Marriage and family therapy: interns and trainees: advertisements.

Existing law, the Marriage and Family Therapist Act, provides for the licensure or registration and regulation of marriage and family therapists and interns by the Board of Behavioral Sciences and makes a violation of its provisions a crime. Existing law requires marriage and family therapist interns, trainees, and applicants for licensure or registration to at all times be under supervision. Existing law requires interns and trainees to inform each client or patient prior to performing any professional services that he or she is unlicensed and under the supervision of a licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical social worker, licensed psychologist, or a licensed physician and surgeon certified in psychiatry. Existing law requires any person that advertises services performed by a trainee to include the trainee's name, the supervisor's license designation or abbreviation, and the supervisor's license number. This bill would require an intern or trainee, prior to performing professional services, to provide each client or patient with the name of his or her employer and indicate whether he or she is under the supervision of a licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical social worker, licensed psychologist, or a licensed physician and surgeon certified in psychiatry. The bill would require an intern, prior to performing professional services, to provide a client or patient with the intern's registration number. The bill would require any advertisement by or on behalf of an intern or trainee to include specified information, including the name of the employer of the intern or trainee and that the intern or trainee is supervised by a licensed person. The bill would also require an advertisement for an intern to include the intern's registration number and the title "marriage and family therapist registered intern" if the abbreviation MFTI is used in the advertisement. Because a violation of the bill's provisions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.