Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists perform several important services for the people of Texas. Using family systems theories and techniques, they provide professional therapeutic services to both individuals and groups. It takes years to achieve licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist in Texas—including graduate schooling, experience, and supervision, as well as exam passage. The Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists, a subcategory of the Texas Department of State Health, is the governing body for granting and maintaining licensure for Marriage and Family Therapy practitioners.
When the Board receives notice of a complaint against a Marriage and Family Therapist, it first must examine the complaint to determine whether it possesses the requisite jurisdiction over the allegations—and that the allegations therein breach some standard, law, or rule that might in fact require investigation. At this point, the Board will send the practitioner a letter giving them notice that the complaint has been made and requesting a response from the Marriage and Family Therapist.
This response is the practitioner’s first chance to put forth a defense. It must not be either ignored or taken lightly. Nor should the practitioner attempt to write it on their own. Far too many individuals undertake this task on their own, believing themselves the best person to do so. But there is more formality involved in this task than might at first appear to be the case. It is not uncommon for licensees to include either too much information in the response (putting them at risk of the investigation’s taking a larger scope and even more allegations being made against them) or not including enough. Instead, they should get an experienced professional license defense attorney to do it on their behalf.
Do not hesitate. The more time we have to craft a response to the very first communication you receive—on which there are almost always deadlines to meet—the better we will be able to craft your strategic defense and set the scope of the investigation to come in your favor. BERTOLINO LLP will go the distance, from the very first stage of the process (where we can be effective at forestalling disciplinary proceedings) all the way to the end of any disciplinary proceedings that may occur as a result.
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
