Hello to all of our fellow MFTs, 

As many of you know, over the past few years a few other professional licensures have introduced cross state compacts, such as Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs), Psychologists, and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs) have one debuting soon. Essentially, these compacts give a licensed clinician the ability to practice in multiple states. Think of it this way, if you get your driver’s license in PA, you are still able to travel to other states and legally drive, even if your license was issued in PA. That is the idea behind compacts. 

Marriage and Family Therapists are an important parts of our healthcare system and we do not want to be left behind in the field, as we all want to see our profession continue to grow. When individuals looking to become therapists are choosing which degree to pursue, one would assume that they would choose the profession that gives them the most flexibility and adaptability for their future. 

We are hoping to encourage The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and Roger Smith, Director of Government & Corporate Affairs to support the creation of a Marriage and Family Therapist Compact. The Council of State Governments, and specifically, Matt Shafer, who has worked on over 10 different occupational licensure compacts, have tried to encourage AAMFT to work towards this compact. AAMFT has different priorities at this time, however, with the changing landscape of telehealth, we are looking for MFTs to sign this petition for us to be able to encourage AAMFT to make a licensure compact a high priority so our profession does not get left behind in the field. It should be noted that AAMFT recently contracted with a research firm to study the feasibility of having an MFT compact. This research should be completed this fall but they are concerned that many MFTs will not participate in the potential future compact. Thus, we are hoping this petition could show AAMFT how many MFTs are ready and excited to participate in a compact. 

We are asking you to sign this petition and send to 3 other MFTs.

To read AAMFTs most recent report on compacts in the recent issues of Family Therapy Magazine  see here https://ftm.aamft.org/decisions-decisions-decisions-considerations-regarding-license-portability-and-compacts/ 

To Learn more about how other professional licensures are using compacts check out https://counselingcompact.org 

** please note, the state of PA is not currently in any of the mental health compacts, this advocacy effort will not even directly help our careers at this time, but in a world where there is so much changing, it is now more than ever that advocacy is crucial.