AMFTRB Marital and Family Therapy National Examination
Most states use the AMFTRB national exam for MFT licensure. California uses its own MFT exam and this section does not cover it.
Study material in progress. Lesson outlines, flashcards, quizzes and practice tests are available now. Full lesson text is still being written. Nothing on this page is official exam content. Items were written for this site and checked against published sources. They have not yet been reviewed by a licensed marriage and family therapist.
Exam at a glance
| Items | 180 |
|---|---|
| Scored and pretest | 155 scored, 25 unscored pretest |
| Time | 4 hours |
| Item format | Multiple choice |
| Delivery | Computer-based at Prometric testing centers, in a monthly testing window (about one week in the 2026 Handbook, two weeks in the 2027 Handbook) |
The 2027 Handbook states 155 scored items plus 25 unscored pretest items. The 2026 Handbook states 180 items without that split.
Source: AMFTRB Handbook for Candidates, 2027 edition (Content of the Examination) and 2026 edition.
Domains and weights
| ID | Domain | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| D1 | The Practice of Systemic Therapy | 16% |
| D2 | Assessing, Hypothesizing, and Diagnosing AI content in this domain | 16% |
| D3 | Designing and Conducting Treatment AI content in this domain | 17% |
| D4 | Evaluating Ongoing Process and Terminating Treatment AI content in this domain | 16% |
| D5 | Managing Crisis Situations | 16% |
| D6 | Maintaining Ethical, Legal, and Professional Standards AI content in this domain | 19% |
Source: AMFTRB MFT National Examination Handbook for Candidates (2027 edition) and 2026 edition.
California. California uses its own MFT licensing examinations (the California Law and Ethics Exam and the LMFT Clinical Exam), set by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. This section does not cover them. Source: California Board of Behavioral Sciences, LMFT exams.
The AMFTRB content outline (2026 and 2027 Handbooks, 2024-2025 job task analysis blueprint) includes artificial intelligence (AI) content in Domains 2, 3, 4 and 6, including ethical considerations of AI use in therapy (privacy, consent, biases in algorithms). Source: AMFTRB Handbook for Candidates, 2027 edition, content outline.
Outline last checked: October 30, 2026 against AMFTRB MFT National Examination Handbook for Candidates (2027 edition) and 2026 edition. Outline version: Blueprint based on the 2024-2025 job task analysis (role delineation), used for 2026 and 2027 examinations. In effect: 2026 examinations. Always confirm with AMFTRB at amftrb.org.
Governing code for ethics content on this section: AAMFT Code of Ethics, published by American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.