I am writing to support the petition for doctoral students/graduates to count the clinical hours earned during their PhD program toward Virginia residency.  I am a faculty member for the Virginia Tech MFT program, provide clinical supervision to students in that role, and provide residency supervision to individuals working toward LMFT licensure in Virginia.  For COAMFTE accredited programs, the level of therapy services that students provide to fulfill the clinical requirement and the extent of supervision that students receive as they earn hours toward completion of their degrees is as rigorous as supervision received during residency.