. The evaluation of the program directors reflects the program goals and student learning outcomes. Please see Appendix H : Program Directors’ Evaluation.

Student Support Services Evaluation

The Ohio State University offers many services to students including the Writing Center, library resources, statistical software, Counseling and Consultation Services, and The Office of Disability Services to name a few. Each year students will be asked to rate the services they have accessed at the university and asked if there are any gaps in the services offered. The CFT program faculty will use this information to make decisions about resources that the program may need to purchase, or seek other avenues for students to get their needs met within reason. If feedback about student services is consistently negative, the CFT Program Directors will forward the deidentified feedback to the service so that the particular program will have the information to improve its services.

Alumni Evaluation

The program directors keep an ongoing list of OSU CFT alumni contact information that is updated annually each August. The program directors are responsible for emailing alumni to inquire about employment, professional achievements (licensure, tenure, approved supervisor status, etc.), and other relevant professional information. The collected information is stored on an excel spreadsheet in the CFT program files (See Appendix I ).

The program directors will also contact employers of recent graduates at about one year of employment with a short satisfaction survey (See Appendix J). This data will be analyzed in aggregate form only and no names will be collected.

Overall Program Evaluation

Since we hope to be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education, and the standards for accreditation are “outcome” based, rather than “input” based, we evaluate the program on an ongoing basis. The evaluations that we have listed above are our formal ways of evaluating student progress and overall program effectiveness. We also hope that students, supervisors, and faculty will provide feedback in informal ways. Program faculty will use both the formal feedback and informal feedback to continue to evaluate program effectiveness, make sure that we are reaching our goals, and make changes to the program as needed. We examine aggregated data by cohort from our formal evaluations and our informal feedback annually to make these determinations.

Policy on the Disclosure of Personal Information

It should be noted that the CFT faculty meet regularly and discuss Trainees’ clinical progress. From time to time, Trainees will share personal information during supervision or meetings with advisors etc. It is at the discretion of the supervisor or advisor to share that information with other CFT faculty.

Clinical Competence Exam

The clinical competence exam is considered the master’s exam for students in the masters program. This will take place during the 5th semester and the CFT faculty are considered your committee members. This will include a 10 minute video clip (or combination of clips up to 10 minutes) that illustrates the student’s philosophy of change, a case presentation, and a theory of change paper. That paper will be distributed to CFT faculty two weeks prior to the scheduled oral presentation. See Appendix D for outlines and requirements for the philosophy of change paper, and elements of the case presentation. Students should check with the Graduate School and complete forms about the master’s exam and committee members in a timely manner.

Master’s Thesis

The thesis is an option in our program. If you believe that you would like to pursue a Ph.D. in your future, we recommend that you do a research thesis during your time with us. This is a research project in which you will collect data, or use data that has been collected to test a hypothesis or answer a compelling question. Students who are interested in doing a thesis should let their advisors know as soon as possible, so that work can begin. Students need one other faculty member on their thesis committee and should collaborate with their advisor to select the second faculty member. Once the thesis is complete, the student defends it orally with the committee. This involves a brief presentation of the project and its results and questions from committee members. Students should check with the Graduate School to ensure that they complete the defense in time to graduate in the semester they would like to graduate.

Refund Policies

If a student pays fees and withdraws from all classes before the end of the term, or is academically dismissed, they may be required to repay or refund a portion of their aid. Please see the following website to understand the policies and procedures at the university: https://sfa.osu.edu/contact- us/consumer-disclosure/drop-and-withdrawal

Even if the term is not finished, students may still be charged for the portion of the term for which they registered. Consequently, the student account may reflect certain non-refundable charges such as pro- rated general and instructional fees, pro-rated room and board fees, and debits for cash or checks given previously for the credit balance. The Office of Student Financial Aid calculates the available refund according to federal, state and university regulations. This refund is used to repay financial aid programs in the order indicated below:

Federal Direct Stafford Loan
Federal Direct PLUS Loan
Federal Perkins Loan
Federal Pell Grant
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
Other federal, state, private, institutional funds
Students (only if there is any refund left once all programs have been refunded)

If additional repayments are required, a notice from the Office of Fees and Deposits will be sent. The financial aid programs not refunded are retained in the student’s account and applied to nonrefundable charges.

Repayments must be made before any additional financial aid can be provided, any further registration permitted, or any transcripts or their records released. A complete copy of the Refund Policy can be obtained here: https://sfa.osu.edu/contact-us/consumer-disclosure/drop-and-withdrawal

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Students are subject to the provisions of the Code of Student Conduct, a compilation of rules of conduct and major policies and procedures affecting students. The Code is published by the Office of Student

Life and is published annually at (http://studentlife.osu.edu/resources/). If a student believes that his/her rights have been violated or that the University has not responded to their needs they have several means of resolving the complaint. The University's Office of Human Resources handles complaints of discrimination, and the Office of Student Life can advise students of their rights or help prepare judicial hearings. The Student Advocacy Center listens to, investigates, and seeks to mediate and resolve complaints about academic and administrative policies, practices and decisions.

Student Grievance Procedures within the Program

Students have the right to present grievances to CFT faculty and/or supervisors at any time. It is hoped that these grievances can be resolved directly with the specific faculty and/or supervisor without further intervention. However, if the student does not believe the issues have been resolved satisfactorily, they can submit their grievance in writing to Keeley Pratt, CFT Co-Program Director, or to Suzanne Bartle- Haring if the CFT Co-Program Director is the focus of the grievance. The CFT Faculty will then meet and decide on a course of action. The student will be notified of this decision within 30 days of their initial letter. If the student still feels the grievance has not been addressed satisfactorily, they can submit their grievance to the Department Chair, and then use the regular university channels as described above (Please see Section J) to reach a resolution.

Nondiscrimination Policy

The policy of The Ohio State University, both traditionally and currently, is that discrimination against any individual for reasons of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, or Vietnam-era veteran status is specifically prohibited. Accordingly, equal access to employment opportunities, admissions, educational programs, and all other University activities is extended to all persons, and the University promotes equal opportunity through a positive and continuing affirmative action program. In addition, the program does not discriminate based on socioeconomic status, gender identity, relationship status or health status.

The University's Office of Human Resources, Affirmative Action, 124 Archer House, 2130 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1175; (614) 292-4207, is responsible for the coordination of matters relating to equal opportunity and affirmative action.

Portability of Degree

Although the degree you receive from The Ohio State University is portable and accepted both in the US and abroad, whether or not you meet the Marriage and Family Therapy license requirements varies by state. Our program curriculum meets the accreditation standards for the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education. The state of Ohio uses those standards for their educational requirements for licensure as well. Other states may require additional coursework, or additional client contact hours and supervision for you to be licensed in that state. You will be asked to acknowledge this in writing via docu-sign at the beginning of your program. Information about licensure in other states can be found here: https://amftrb.org/state-requirements/

Technology Requirements

Students are expected to have their own laptops or other computers in order to access on-line content through out the program. OSU uses Carmen/C anvas for on-line course content and provides training in how to use it. Students will also be introduced to and use TherapyNotes for their progress notes in the clinic, and will be provided with a Time2Track account for them to track their client contact hours. Both of these require a computer that has access to the internet. OSU has a wireless network that is easy to access. All questions about technology can be asked at (614) 247-8324, the College of Education and Human Ecology service desk and other information can be found here: https://it.osu.edu/help

PART II: CLINICAL TRAINING

Clinical training includes both training at the on-campus Couple and Family Therapy Clinic and at placement sites. Each will be described below.

Criteria for Eligibility to see Clients in the Clinic

Students begin their clinical experience in their first semester in a PrePracticum course (8189.11) with observation of cases in the clinic. Once students have completed the Ethics course (7770), a CFT theory course (8874 or 8875), the Prepracticum course, and once they pass the clinical readiness interview, they can begin to see clients in the OSU CFT clinic. This usually takes place in their second semester in the program.

Clinical Experience Requirements

All students must obtain 500 hours of direct client contact with 250 of those hours being relational. These hours will be accrued at the OSU Couple and Family Therapy Clinic and at a placement site.

Contact Hours Defined

Client contact hours are those spent in direct face-to-face contact with clients doing therapy. Phone time does not ordinarily count toward the total. Phone time that is primarily therapeutic in nature, for which one might bill the client in private practice, and is documented in the case notes may count. A supervisor must approve all electronic delivery of services other than phone contact before a therapist engages in these distance based services. There are many ethical, legal and technical issues involved in providing therapy other than in person face to face and students must be trained to handle these issues prior to receiving permission to provide electronic delivery of services.

Relational Hours: These hours include more than one client in the room who are related in some way.
Individual Hours: These hours include when there is one client and one therapist.
Group Therapy: When the group consists of only individuals who are not related to each other then this would count as an individual hour. When the group consists of people who are related to each other in some way, (family members, extended kin), this would count as a relational hour.

Alternative Hours

It is possible to use time behind the mirror or other forms of observation as client contact hours. It is expected that such team work, to be equivalent to client contact time, will be intense and sustained. Team members should be considered co-trainees and not simply observers. This means that co-trainees behind the mirror should be active participants in treatment planning and follow through. Whenever possible, team members should join the case at or near the beginning of therapy and continue to termination or transfer. Up to 100 hours of client contact time may be accumulated. Other forms of alternative hours may also be acceptable, please work with the Clinical Director and/or your supervisor on this issue.

Supervision

Students will be assigned a CFT faculty advisor upon admission to the program. Faculty advisors direct academic programs. Clinic supervisors are responsible for overseeing clinical work. Clinic supervisors are assigned each semester and are likely to change throughout the year. It is hoped that each student will have contact with each CFT faculty as a supervisor during the course of training at OSU. Since clinic supervisors may change each semester, information from supervision is shared among the CFT faculty supervisors (Please see Section G of Part I).

Students must receive at least 1 hour of face-to-face supervision for every 5 hours of face-to-face client contact. All students who work in the clinic will be expected to attend individual and/or group supervision. Individual supervision is held with no more than two students and one supervisor at a time. Group supervision sessions will consist of one supervisor and no more than 8 clinical students.

Supervision for clinic cases may be group and/or individual. Supervision must include at least 50 hours of face-to-face supervision from raw data, with observation behind a one-way mirror, or video, or some other form of “live” supervision where a supervisor directly observes the trainee while providing therapy. If at any time a student wishes to audio record a supervision session, that student must ask permission of the supervisor and present a rationale for the recording. If a student records a supervision session without permission, this will be grounds for dismissal from the program.

All cases at the CFT Clinic must be supervised either through case consultation, video review, or live supervision. Practicum supervisors should be kept apprised of all case activity. Supervisors are responsible for signing off on each and every progress note. Remember that this is a training clinic and that accountability rests with the faculty. All concerns related to duty to warn issues such as abuse, violence, ethical or legal concerns, or any other tense or potentially dangerous situations should be discussed with a supervisor. Even when a therapist is sure they are handling a case appropriately, supervisors should be informed.

The practicum supervisor stands ready for consultation and assistance for all questions, including those unrelated to the issues identified above. The philosophy of our Clinic is concern for good therapy and good learning; faculty members are here to make sure we meet this goal. Therapists should never be concerned that questions are too trivial or that the faculty will not think well of the student for wanting to check something out. In this way, we can facilitate the best therapeutic and learning environment, maintain consistency in the way that we handle various situations, and be sure that we are operating legally and ethically. Students should always record supervision hours on the appropriate forms (See Part II, Section e).

Supervision Requirements Defined

Students must have a ratio of 1 hour of supervision for every 5 hours of face to face client contact to graduate from our program and be licensed in the State of Ohio. 50 of those hours must be “raw” data supervision (live or video). Definitions of the different forms of supervision are as follows:

Individual Supervision: when one or two Trainees are being supervised by one supervisor. Half of the individual supervision sessions must include raw data.
Group Supervision: when three to 8 Trainees are being supervised by one supervisor. Time spent during practicum with a supervisor counts as group time. To count as group time, observation must be active and include interaction with the supervisor. This means that passive observation of other Trainees’ cases is not counted as group supervision.
Live Supervision: when the supervisor is observing behind a one-way mirror or via a live video connection. This includes pre and post session time with the supervisor.
Videotape Supervision: when the trainee and supervisor view and discuss a video segment from a previous therapy session.
Audiotape Supervision: when the trainee and supervisor listen and discuss an audio segment from a previous therapy session.
Raw Data: live supervision, videotape supervision, or audiotape supervision.
Case Presentation Supervision: when the trainee prepares a case in a prescribed written format and discusses it in supervision.
Case Report Supervision: when the trainee and supervisor discuss a case via the trainee’s verbal report of the session.

Supervision of clinic cases is to concentrate on live cases or video presentations. Students should assist the supervisor by having video ready for supervision. Supervision hours are recorded in Time2Track (see below) and should be submitted to the supervisor each week.

Note that the time spent in the therapy room during live supervision counts as both client contact and supervision time (e.g., 1 hour of therapy plus 15 minutes pre- and 15 minutes post-session counts as 1 hour of client contact time plus 1.5 hours individual live supervision time).

If therapists are being supervised by a senior student in the CFT program, record that time in Time2Track as usual. This supervision can count toward the 1 to 5 ratio needed, but cannot be counted as supervision from Approved Supervisors in the program.

Recording of Therapy and Supervision Hours

Students will receive an authorization code to initiate an account in Time2Track, an application that the student will use to record their client contact hours and their supervision hours. Within the application, the student can designate individual, and relational hours, and live, video or case report types of supervision. Students should submit their hours (both client contact and supervision hours) for approval from their practicum and/or placement supervisors each week.

Faculty Evaluation of Students

This evaluation consists of a written report form (Please OSU CFT Clinic Policies and Procedures Manual) completed by the supervisor at the end of each semester. At the end of each semester, the supervisor completes a supervisee evaluation form that includes agreed upon goals and progress toward those goals. The student does a self-evaluation and shares this with the supervisor. The supervisor shares his/her evaluation of the student at this time as well. Then they discuss strengths and areas for growth.

In addition, each year the CFT faculty convenes to complete a more comprehensive evaluation of each student. This includes evaluation of clinical work, academic work and progress on the student learning outcomes.

Faculty members are licensed clinicians in Ohio and are responsible for ensuring ethical practice of trainees. They are mandated reporters if they believe licensees are practicing unethically. The AAMFT Code of Ethics is the guide for ethical practice as well as understanding the necessity for keeping progress notes current, and attending to self-care when outside stressors may be impacting clinical work.

Being a marriage and family therapist, licensed or not, comes with ethical and legal responsibilities that must be upheld in your practice while in the OSU CFT program. If there is evidence that these ethical and legal responsibilities are not being upheld, the faculty will inform the student of this and appropriate steps will be taken to remediate the situation. Please see the OSU Couple and Family Therapy Clinic Policies and Procedures Manual for policies about remediating clinical deficiencies.

Student Evaluation of Faculty

Just as faculty evaluate students’ academic and clinical work, students also have the opportunity to evaluate faculty as instructors and supervisors. At the end of each semester, students are offered an opportunity to evaluate each instructor. This is mandated by the university. In addition, at the end of each semester, students receiving supervision will complete an evaluation of their supervisors (Please see Appendix E). These instruments and evaluations are designed to offer feedback to faculty as they engage in the various roles in the program.

Part III. Couple and Family Therapy Placements

Criteria for Eligibility to begin Placements

To begin a placement, several requirements must first be met:

The student must have completed all agreed upon client contact hours at the OSU Couple and Family Therapy Clinic, and received a B or better in all coursework to date.
Students must interview and be selected for a placement site which had been approved by the Program.

Placement Experience Requirements

When students begin their placement they will have a supervisor on site, who may or may not be a AAMFT Approved Supervisor or Candidate. This supervisor will be responsible for signing off on notes at the placement and providing individual work supervision at the site. There may also be opportunities for group supervision at the site. Please check with the Internship Coordinator to see if the qualifications of the placement supervisor allow the student to count their supervision at the site as part of their 1 to 5 ratio. Students will continue to see clients at the OSU CFT Clinic and receive supervision from program supervisors as well, including group each semester. In the 5th semester, students will begin to terminate or transfer their clients in the clinic and continue to see clients at their placement and receive group supervision in the program.

Policy for the Transport, Storage, and Transmission of Confidential Media

In the event that a student is supervised by a CFT faculty member for their placement, the student must take precautions about transporting and storing video from the placement site if this becomes a necessity. The video media must be stored in a locked box or briefcase that only the student has access to. This box or case should be in the possession of the student at all times, not left in a vehicle. Once the CFT faculty has viewed the media with the student, it should be immediately returned to the placement site and confidentially stored. No other form of transmission of media will be acceptable (i.e. via the internet).

Evaluation

In the same way that students are evaluated while working in the CFT clinic on campus, they are also evaluated at the end of each semester at their placements. This evaluation includes, the supervisor's (both onsite and OSU faculty if applicable) evaluation of the student, and the student's evaluation of the supervisor, as well as the placement site itself. (Please see Appendix G). If the student is performing unsatisfactorily at the site, the Clinical Director and the onsite supervisor along with the student will agree upon steps for improvement and the student's work will be monitored closely. If progress is not made the following semester, the Policy for Remediating Clinical Deficiencies will be implemented (Please see OSU Couple and Family Therapy Clinic Policies and Procedures Manual for these policies).

Recording Client Contact and Supervision Hours

Students must record their client contact hours at their placement using their Time2Track account. All placements will be available within the application, and students should select the appropriate placement when recording their hours (client contact and supervision). Student should submit their hours for approval each week to their onsite supervisor.

Part IV: Applying for Licensure in Ohio

During your prepracticum course you will be required to apply for a trainee license in Ohio. This requires a background check and form submission. This will be explained to you during the class. The website to apply for a trainee license is here: https://cswmft.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/cswmft/get- licensed/MFTs/MFT-trainee-instructions

It is possible for master’s students to apply for their first level of licensure in Ohio during their last semester in the program. In order to apply for licensure in Ohio, the student must submit their syllabi for all required coursework, and a letter stating that they are in their last semester of the program, with the number of hours obtained and an assurance that they will complete their hours that semester, and supervisor evaluation forms to the board. This has to be submitted and approved at the Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapist Board the first of the month before the student would like to sit for the national exam.

The website for the CSWMFT board in Ohio is: https://cswmft.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/cswmft/ MFT Education Course Worksheet: https://cswmft.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/cswmft/preparing-for-a- license/mfts/mft-education-course-worksheet

The website for preparation and test materials for the National MFT exam is: https://amftrb.org/

The application for licensure is currently $80.00. The licensure exam costs $365.00.

In order for students to complete the program in a timely manner with all education requirements for the state included, students should submit their education requirements to Suzanne Bartle-Haring in the beginning of January in their last semester in the program. She will ensure that all coursework has been taken or is being taken, and then write a letter that states that the student is in their last semester and report the number of client contact and supervision hours accrued to date and an assurance that the hours will be completed. The student is then responsible for submitting their license application that includes coursework, letter from PD, and internship/placement evaluation forms completed by all supervisors (https://cswmft.ohio.gov)

Once all materials are approved the student receives approval to sit for the national exam and is given a window of dates to sit for the exam. Once the student passes the exam and completes their degree they will be able to get their first level of license in Ohio. Again, please note that states have varying licensure requirements, so if the student is not staying in Ohio to practice, they should consult with their advisor on how to apply for licensure in their proposed state of residence.

For full PDF document with forms and appendices please contact faculty:

Suzanne Bartle-Haring, Ph.D. IMFT-S Co-Program Director
Keeley Pratt, Ph.D. IMFT-S Co-Program Director
Ashley Hicks, Ph.D.
Ashley Landers, Ph.D.