MFT Licensure in New York: What Limited Permit Holders Need to Know About Supervision

New York's MFT licensure path works differently from most states. Instead of a large post-degree hour total, New York requires 1,500 hours of client contact, and those hours can come from your graduate program, from work under a limited permit, or both. This guide covers what New York requires and how the limited permit fits in.

MFT licensure in New York is overseen by the State Education Department's Office of the Professions and the State Board for Mental Health Practitioners. The figures below come from 8 NYCRR Subpart 79-10 and board guidance, checked in October 2026. Confirm current requirements before you plan your hours.

Pre-licensed status: a limited permit, which lets you practice under supervision while completing experience. It lasts 24 months and can be extended twice by 12 months, to a maximum of 48 months (8 NYCRR 79-10.4).

Experience: 1,500 clock hours of MFT practice, all of it direct client contact (8 NYCRR 79-10.3). Hours from a qualifying graduate program can count toward the total.

Supervision: at least one hour per week, or four hours per month, of individual or group supervision. New York sets supervision as a weekly standard rather than a fixed total.

Exam: the national MFT exam.

Your supervisor must be licensed in New York as an LMFT or in another qualifying profession and be competent in marriage and family therapy. New York does not register or approve supervisors separately. A supervisor may oversee no more than five limited permit holders at a time.

One setting restriction to know: supervised experience can't take place in a private practice that you own.

The State Board for Mental Health Practitioners voted in 2021 to permanently allow secure phone and video supervision. Text and email exchanges don't count as supervision. Client contact hours delivered by telehealth also count toward licensure.

• Count graduate program hours that qualify before applying for a limited permit
• Keep supervision weekly, or at four hours per month, without gaps
• Confirm your supervisor's New York license and that you're within their limit of five
• Track your permit dates so you can request extensions in time

New York has one of the most diverse communities of pre-licensed therapists in the country, and few queer-affirming supervisors for its size. Because video supervision is allowed, you can choose a supervisor for fit wherever you are in the state.

I hold an active New York LMFT license and supervise by telehealth. See the New York supervision page or request a session.

Mx. Love C. Dialogos is an LMFT and AAMFT Approved Supervisor offering queer-affirming clinical supervision via telehealth, licensed in thirteen states. Verify credential in the AAMFT directory.

• New York MFT supervision
• MFT Licensure Hours by State
• Does Telehealth Supervision Count for MFT Licensure Hours?
• How to Track Your MFT Supervision Hours
• How to Choose a Queer-Affirming MFT Supervisor