Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists regulated by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists must complete 30 hours of continuing education (CE) each renewal period. Your CE cycle is biennial and tied to your birth month — both your license and your CE requirement run out on the last day of your birth month every two years.
First Renewal requirements
First-time licensees complete the same 30-hour requirement as every other renewal — there’s no reduced or prorated requirement for your first cycle.
CE Provider Rules (the “50% Rule”)
At least half of your 30 hours must come from CE providers described in the board’s rules — things like associations of medical, mental, or behavioral health professionals, public school districts or education service centers, government entities, accredited colleges and universities, hospitals, religious or charitable mental health organizations, your clinical supervisor, or a provider endorsed by one of these groups. In CE Broker, hours from these providers are labeled Recognized Toward 50% Rule.
The remaining hours — up to 50% of your total — can come from other providers, or from non-traditional ways of earning CE such as giving a presentation or writing an article. These are labeled Not Recognized For 50% Rule. Within that half:
- Self-study (an activity you complete entirely on your own, like reading materials) is capped at 1 hour. Watching or listening to an organized program from a third-party provider doesn’t count as self-study, even if you do it alone.
- Giving a presentation, authoring a peer-reviewed article or book, and teaching or taking a graduate-level course are each capped at 5 hours.
A few general rules apply across all your hours: the minimum CE activity is 0.5 hours, hours can be reported in increments of 0.25, series courses are allowed, and — unlike most boards — you cannot repeat the same course for credit within the same renewal period.
Mandatory Subject Areas
| Requirement | Minimum Hours | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ethics | 6 hours | Covers state and federal law, agency rules, and professional ethics. Human Trafficking Training below always counts toward this total; the Jurisprudence Exam counts toward it too if you take it. |
| Human Trafficking Training | 1 hour (counts toward Ethics) | Completing a board-recognized human trafficking prevention course earns 1 hour of Ethics credit. Required for every licensee. |
| Distinct Populations | 3 hours | Covers topics like age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, language, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. |
| Technology-Assisted Services | 2 hours | Required by default if you provide telehealth services. If you don’t, you can submit a Remove Telehealth Requirement request under Additional Options in CE Broker — you’ll still need all 30 hours, just without this specific subject (those 2 hours shift into your Remaining Hours Required instead). |
| Supervision CE | 6 hours | Only required if you hold supervisory status. Supervisors must also take and pass the Texas jurisprudence exam as part of this requirement (non-supervisors may take it voluntarily — it isn’t required for them, but if taken it counts as 1 hour of Ethics credit). |
| Remaining Hours Required | 19 hours (13 hours if you hold supervisory status) | General CE hours needed to reach your 30-hour total. |
Simultaneously Applying Hours
Once you’ve completed your required hours in Ethics, Distinct Populations, Technology-Assisted Services, or Supervision CE, any additional hours you earn in those subjects roll over and count toward your Remaining Hours Required. Human Trafficking Training and the Jurisprudence Exam don’t roll over this way — they’re fixed, one-time credits within Ethics.
Banking Excess Hours
You can carry up to 10 excess hours forward into your next renewal period. Hours earned for Human Trafficking Training or the Jurisprudence Exam don’t count toward this carryover.
Exemptions and Special Circumstances
Active military duty: If you’re serving on active military duty, you’re fully exempt from completing CE for your renewal period. To claim this exemption, submit a waiver request through CE Broker; the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council reviews and approves these requests.