In Texas, marriage and family therapists are regulated by the Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists, a subsidiary of the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council. This Board’s mission is to “protect and promote the welfare of the people of Texas by ensuring that marriage and family therapy is provided by qualified and competent practitioners.” The means by which it attempts to fulfill this mission is by “establishing the qualifications for licensure and renewal, as well as the ethical standards for the practice of marriage and family therapy in Texas.” This includes the accepting of complaints against its licensees (under the umbrella of the Council), investigating those complaints, and applying disciplinary action to those licensees it deems worthy of such—up to and including the revocation of licensure.
When the agency first receives a complaint, it determines whether that complaint falls within its jurisdiction. Once it does this, it launches a formal investigation and informs the licensee. This is the first notice a marriage and family therapist receives that a complaint has been filed. And the response they make to this notice is a very important first step in defending their license—it is best composed by someone familiar with the complaint process.
Defend Your License
Why? Because the Board, in pursuing its mission of protecting the public, is not on the side of marriage and family therapists. In fact, it’s much the reverse. As such, the Board’s staff takes a prosecutorial stance toward its licensees. In the act of investigating the allegations made in the complaint, the investigators will attempt to broaden the scope of the investigation as much as the licensee will permit. And how much scope they’re given at the outset is largely defined by what is included in the response letter to the notice of complaint and investigation.
It is therefore highly recommended that any marriage and family therapist contact a professional marriage and family therapist license defense attorney as soon as they receive a notice of complaint from the Board. We know the proper way to manage both investigations and the various hearings that follow in order to achieve the best possible outcome in the case.
BERTOLINO LLP is the representation you need. We handle matters related to complaints, ethics, and other important professional licensing issues. If you have received a complaint against your medical license, BERTOLINO LLP can help. To best serve our clients, we have offices in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.
Contact us today or call (512) 476-5757 and schedule a case evaluation.
Call or text (512) 476-5757 or complete a Case Evaluation form
