STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8899
IN SENATE
January 14, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to supervision by certain
marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 8402 of the
2 education law, as amended by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 (c) Experience: An applicant shall complete a minimum of three thou-
5 sand hours of post-master's supervised experience relevant to the prac-
6 tice of mental health counseling satisfactory to the board and in
7 accordance with the commissioner's regulations. A licensed and regis-
8 tered marriage and family therapist may provide post-master's super-
9 vision if the licensed marriage and family therapist, at minimum, meets
10 the following requirements (i) is licensed and registered for at least
11 three years, (ii) has been awarded the diagnostic privilege set forth in
12 section eighty-four hundred one-a of this article, and (iii) has
13 completed a total of three semester hours or thirty-six hours of contin-
14 uing education in clinical counseling supervision and professional
15 orientation and ethics in mental health counseling as determined by the
16 department. Satisfactory experience obtained in an entity operating
17 under a waiver issued by the department pursuant to section sixty-five
18 hundred three-a of this title may be accepted by the department,
19 notwithstanding that such experience may have been obtained prior to the
20 effective date of such section sixty-five hundred three-a and/or prior
21 to the entity having obtained a waiver. The department may, for good
22 cause shown, accept satisfactory experience that was obtained in a
23 setting that would have been eligible for a waiver but which has not
24 obtained a waiver from the department or experience that was obtained in
25 good faith by the applicant under the belief that appropriate authori-
26 zation had been obtained for the experience, provided that such experi-
27 ence meets all other requirements for acceptable experience;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14150-01-5
S. 8899 2
1 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 8403 of the education
2 law, as amended by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read
3 as follows:
4 (c) Experience: The completion of at least one thousand five hundred
5 client contact hours of supervised clinical experience, by persons hold-
6 ing a degree from a master's or doctoral program, or the substantial
7 equivalent, in accordance with the commissioner's regulations or the
8 completion of at least one thousand five hundred client hours of super-
9 vised post-master's clinical experience in marriage and family therapy
10 satisfactory to the department in accordance with the commissioner's
11 regulations. A licensed and registered mental health counselor may
12 provide supervision if the licensed mental health counselor, at minimum,
13 meets the following requirements (i) is licensed and registered for at
14 least three years, (ii) has been awarded the diagnostic privilege set
15 forth in section eighty-four hundred one-a of this article, and (iii)
16 has completed a total of three semester hours or thirty-six hours of
17 continuing education in clinical counseling supervision and professional
18 orientation and ethics in marriage and family therapy as determined by
19 the department. Satisfactory experience obtained in an entity operating
20 under a waiver issued by the department pursuant to section sixty-five
21 hundred three-a of this title may be accepted by the department,
22 notwithstanding that such experience may have been obtained prior to the
23 effective date of such section sixty-five hundred three-a and/or prior
24 to the entity having obtained a waiver. The department may, for good
25 cause shown, accept satisfactory experience that was obtained in a
26 setting that would have been eligible for a waiver but which has not
27 obtained a waiver from the department or experience that was obtained in
28 good faith by the applicant under the belief that appropriate authori-
29 zation had been obtained for the experience, provided that such experi-
30 ence meets all other requirements for acceptable experience;
31 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
32 it shall have become a law.
