Washington Approved Supervisor and AAMFT Approved Supervisor are not the same thing

Updated August 2026

This page is informational and reflects the rules as of August 2026. It is not legal advice, and AAMFT's and CCE's requirements are theirs to change. Verify with the source before you rely on any of it.

Two credentials share almost the same name, and clinicians lose real money and real time to the confusion. Someone pays for a 15-hour training expecting it to make them an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. Someone else assumes their AAMFT designation lets them sign off on a Washington associate's hours without checking. Both are reasonable mistakes and both are wrong.

The short version

Washington State approved supervisor is a state designation. It is what lets you supervise associates working toward licensure in Washington, and it takes 15 clock hours of supervision training plus 25 hours of supervision experience.

AAMFT Approved Supervisor is a national credential from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. It takes a minimum of 18 months, a 30-hour Fundamentals course, 36 hours of mentoring, and 180 hours of supervision provided under a mentor.

One is a state permission. The other is a professional credential. Neither substitutes for the other.

Side by side

Washington State approved supervisor

Granted by: Washington State, under chapter 246-809 WAC
What it lets you do: supervise associates accruing hours toward Washington licensure
Training required: 15 clock hours of training in clinical supervision
Supervision experience required: 25 hours of experience in supervision of clinical practice
Mentoring required: none
Minimum time: none stated
Membership required: none
Other gates: an unrestricted license in good standing for the previous two years

AAMFT Approved Supervisor

Granted by: the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
What it lets you do: carry a recognized national supervision credential
Degree: a master's degree in marriage and family therapy or a closely related field
Training required: a 30-hour Fundamentals of MFT Supervision course, provided by AAMFT or pre-approved by AAMFT, completed within five years of applying
Supervision experience required: a minimum of 180 hours of supervising MFTs or MFT trainees under an Approved Supervisor mentor, with at least two supervisees, and at least 90 of those hours in the two years before applying
Mentoring required: a minimum of 36 hours of mentoring or supervision of supervision spread throughout the training period, with at least 18 of those hours in the two years before applying
Minimum time: at least 18 months of supervision training, and it may run longer
Membership required: Professional membership while training, and Full Professional Member with Clinical Fellow designation at the point of application
Where the rules live: the AAMFT Approved Supervisor Designation Standards Handbook

What Washington requires, in full

Three things, and the third one catches people.

Fifteen clock hours of training in clinical supervision. This can come through coursework, continuing education, or supervision of supervision.

Twenty-five hours of experience in supervision of clinical practice. You accumulate this on the job. Training alone does not qualify you, and no provider can shortcut it.

An unrestricted license that has been in good standing for the previous two years. This is a gate before either of the above matters.

The requirement appears three times in chapter 246-809 WAC, once for each license type, with identical language. WAC 246-809-134 covers marriage and family therapists, WAC 246-809-234 covers mental health counselors, and WAC 246-809-334 covers social workers.

What AAMFT requires, in full

A longer road, by design, because it is a national professional credential rather than a state permission.

You hold a master's degree in marriage and family therapy or a closely related field. You complete a 30-hour Fundamentals of MFT Supervision course, either provided by AAMFT or pre-approved by AAMFT, within five years of applying. You provide a minimum of 180 hours of supervision to MFTs or MFT trainees, working with at least two supervisees for long enough to move through developmental phases and evaluate their clinical skills, and you do all of it under an Approved Supervisor mentor. You accrue a minimum of 36 hours of mentoring, also called supervision of supervision, spread across the training period rather than bunched at the end.

There are recency rules layered on top. At least 90 of the supervising hours and 18 of the mentoring hours have to fall in the two years before you apply, so the clock matters as much as the total.

The training period runs a minimum of 18 months and can run longer. You hold Professional membership while you train and Full Professional Member status with the Clinical Fellow designation when you apply.

One naming point worth knowing: supervisor candidate is a role rather than an AAMFT membership category, and AAMFT asks candidates not to advertise the title in professional materials while they are still in training.

Confirm all of this against AAMFT's Approved Supervisor Designation Standards Handbook before you commit, because the association updates it.

Where the Washington 15 hours come from

Several Washington providers run the 15-hour training and they are not interchangeable. Cascadia Training runs a three-day version on Zoom several times a year. Shelterwood Collective runs a hybrid two-day version in Seattle. Envision runs a virtual two-day version. Telehealth Certification Institute offers a self-paced bundle. Lovewell Initiatives runs a two-day in-person intensive in Federal Way, taught through a systemic and anti-oppressive lens.

The full comparison, including which Washington renewal categories each option's hours report under, is on our Washington approved supervisor page.

Why we can answer this one

Both facilitators of our supervisor intensive hold the AAMFT Approved Supervisor designation and the Washington State approved supervisor designation. We went through both processes. That is the only reason we can tell you where one ends and the other begins without hedging, and it is why the answer above names what our own training does not do.

Lovewell Initiatives, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7776. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Lovewell Initiatives, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Primary sources

The questions people actually ask

Does the AAMFT designation let me supervise Washington associates?

It is not what the Washington rule asks for. Chapter 246-809 WAC sets its own requirements and you need to meet those. In practice a clinician who has completed the AAMFT pathway has almost certainly exceeded 15 hours of training and 25 hours of supervision experience along the way, but the state cares about its own criteria being met and documented. Confirm your status against the WAC rather than assuming your national credential carries over.

Does a 15-hour Washington training count toward the AAMFT designation?

No, and the reason is more specific than people assume. AAMFT requires a 30-hour Fundamentals of MFT Supervision course that is either provided by AAMFT or pre-approved by AAMFT. A general 15-hour state supervision training is not that course and does not become it by being good.

Worth knowing, though, that pre-approved is doing real work in that sentence. Courses other than AAMFT's own can qualify if AAMFT has approved them in advance, so the right move is to check AAMFT's list rather than assuming only AAMFT can teach it. Ask any provider claiming their course counts to show you the pre-approval.

Which one do I actually need?

If your goal is to supervise associates in Washington, you need the state designation. If your goal is a national credential you carry across states and that signals a deeper investment in supervision as a discipline, that is the AAMFT pathway. Plenty of supervisors hold both, and most got the state one first because it is the one that unlocks the work.

Can I do both at once?

To a degree. The supervision you provide while accruing your Washington 25 hours can also count toward AAMFT's 180, provided it meets AAMFT's definitions and is done under an Approved Supervisor mentor. The training hours do not overlap, because AAMFT accepts only its own course or one it has pre-approved. And AAMFT's recency rules mean timing matters as much as totals: at least 90 supervising hours and 18 mentoring hours have to fall in the two years before you apply.

Is there an equivalent for counselors and social workers?

The closest one is the Approved Clinical Supervisor credential, administered by the Center for Credentialing and Education, an affiliate of NBCC created in 1995. It is open across licensed behavioral health professions rather than being specific to marriage and family therapy.

It is a substantial credential in its own right, and worth knowing before you assume it is the easier route. It asks for a master's degree or higher in a mental health field, professional licensure authorizing independent practice or the National Certified Counselor credential, a minimum of five years of post-master's experience including at least 4,000 hours of direct client service, 45 clock hours of training specific to clinical supervision, and a minimum of 100 hours of clinical supervision you have provided.

Note the training figure. Forty-five clock hours is three times what Washington asks for, so a 15-hour state training is a portion of that requirement rather than the whole of it. CCE publishes a list of approved courses, and that list is the thing to check rather than any provider's description.

Why do the names have to be this confusing?

They do not, and the overlap is unfortunate. Approved supervisor is ordinary English that several bodies adopted for several different things. When you see it advertised, the useful question is always: approved by whom.

How long does the Washington pathway take?

The training is as short as two days. The 25 hours of supervision experience is the variable, and it depends entirely on how much supervising you are doing and how quickly those hours accumulate. There is no stated minimum period, unlike AAMFT's 18 months.

Where do I check the current rules?

For Washington, chapter 246-809 WAC and the Department of Health. For AAMFT, the Approved Supervisor Designation Standards Handbook. For the ACS, the Center for Credentialing and Education. All three are linked in the primary sources above, and all three change, which is why this page carries a date.

NBCC Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7776