La. Admin. Code tit. 46 § LX-603

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 3, March 20, 2024

Section LX-603 - Provisional Licensed Professional Counselors Licensing Requirements

A. The board shall issue a provisional license to each provisional licensed professional counselor applicant who files an application upon a form designated by the board and in such a manner as the board prescribes, accompanied by such fee required by R.S. 37:1106 and who furnishes satisfactory evidence to the board that he/she:

1. is at least 21 years of age;

2. is of good moral character;

3. is not in violation of any of the provisions of R.S. 37:1101-1123 and the rules and regulations adopted herein;

4. has received a graduate degree, the substance of which is professional mental health counseling in content from a regionally-accredited institution of higher education offering a master's and/or doctoral program in counseling that is approved by the board and has accumulated at least 60 graduate credit hours as part of the graduate degree plan containing the eight required areas, the supervised mental health practicum and supervised internship in mental health counseling or the total equivalent hours in practicum and internship. Applicants may apply post-masters counseling courses towards licensure if their degree program consisted of less than 60 hours. All graduate and post-masters counseling courses must be completed with a grade no lower than C. All field experience courses must be completed with a grade of A, B, or P.

a. to be eligible for supervision as a provisional licensed professional counselor, the applicant must provide proof of completion of a supervised practicum and internship as listed below in item b. and at least one three-credit hour course in each of the following eight content areas. In order for a course to fulfill a content area requirement, it must include in a substantial manner the area in the description for the content areas;

i. counseling/psychotherapy theories of personality-description:

(a). counseling/psychotherapy theories, including both individual and systems perspectives;

(b). research and factors considered in applications of counseling/psychotherapy theories; or

(c). theories of personality including major theories of personality;

ii. human growth and development-description:

(a). the nature and needs of individuals at developmental levels;

(b). theories of individual and family development and transitions across the life-span;

(c). theories of learning and personality development;

(d). human behavior, including an understanding of developmental crises, disability, addictive behavior, psychopathology, and environmental factors as they affect both normal and abnormal behavior;

(e). strategies for facilitating development over the lifespan;

iii. abnormal behavior-description:

(a). emotional and mental disorders experienced by persons of all ages;

(b). characteristics of disorders;

(c). common nosologies of emotional and mental disorders utilized within the U.S. health care system;

(d). the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as published by the American Psychiatric Association;

(e). preferred treatment approaches for disorders based on research;

(f). common medications used by psychiatrists to treat disorders;

(g). working with other health care and mental health care professionals in treating individuals with emotional and mental disorders;

iv. techniques of counseling/psychotherapy-description:

(a). basic interviewing, assessment, and counseling/psychotherapeutic skills;

(b). counselor characteristics and behaviors that influence helping processes, including:

(i). age;

(ii). gender and ethnic differences;

(iii). verbal and nonverbal behaviors and personal characteristics;

(iv). orientations; and

(v). skills;

(c). client characteristics and behaviors that influence helping processes, including:

(i). age;

(ii). gender and ethnic differences;

(iii). verbal and nonverbal behaviors and personal characteristics;

(iv). traits;

(v). capabilities; and

(vi). life circumstances;

v. group dynamics, processes, and counseling/psychotherapy-description:

(a). principles of group dynamics, including:

(i). group process components;

(ii). developmental stage theories; and

(iii). group members' roles and behaviors;

(b). group leadership styles and approaches, including characteristics of various types of group leaders and leadership styles;

(c). theories of group counseling/psychotherapy, including:

(i). commonalities;

(ii). distinguishing characteristics; and

(iii). pertinent research and literature;

(d). group counseling/psychotherapeutic methods, including:

(i). group counselor orientations and behaviors;

(ii). ethical standards;

(iii). appropriate selection criteria and methods; and

(iv). methods of evaluation of effectiveness;

(e). approaches used for other types of group work, including:

(i). task groups;

(ii). prevention groups;

(iii). support group; and

(iv). therapy groups;

vi. lifestyle and career development-description:

(a). career development theories and decisionmaking models;

(b). career, a vocational, educational, and labor market information resources, visual and print media, and computer-based career information systems;

(c). career development program planning, organization, implementation, administration, and evaluation;

(d). interrelationships among work, family, and other life roles and factors including multicultural and gender issues as related to career development;

(e). career and educational placement, follow-up and evaluation;

(f). assessment instruments and techniques relevant to career planning and decision-making;

(g). computer-based career development applications and strategies, including computer-assisted guidance systems;

(h). career counseling processes, techniques, and resources, including those applicable to specific populations;

vii. appraisal of individuals-description:

(a). theoretical and historical bases for assessment techniques;

(b). validity, including evidence for establishing:

(i). content;

(ii). construct; and

(iii). empirical validity;

(c). reliability, including methods of establishing:

(i). stability;

(ii) internal and equivalence reliability;

(d). appraisal methods, including:

(i). environmental assessment;

(ii). performance assessment;

(iii).

[a]. individual and group test and inventory methods;

[b]. behavioral observations; and

[c]. computer-managed and computer-assisted methods;

(e). psychometric statistics, including:

(i). types of assessment scores;

(ii). measures of central tendency;

(iii). indices of variability;

(iv). standard errors; and

(v). correlations;

(f). age, gender, ethnicity, language, disability, and culture factors related to the assessment and evaluation of individuals and groups;

(g). strategies for selecting, administering, interpreting, and using assessment and evaluation instruments and techniques in counseling;

viii. ethics and professional orientation-description:

(a). ethical standards of the American Counseling Association, state counselor licensure boards, and national counselor certifying agencies;

(b). ethical and legal issues and their applications to various professional activities;

(c). history of the helping professions, including significant factors and events;

(d). professional roles and functions of counselors, including similarities and differences with other mental health professionals;

(e). professional organizations, primarily the American Counseling Association, its divisions, branches, and affiliates, including membership benefits, activities, services to members, and current emphases, professional preparation standards, their evolution, and current applications;

(f). professional credentialing, including certification, licensure, and accreditation practices and standards, and the effects of public policy on these issues;

(g). public policy processes, including the role of the professional counselor in advocating on behalf of the profession and its clientele;

b. Mental Health Counseling Practicum and/or Internship

i. Mental Health Counseling Practicum. Licensure requires the completion of a mental health counseling/psychotherapy practicum totaling 100 clock hours. The practicum includes:

(a). a minimum of 40 hours of direct counseling/psychotherapy with individuals or groups;

(b). a minimum of one hour per week of individual supervision by a counseling faculty member supervisor or supervisor working under the supervision of a program faculty member;

(c). a minimum of one and a half hours per week of group supervision with other students in similar practica or internships by a program faculty member supervisor or a student supervisor working under the supervision of a program faculty member or an approved on-site supervisor.

ii. Mental Health Counseling Internship. Licensure requires the completion of a mental health counseling/psychotherapy internship totaling 600 clock hours. The internship includes:

(a). a minimum of 240 hours of direct counseling/psychotherapy with individuals or groups;

(b). a minimum of one hour per week of individual supervision by a counseling faculty member supervisor or an approved on-site supervisor that meets the supervisor requirements of the university.

(c). a minimum of 1.5 hours per week of group supervision with other students in similar practica or internships by a program faculty member supervisor or a student supervisor working under the supervision of a program faculty member or an approved on-site supervisor.

5. has obtained a board-approved supervisor;

a. the provisional licensed professional counselor will identify an individual who agrees to serve as his/her board-approved supervisor This individual must hold the licensed professional counselor-supervisor designation as issued by the Louisiana LPC Board of Examiners;

b. the provisional licensed professional counselor, along with his/her desired board-approved supervisor, will:

i. provide the board with a written proposal outlining with as much specificity as possible the nature of the counseling duties to be performed by the provisional licensed professional counselor and the nature of the board-approved supervision;

ii. submit this written proposal on forms provided by the board prior to the proposed starting date of the board-approved supervision;

iii. submit, along with the written proposal, the appropriate fee determined by the board;

c. following the board's review, the provisional licensed professional counselor will be informed by letter either that the proposed supervision arrangement has been approved or that it has been rejected. Any rejection letter will outline, with as much specificity as practical, the reasons for rejection;

d. all proposed supervision arrangements must be approved by the board prior to the starting date of the supervised experience. An applicant may not accrue any supervised experience hours, including face-to-face supervision hours, until the applicant is approved as a provisional licensed professional counselor.

i. should the provisional licensed professional counselor add a board-approved supervisor, face-to-face supervision hours may not be accrued with the added supervisor until the application for supervision has been filed and approved by the LPC Board.

ii. should the provisional licensed professional counselor change board-approved supervisors, supervised experience hours, including face-to-face supervision hours, may not be accrued with the new supervisor until the application for supervision has been filed and approved by the LPC Board. If the provisional licensed professional counselor remains under active supervision with his/her current board-approved supervisor, he/she may continue to practice mental health counseling and accrue supervised experience hours until the change is approved by the LPC Board;

iii. a provisional licensed professional counselor may not be directly or indirectly employed or supervised (administrative supervision or board-approved supervision) by a relative of the provisional licensed professional counselor. For example, the licensees board-approved supervisor cannot be supervised or employed by a relative of the licensee. Relative of the provisional licensed professional counselor is defined as spouse, parent, child, sibling of the whole- or half-blood, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, one who is or has been related by marriage or has any other dual relationship. Any exception must be approved by the board;

6. has obtained a board-approved practice setting;

a. The provisional licensed professional counselor will identify a practice setting wherein he/she may accrue direct and/or indirect supervised experience hours. To obtain approval of a practice setting for accrual of direct client contact hours, the supervisee must engage in the practice of mental health counseling as defined in Chapter 5;

b. the practice setting must be approved by the supervisees desired and/or designated board-approved supervisor prior to submission of the practice setting on forms provided by the board;

c. board-approval of the supervisees practice setting is required in order to begin accruing supervised experience hours at such practice setting;

d. no supervised experience hours (direct, indirect, or face to face supervision) may be accrued at a practice setting that is not approved by the board. Furthermore, should a provisional licensed professional counselor fail to inform the board of a practice setting by submitting appropriate documentation within 30 days of the date of hire at such setting, the provisional licensed professional counselor will forfeit all supervised experience hours accrued and be subject to a fine as defined in Chapter 9 whether or not the setting is approved by the board;

e. the professional practice setting cannot include any practice setting in which the provisional licensed professional counselor operates, manages, or has an ownership interest (e.g., private practice, for-profit, nonprofit, etc.); the supervisee may receive a wage for services provided;

f. the agency or employer may bill for services provided by the PLPC. The PLPC may not bill directly for services provided to clients and the PLPC may not bill under another persons name;

g. the licensee must be supervised by an administrative supervisor (in addition to receiving active, board-approved supervision) in order to volunteer counseling services or receive a wage for services rendered as an employee or private contractor. The control, oversight, and professional responsibility for provisional licensed professional counselors rests with the licensees administrative supervisor in the setting in which they are employed, contracted or volunteering;

h. provisional licensed professional counselors must notify their administrative supervisor of the identity of their board-approved supervisor and the nature of the supervisory activities, including any observations or taping that occurs with clients, after obtaining the client's permission, in the setting;

i. a licensed mental health professional (e.g. LPC, LMFT, LCSW) must be employed in the professional setting in which the provisional licensed professional counselor is rendering counseling services and be available for case consultation and processing. The provisional licensed professional counselor must have obtained the administrative supervisors approval of the licensed mental health professional prior to submitting the practice setting for board review. The licensed mental health professional may be the board-approved supervisor or the administrative supervisor if he/she meets each of the aforementioned requirements;

j. supervised experience accrued by the provisional licensed professional counselor in an exempt setting needs to meet the requirements in this rule if that supervised experience is to meet the requirements for licensure as set forth by R.S. 37:1107(A);

7. has provided to the board a declaration of practices and procedures, with the content being subject to board review and approval;

8. has received a letter from the board certifying that all the requirements for provisional licensed professional counselor, as defined in this Chapter, were met before accruing supervised experience hours.

La. Admin. Code tit. 46, § LX-603

Promulgated by the Department of Health and Hospitals, Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners, LR 41712 (4/1/2015), Amended by the Department of Health, Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners LR 45277 (2/1/2019).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 37:1101-1123.