Who does the rule cover?

The rule is 16 CCR 18111, a regulation of the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS). It applies to everyone the BBS licenses or registers: Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors, Licensed Educational Psychologists, and their registered associates.

Psychologists are licensed by the Board of Psychology, which has its own advertising rules, and this post doesn’t cover them. One law does apply to both groups: Business and Professions Code section 6512, which bars false, misleading or deceptive advertising by California’s licensed health professionals, psychologists included, and names the internet as one of the places it applies.

What changed on April 1, 2026?

Name, title and number were already required before 2026. The amended regulation, operative April 1, 2026, changed the details:

In March 2026 the Board also revised its Advertising Fact Sheet and FAQs4 and its Advertising Examples for Licensees5. The website guidance is in the Fact Sheet, under FAQ 2; the Examples show which disclosure blocks pass and which fail.

Does my website count as advertising?

Yes. The Fact Sheet’s definition of advertising includes the internet, other electronic communication, and any “list or directory of healing arts practitioners.” FAQ 2 says it directly: a website is a type of advertising, so everything you are required to include in an advertisement must appear on it. Our SEO for therapists guide covers how board advertising rules apply to every page you add for search.

Social media counts too (FAQ 3). If the details don’t fit in your bio, the Board says to give readers an easy way to find them, such as a link to a website that carries all of the required information.

Where on the page does my license number need to be?

The Board is specific here. FAQ 2 says the required information “should be easy to find and appear relatively near each other.” It then gives two examples that may not be considered in compliance:

The Fact Sheet also explains that “misleading” doesn’t only mean false. An omission can mislead, and so can required information that is difficult to find.

A number in small grey footer type, under a long home page, is the pattern the Board describes. Our reading of the guidance: keep your name, title and number together, at the size of your body text, next to where the page introduces you. We’d put it on the home page and the about page at least.

Which license titles pass, and which fail?

The regulation lists the only acceptable forms for licensees:

The Board’s own failing example is “Jackson Clarke, Family Therapist” above “Professional License #999999.” The number is there, but “Family Therapist” is neither the full title nor an accepted abbreviation. The same set of examples rejects “Licensed Psychologist” for an LEP and “psychology” for anyone who is not a licensed psychologist. “Psychotherapy” and “psychotherapist” are allowed, provided the required information is present.

Associates have more to show: the full registration title (AMFT, ASW and APCC may appear only alongside it), the registration number, the employer’s name, and a statement that they are supervised by a licensed person. FAQ 2 asks for that statement to sit near the registration information, in type that is easy to read.

Am I responsible if someone else built my site?

The Board answers this for employers. FAQ 1 says that for advertising an employer produces that includes you, you as the licensee or registrant are ultimately responsible, even though you didn’t produce it. The Board doesn’t address web designers or directories directly. Our view is that the same reasoning applies to a site a designer built for you and to a directory profile, because each one advertises your services under your name, so check each place it appears. The Fact Sheet points to your professional association or an attorney for more information.

What happens if my site doesn’t comply?

The Fact Sheet says that when advertising is found out of compliance, the Board will issue a notification, and in many instances you will have the chance to correct it before any formal action. Citations are possible. Under 16 CCR 1886.40, the Board’s executive officer may fine up to $2,500 per investigation, or up to $5,000 per investigation where aggravating circumstances apply, such as two or more prior citations for similar violations.

What does a compliant disclosure block look like?

The Board’s examples show the minimum. Its first acceptable example stacks three lines:

Kyung-soon Min, LMFT

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

License Number 999999

A two-line version also passes: “Jackson Clarke” above “LMFT, License #999999.” Both carry the same three things, together:

On a website, FAQ 2 adds the rest: the block should be easy to find and easy to read, and a visitor shouldn’t have to scroll to the bottom or click to another page to connect your number to your name.

Every website we build carries the required details as one block at body-text size, and you confirm them before launch; see how we build practice websites.

This post is general information, not legal advice. Check the primary text, 16 CCR 1811 as printed in the Board’s Statutes and Regulations, and for your own situation ask the Board, your professional association’s legal or ethics line, or an attorney.