Background: In Washington State, post-masters MFT clinicians receive the necessary support in their further development under the supervision of an Approved Supervisor. Many times, these MFTs receive supervision from non-systemically trained individuals for three reasons:

The majority of supervisors in this state are LMHC/Psychologists/LCISW, and they occupy most of the clinical supervisor roles in Community Mental Health agencies.
There already exists an approved WA State Supervisor path for mental health professionals including LMFTs that requires fewer training and supervisory hours of experience compared to AAMFT Approved Supervisors.
There is a low number of AAMFT Approved Supervisors in this state (there are only 71 as of early 2022), which is due to having fewer LMFTs (compared to LMHCs, psychologists, and LCISWs who could become supervisors) and due to the competing supervision pathway, the WA State Approved Supervisor status, which requires less training, time, money, and experience.

Another factor affecting the supervisor challenges many in the MFT profession face is that the state of Washington, as is in other states, faces significant pressure to meet the acuity of mental health challenges that currently impact a wide range of populations. These challenges have led to strong interest from our policy makers to reduce the amount of clinical and supervision hours required to obtain full licensure. This understandable response, however, creates a tension for marriage/couple/relational and family therapists. Many in our field want to ensure that we have well-trained and prepared LMFTs to address the mental health crisis in our state. To this end, it is imperative that we increase the number of highly trained, systemic supervisors to help train LMFTs in our state.

Purpose: The purpose of this scholarship is to increase the number of highly trained, highly effective, systemically-trained, diverse and culturally attuned MFT supervisors in our state by offering up to two (2) $500.00 scholarships to assist two MFTs in the completion of the AAMFT Approved Supervisor training. WAMFT will pay $500 toward the scholarship recipient’s enrollment in AAMFT’s Approved Supervisor Training Course or toward the tuition for the supervision course in a COAMFTE-accredited doctoral program. Additionally, the scholarship includes up to three (3) hours of consultation with an AAMFT Approved Supervisor to assist the scholarship recipient in procuring a mentoring supervisor and completing the experience component for the AAMFT Approved Supervisor designation. The recipient in turn is strongly encouraged to provide a minimum of 20 hours of pro-bono supervision to post masters LMFTAs in WA State within five (5) years of receiving the scholarship.

We hope this targeted move can increase the number of highly qualified, systemic supervisors and LMFTs in the state.

Application Requirements: Individuals interested in the opportunity to receive scholarship funds for this training and designation will be required to demonstrate the following components, which will be reviewed by WAMFT’s executive committee (president, president-elect, secretary, and treasurer). Note: Completing these components does not guarantee selection for an AAMFT Approved Supervisor Scholarship.

Applicants must be MFTs both in licensure (WA State LMFT) and education (COAMFTE or its equivalent):
Unofficial transcript verifying education requirements
WA State LMFT Licensure number
Applicants will submit two brief written or audio/video-recorded essays (Essay Length Requirements: Written Essays: 250-500 words each; Audio-Video-recorded Essays: between 2 and 7 minutes):
1. Essay One: Explain why they desire this scholarship and their plan for how they would like to use their supervisor training once they become an AAMFT Approved Supervisor (e.g., provide supervision to supervisees in a community mental health or private practice setting).
2. Essay Two: Describe their commitment to anti-racism/anti-oppression efforts in supervision and clinical practice and how they envision this will continue as an AAMFT Approved Supervisor.

Conditions of Scholarship Recipients: Should you be selected for an AAMFT Approved Supervisor scholarships, WAMFT strongly encourages the following commitments from you:

Recipients will have successfully completed their AAMFT Approved Supervisor training and experience requirements within five (5) years of completing the supervision training component.
Recipients will commit to giving a minimum of 20 hours of pro-bono supervision to LMFTAs in WA State within five (5) years of receiving this scholarship.