California AMFT to LMFT
You didn't go to grad school to debug spreadsheet formulas.
3,000 hours before the BBS calls you an LMFT. SparkHours does the category math, checks your supervision, and formats the weekly log.
$10/mo · 14-day free trial · No credit card
Import hours from a spreadsheet
Your AMFT hours come with you.
Each week you've logged lands in the Board's categories for the LMFT track, and you keep logging from the week you're in. The sheet stays on your own drive, exactly as it is.
Works from a spreadsheet or any other tracker.
BBS Requirements
What the Board of Behavioral Sciences requires for LMFT licensure
3,000
hours
Total supervised experience
Direct client contact, supervision, and the other professional development that counts toward your Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) application. Most Associate Marriage and Family Therapists (AMFTs) take about two years.
1,750
hours
Direct client contact
Individual sessions, couples work, family therapy, groups. Anything where you're face-to-face (or screen-to-screen) with a client.
500
hours
Couples, families, and children
This is the one that sneaks up on people. These hours sit inside your 1,750 direct contact hours, and the subset is unique to the LMFT track.
104
weeks
Supervision
One hour of individual supervision per week, or two hours of group. Every week you log experience at that setting, you need supervision. No banking weeks ahead.
2
units in a heavy associate week
Supervision per week
Associates need 1 unit in any week they log experience at that setting, except a week consisting solely of workshops, seminars, training sessions, or conferences. They need a second if they exceed 10 hours of direct client contact. Before your degree, it's a ratio instead: one unit for every five hours of direct client contact. You can average that over your time at the setting, but you can't average the weekly minimum away.
6
years
Validity window
The Board counts experience gained in the six years before it receives your application. AMFTs get one exception: up to 500 hours of counseling and supervision earned as a Trainee during practicum.
BBS
weekly log
The log your supervisor signs
The official weekly log of experience hours for AMFTs, with five columns for category breakdowns. You keep it and produce it on request. The Experience Verification form is submitted for your claimed experience, while the signed Supervision Agreement is also submitted with your licensure application.
The problem
What goes wrong with spreadsheets
Here's what usually happens. You start with a clean spreadsheet. Maybe from a classmate, maybe a template from a Facebook group. It works fine for a month or two. Then you pick up a second site, or your supervisor changes. Suddenly you're duplicating tabs and adjusting formulas. The couples therapy column isn't summing right because someone dragged a cell reference three rows too far.
By the time you notice something's off with your supervision, you've been logging for six months. Good luck finding the week where it went sideways. A spreadsheet won't tell you. It just sits there, holding whatever numbers you typed in.
SparkHours catches that stuff as it happens. It checks your supervision requirements the moment you enter hours, tracks couples, families, and children hours as a subset of direct contact from day one, and builds your BBS forms when you need them. No formulas to maintain, no manual cross-referencing.
Spreadsheet vs. SparkHours
Tracking hours with a spreadsheet
- Not included: You're maintaining formulas across 10+ categories. Hope they're right.
- Not included: Nobody checks your supervision requirements. You do it by hand, maybe.
- Not included: No idea when you'll finish or whether your numbers add up
- Not included: Supervisor signs with pen on paper. Every week.
- Not included: BBS questions? Hope you like reading handbooks
Tracking hours with SparkHours
- Included: Every BBS category organized and totaled automatically
- Included: Supervision requirements checked the second you save an entry
- Included: Dashboard shows your total, weekly pace, and projected finish date
- Included: Supervisor signs digitally. No printing, no scanning.
- Included: AI assistant answers your BBS licensing questions in seconds
Built for AMFTs
Dedicated practicum progress tracking
Tell us your graduation date and when you registered as an associate. SparkHours figures out the rest: correct supervision rules, correct hour caps, correct BBS forms for each phase.
Real-time supervision alerts
Log 20 hours of direct client contact and only 1 unit of supervision? SparkHours flags it the moment you save. Not at the end of the quarter, not when you're filling out your application. Right then.
One-click BBS form download
SparkHours generates your official BBS weekly summary forms with one click. Your supervisor's e-signature is already attached. No reformatting, no printing and scanning separately.
Progress dashboard
Total hours, weekly average, projected completion date. After the first few months you'll know roughly when you'll finish and whether you need to pick up the pace.
Your AMFT hours need a tool that checks its own math.
No credit card required. Set up in under 5 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Also tracking for...
vs Spreadsheet
On the LPCC track instead? SparkHours handles APCC requirements too: e-signatures, supervision checking, practicum tracking, and one-click BBS form download.
vs Spreadsheet
Working toward your LCSW? SparkHours handles e-signatures, supervision checking, fieldwork tracking, and one-click BBS form download.
vs Track Your Hours
Currently on Track Your Hours? Here's how SparkHours compares for AMFT tracking.
Your spreadsheet had a good run. Time for something better.
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