A. Completion of the 30-hour Fundamentals Course:
1. An AAMFT 30-hour fundamentals course offered live or virtually. This 30-hour interactive course must be completed in its entirety in a single offered course over a 2-week time period to fulfill this requirement.
2. An AAMFT Hybrid online 30-hour fundamentals course in combination of 15 hours of instruction and 15 hours of self-study to be completed over a 6-week time period.
3. The pre-approved COAMFTE doctoral programs’, didactic and interactive courses must include the same content as the singular 30-hour fundamentals course.
Note: *The 30-hour fundamentals courses must include at least four participants.
*For option 1 and 2; the Personal Philosophy of Supervision paper must be completed within 30 days
from the last day of course instruction.
The burden of determining that technological delivery complies with the AAMFT Code of Ethics standard VI: Technology Assisted Professional Services and as defined in the key terms section of this document, is placed upon the course instructor.
B. Personal Philosophy of Supervision Paper
The personal philosophy of supervision paper is required for both the doctoral courses, and 30-hour fundamentals courses, as well as the mentoring experiences. Course instructors and the final mentor evaluate the paper.
The purpose of the personal philosophy of supervision paper is to assess and evaluate the supervisor candidates’ thinking and articulation of the content and process of supervision. The paper must include the candidate’s articulation in the following areas:
• Evidence of systemic thinking;
• Clarity of purpose and goals for supervision including documentation and contracts;
• Clarity of supervisory roles and relationships;
• Evidence of awareness of personal and professional experiences that impact supervision (e.g., person of the supervisor);
• Preferred supervision model or practices and their connection with the candidate’s own therapy model;
• Evidence of sensitivity and attention to contextual factors such as developmental phase of the trainee, training setting, culture, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, age, sex, gender, economics, and so forth;
• Familiarity with modes of supervision (individual/group, case consultation/live/audio-video, and technology-assisted);
• Evidence of sensitivity to and competency in ethics and legal factors of supervision;
• Awareness of requirements for AAMFT membership, regulatory agencies, and the standards for the Approved Supervisor Designation;
• Integrated MFT supervision literature.
Other areas or factors may be recommended or required by course instructors or Approved Supervisor mentors.
The recommended length of the paper is the equivalent of four single-spaced, type written pages or approximately 1,500 to 2000 words not counting references or appendices. Supervisor candidates are required to include a minimum of two professional, scholarly references. They may use the Lee& Nelson text for one of the references for each topic.
The philosophy of supervision paper must be completed within 30-days from the last day of course instruction for the AAMFT offered courses.
It is expected that the philosophy of supervision paper written in the course will evolve over the period of mentoring and will be revised for the final reading by the final Approved Supervisor mentor before application for the designation.
Time Limit
It is expected that the fundamentals course, must be completed early in the training period. Furthermore, the course must be completed within five years of application for the designation.
If the applicant completed the fundamentals course in its entirety, including the personal philosophy of supervision paper, but it has been longer than five years at the time of application, they must either take the entire 30-hour course, or ‘update’ the course by completing a 6-hour refresher course. This is to ensure that newly designated Approved Supervisors will have recent exposure to supervision literature and evolving supervision techniques.
If the applicant completed the fundamentals course in its entirety, including the personal philosophy of supervision paper, but it has been longer than ten years at the time of application, they must retake the entire 30-hour course. This is to ensure that newly designated Approved Supervisors will have recent exposure to supervision literature and evolving supervision techniques.
Course Verification
Course instructors must provide candidates with verification of completion of the course and may notify AAMFT of course completion. The verification may be a certificate or letter of completion, and must indicate the dates, contact hours, instructor and sponsor of the course. Supervisor candidates include this verification in their designation application packets to AAMFT. A transcript or verification on official letterhead will suffice if the course was taken in a COAMFTE accredited doctoral program.