Becoming a clinical supervisor means learning to use years of counseling experience in a different way. Michigan’s requirements reflect that distinction by looking not only at how long a clinician has practiced, but also at preparation specifically related to supervision. 

For clinicians beginning supervision today, Michigan provides two notably different pathways. One combines substantial post-master’s counseling experience with specialized clinical supervision training. The other recognizes the Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) credential from the Center for Credentialing & Education. 

That makes the decision about supervisor preparation more interesting than simply finding the minimum number of hours. Understanding what Michigan requires, what the training must cover, and how those areas connect with broader supervisor preparation can help clinicians choose training that fits the role they intend supervision to play in their careers. 

Michigan Clinical Supervisor Requirements at a Glance 

For a clinician providing counseling supervision for the first time on or after May 5, 2022, Michigan’s professional counseling rules provide two primary pathways. 

Experience + Specialized Training 

A clinician may qualify by completing both: 

• At least five years of post-master’s practice in counseling 

• Either two semester hours of graduate credit in counseling supervision or 30 contact hours of workshop training in counseling supervision 

The specialized training must address all nine supervision topics identified by Michigan. 

Approved Clinical Supervisor Credential 

Michigan also recognizes a clinician who currently holds the Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) credential from the Center for Credentialing & Education as meeting the supervisor qualification requirement. 

Different standards apply to clinicians who began providing supervision before May 5, 2022, so experienced supervisors who entered the role earlier should review the rules applicable to when they first began supervising. 

Five Years of Practice Is the Starting Point for Michigan’s Training Pathway 

For clinicians who begin providing supervision on or after May 5, 2022 and use Michigan’s training-based pathway, the state requires at least five years of post-master’s practice in counseling. 

That experience provides an important foundation. Supervisors need clinical judgment developed through actual practice, including experience with ambiguity, ethical questions, difficult cases, and the limits of their own expertise. 

Michigan doesn’t stop there, though. Years spent providing counseling do not automatically translate into knowing how to supervise someone else’s counseling. 

That is why the state pairs experience with supervision-specific preparation. An experienced clinician entering supervision must learn how to evaluate another professional’s development, structure a supervisory relationship, address concerns, and use clinical experience in a teaching and oversight role. 

The distinction creates a useful question for clinicians considering supervision: How do I turn what I know as a counselor into what I need to know as a supervisor? 

Clinical supervision training is one way to begin making that transition deliberately. 

Michigan Requires 30 Hours of Workshop Training or Graduate Coursework 

Under Michigan’s training pathway, specialized supervision preparation may be completed through either: 

• Two semester hours of graduate credit in counseling supervision, or 

• 30 contact hours of workshop training in counseling supervision 

The number of hours is only part of the requirement. Michigan also specifies what the training needs to address. 

Required areas include: 

• Roles and functions of counseling supervisors 

• Models of counseling supervision 

• Mental health-related professional development 

• Methods and techniques in counseling supervision 

• Supervisory relationship issues 

• Cultural issues in supervision 

• Group supervision 

• Legal and ethical issues in counseling supervision 

• Evaluation of the supervisee and the supervision process 

That level of specificity gives Michigan clinicians a useful framework for evaluating the substance of clinical supervisor training, not simply its length. 

Several of the areas Michigan emphasizes are reflected directly in CCFAM’s 45-hour Clinical Supervisor Training, which is approved by CCE for the specialized training component of the Approved Clinical Supervisor credential. Michigan’s focus on supervisor roles and functions, for example, connects directly with CCFAM training on the roles clinicians assume when supervising. Michigan’s emphasis on the supervisory relationship is reflected in training on building that relationship, establishing goals and expectations, and responding to the needs of individual supervisees. 

The connection continues into the practical work of supervision. CCFAM’s curriculum includes methods and resources supervisors can use with supervisees, including over a dozen assignments and activities designed for supervision. Clinicians also examine positive and negative characteristics of past supervision as they consider their own goals and expectations for the role. Michigan’s required attention to legal and ethical issues has an especially direct counterpart in CCFAM’s training on ethical and legal guidelines for supervisors. 

Those connections matter because supervision education should do more than introduce terminology. It should help experienced clinicians translate concepts about supervision into decisions they can make within an actual supervisory relationship. 

The overlap does not mean clinicians should assume that CCFAM’s course automatically satisfies Michigan’s 30-hour state training pathway. Michigan clinicians should confirm with the state that any particular course satisfies the qualification route they intend to use. For clinicians considering the ACS pathway or looking for broader preparation, however, Michigan’s required areas provide a useful point of comparison when evaluating what a training program actually teaches. 

Where Does the Approved Clinical Supervisor Credential Fit? 

Michigan directly recognizes the Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) credential as another route to meeting its supervisor qualification requirement. 

The ACS is a national credential administered by the Center for Credentialing & Education. CCE also identifies Michigan as one of the states that recognizes ACS as a supervision credential of choice. 

That creates an important distinction between Michigan’s two routes. 

The state’s training pathway requires five years of post-master’s counseling practice plus qualifying graduate coursework or 30 hours of workshop training. The ACS pathway, meanwhile, requires clinicians to satisfy CCE’s broader credentialing standards. 

Those ACS requirements extend beyond completing a course. They currently include graduate education, independent professional licensure or qualifying board certification, post-master’s clinical experience, actual experience providing clinical supervision, specialized supervision training, and additional credential requirements. 

For clinicians who want supervision to become a significant professional role, the ACS may therefore offer a different kind of pathway than completing only the state-required training. CCFAM’s curriculum also addresses several of the same supervision competencies Michigan identifies, allowing clinicians considering the ACS route to connect credential preparation with the practical demands of supervision. 

Michigan Requires More Than a Training Certificate 

One of the more useful features of Michigan’s rules is that they address what happens after a clinician becomes qualified to supervise. 

Before supervision begins, the supervisor must provide the supervisee with a written statement explaining the supervisor’s qualifications and how those qualifications satisfy Michigan’s requirements. 

The supervisor must also maintain ongoing documentation for each supervisee, including performance and clinical notes related to the supervision being provided. 

Those requirements move the conversation beyond whether someone has completed the right course. They point toward the structure and accountability that competent supervision requires in practice. 

A supervisor needs to know not only how to discuss cases, but also how to document the supervisory process, evaluate development, communicate expectations, and recognize when concerns require intervention. 

For clinicians comparing supervisor training options, those practical responsibilities are worth considering. The most useful preparation should help you understand what to do once the certificate is hanging on the wall and another clinician is actually relying on your guidance. 

Thirty Hours May Be the Requirement. Preparation Is the Larger Question. 

Michigan gives clinicians a clearly defined training threshold: two semester hours of graduate coursework or 30 contact hours of qualifying workshop training for the experience-and-training pathway. 

That answers an important regulatory question, but clinicians still have a professional one to consider: what kind of preparation will help them do the work once supervision begins? 

A clinician planning to supervise occasionally may approach training differently from someone who expects supervision to become a substantial part of a practice, leadership role, or longer-term professional identity. The state requirement establishes what qualifies a clinician for the role through that pathway, while the clinician still has to decide how extensively they want to prepare for it. 

This is where looking at training content becomes more useful than comparing hour totals alone. Preparation in supervisory relationships, roles, methods, evaluation, ethics, and the practical tools used with supervisees can help clinicians begin developing a supervisory approach before those responsibilities belong to them in practice. 

The goal isn’t to assume that more hours automatically make a better supervisor. It is to choose the depth and substance of preparation intentionally rather than treating the minimum number as the only meaningful measure. 

 

How CCFAM Training Connects to the ACS Pathway 

CCFAM Training offers a 45-hour Clinical Supervisor Training for clinicians who want comprehensive preparation for clinical supervision. 

The Center for Credentialing & Education lists CCFAM Training as a Registered Credential Training Provider and specifically lists CCFAM’s 45-hour Clinical Supervisor Training as an approved program for the specialized clinical supervision training component of ACS eligibility. 

For Michigan clinicians, that creates two relevant points of connection. The state recognizes the ACS credential as a supervisor qualification pathway, and several of the supervision competencies Michigan requires are also addressed within CCFAM’s curriculum. 

The training explores how supervisors build effective supervisory relationships, the different roles they assume with supervisees, and ways to adapt supervision to individual needs and strengths. Clinicians work with goals and expectations for supervision and receive practical resources they can use in supervisory sessions, while also examining the ethical and legal responsibilities attached to the role. 

There is an important distinction: completing CCFAM’s 45-hour Clinical Supervisor Training does not automatically earn the ACS credential or establish that a clinician qualifies to supervise in Michigan. Clinicians pursuing ACS must separately satisfy CCE’s other eligibility requirements and complete the credentialing process through CCE. 

For clinicians considering that pathway, CCFAM’s training can therefore serve two connected purposes: completing the specialized supervision training component required for ACS eligibility while developing skills that correspond with several of the areas Michigan itself emphasizes in supervisor preparation. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions About Clinical Supervision in Michigan 

How much experience do I need before becoming a clinical supervisor in Michigan? 

For clinicians who begin providing counseling supervision on or after May 5, 2022 and use Michigan’s training-based qualification pathway, the state requires at least five years of post-master’s practice in counseling. 

Different experience requirements apply to clinicians who began supervising before that date. 

How many hours of clinical supervision training does Michigan require? 

Michigan’s training-based pathway requires either two semester hours of graduate credit in counseling supervision or 30 contact hours of workshop training in counseling supervision. 

The training must also cover the nine supervision topics specified in Michigan’s rules. 

What does Michigan require clinical supervision training to cover? 

Michigan identifies nine areas, including supervisor roles and functions, supervision models, professional development, supervision methods and techniques, the supervisory relationship, cultural issues, group supervision, legal and ethical issues, and evaluation of the supervisee and supervision process. 

Several of those areas have direct counterparts in CCFAM’s Clinical Supervisor Training, including supervisor roles, supervisory relationships, methods and resources for supervision, goal-setting, individualizing supervision, and ethical and legal responsibilities. 

Does Michigan recognize the Approved Clinical Supervisor credential? 

Yes. Michigan’s professional counseling rules expressly recognize a clinician who currently holds the Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) credential from CCE as satisfying a supervisor qualification pathway. CCE also lists Michigan among the states recognizing ACS as a supervision credential of choice. 

Do I need five years of post-master’s practice if I hold the ACS? 

Michigan lists current ACS credential holders as a separate qualification route from the experience-and-training pathway in its supervisor rule. Clinicians relying on ACS should verify their individual eligibility and current requirements with Michigan’s regulatory authority before beginning supervision. 

Do Michigan supervisors have documentation requirements? 

Yes. Before supervision begins, supervisors must provide supervisees with a written statement explaining their supervisory qualifications. Michigan also requires ongoing documentation related to the supervision provided to each supervisee. 

Does CCFAM’s 45-hour Clinical Supervisor Training automatically make me an Approved Clinical Supervisor? 

No. CCFAM’s training is approved by CCE for the specialized clinical supervision training component of ACS eligibility. The ACS has additional requirements, and CCE determines whether an applicant qualifies for the credential. 

Does CCFAM’s training automatically satisfy Michigan’s 30-hour training pathway? 

Clinicians should not assume that it does based on the number of hours or curriculum overlap alone. Michigan determines whether training satisfies its state qualification requirements. CCFAM’s 45-hour program is specifically approved by CCE for the specialized training component of the ACS pathway, which Michigan separately recognizes as a supervisor qualification route. 

 

Verify Current Michigan Requirements Before Beginning Supervision 

Clinical supervision and licensing requirements can change. Before beginning supervision or selecting a qualification pathway, clinicians should review the current requirements from the Michigan Board of Counseling and Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and confirm which provisions apply to their circumstances. 

Clinicians pursuing the ACS should also review current eligibility and credentialing requirements directly with the Center for Credentialing & Education. 

 

Prepare for the Work That Comes After the Requirement 

Michigan’s detailed list of required supervision topics makes the larger point especially clear: preparing to supervise involves learning a different set of professional skills, not simply accumulating enough years in practice. 

The supervisory relationship, the roles a supervisor assumes, the methods used to guide another clinician, and the ethical responsibilities attached to that work all deserve deliberate preparation. Those are also areas clinicians encounter within CCFAM’s Clinical Supervisor Training. 

For clinicians interested in the ACS pathway, CCFAM’s 45-hour Clinical Supervisor Training is approved by CCE for the specialized training component of ACS eligibility while providing practical preparation for the work of supervision. 

Explore CCFAM Clinical Supervisor Training and prepare for the responsibilities that begin when another clinician starts relying on your guidance.