Graduate programs around the state use Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs to teach their students. If you’re a grad student in California, and your program doesn’t use it, they should. It’s a good desk reference for clinicians as well, considering how often the law changes. If you’re licensed, you can now meet your license renewal requirement for CE in Law and Ethics by reading Basics.
California
California MFT Law & Ethics Exam FAQ
We’re big believers in efficiency around here, and we find ourselves often answering the same questions about the California MFT Law & Ethics Exam. So we’ve compiled a list here with some easy answers for quick reference.
When should you take your California Law & Ethics exam?
Once you register as an Associate MFT, CSW, or PCC with the Board of Behavioral Sciences, you have a year to attempt the California Law and Ethics Exam for your profession. There are basically two schools of thought about when you should take that exam. One of them is wrong.
If you’re in your first year as an associate, you should take the exam right now.
New California MFT Law & Ethics Exam Prep and 12-hour CE
A California MFT Law & Ethics Exam prep course is supposed to give you a good, broad overview of the legal and ethical standards for MFT practice — just like a 12-hour law and ethics CE course should. And if a 12-hour law and ethics CE course is good, it should leave you well-prepared to take the exam. So we made them the same.
We’re proud to announce the launch of our new California Law and Ethics for Marriage and Family Therapists course. It’s Law & Ethics Exam prep and 12 hours of continuing ed, rolled into one.
Most complaints about the BBS are wrong
Look, I’m not here to defend the BBS (California’s Board of Behavioral Sciences) or any other licensing board. They’re not your friend. They require deeply flawed exams that even they know don’t work. Their disciplinary guidelines, especially around substance use issues, are unreasonably punitive. They are notoriously unresponsive. There are a lot of problems there. But it’s also true that most complaints about the BBS are based on flat-out falsehoods.