Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 46 - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL STANDARDS › Part LX - Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners › Subpart 2 - Professional Standards for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists and Provisional Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists › Chapter 47 - Code of Ethics › Section LX-4720 - Appendix-Statement of Practice for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Each licensed
				  marriage and family therapist/PLMFT in Louisiana shall write a statement of
				  practice incorporating the following information to provide to all clients.
				  Licensees also licensed in other mental health professions may need to add
				  additional information required by that licensure. This statement is subject to
				  review and approval by the advisory committee. Sample statements of practice
				  are available from the board office.
1. Your
				  name, mailing address, and telephone number.
2. Qualifications:
a. degrees earned and institution(s)
				  attended;
b. your LMFT or PLMFT
				  licensure or provisional licensure number, noting that the Board of Examiners
				  is the grantor of your license or provisional license. Include the address and
				  telephone number of the board;
c.
				  other licensure numbers, including the name, address, and telephone number of
				  the grantor;
d. a PLMFT must use
				  this title and include the name and address of his/her approved supervisor and
				  a brief explanation of how supervision affects the therapy provided.
3. Specify the type(s) of clients
				  you serve.
4. Specialty Areas
a. List your specialty areas such as family
				  of origin, parenting, stepfamilies, adolescents, marriage, etc.
b. List your national
				  certifications.
5. What
				  Clients Can Expect from Therapy
a. Briefly
				  describe the theoretical orientation and the type of techniques and/or
				  strategies that you use in therapy.
b. Briefly describe your philosophical view
				  of therapy, including clients' input for treatment plans.
c. Briefly describe your general goals and
				  objectives for clients.
6. Note Any Expectations That You Have for
				  Clients
a. Clients are expected to inform you
				  before and during the therapy about seeing another mental health professional
				  or professional in another discipline because of the possible impact upon
				  therapy.
b. Clients are expected to
				  inform you on their intake form and during therapy of their general physical
				  health, any medical treatments that may impact their therapy and any
				  medications that they are taking.
c. You are required to include that clients
				  must make their own decisions regarding such things as deciding to marry,
				  divorce, separate, reconcile, and how to set up custody and visitation; that
				  is, you may help them understand the consequences of various decisions, but
				  your code of ethics does not allow you to advise a specific decision.
7. Code of Ethics
a. State that you are required by state law
				  to adhere to The Louisiana Code of Ethics for Licensed and Provisionally
				  Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists; and
b. that a copy is available on
				  request;
c. you might want to
				  specifically note some of the provisions in the Code of Ethics that you would
				  like clients to be aware of.
8. Describe the rules governing privileged
				  communication for licensees. You may use your own language, but need to cover
				  all the areas included in the Sample Statement and Subparagraphs 8.a-c.
a. Include instances where confidentiality
				  may be waived. This includes, but is not limited to danger to self or others,
				  suspected child abuse/neglect, elderly abuse/neglect, or disabled adult
				  abuse/neglect.
b. Include the
				  information that when providing couple, family or group treatment, a licensee
				  cannot:
i. disclose any information outside
				  the treatment context without a written authorization from each individual
				  competent to execute a waiver; and
ii. may not reveal any individual's
				  confidences to others in the client unit without the prior written permission
				  of that individual.
c.
				  If you audio- or video-tape sessions, include information specific to their
				  use.
d. See Chapter 39 and the Code
				  of Ethics in the appendix for rules on privileged communication.
9. State your policy for emergency
				  client situations.
10. Fees, Office
				  Procedures, Insurance Policies
a. List your
				  fees and describe your billing policies.
b. State your policy on insurance
				  payments.
c. Describe your policy
				  on payments, scheduling and breaking appointments, etc.
11. Adequately inform clients of potential
				  risks and benefits of therapy. You may use your own language and are not
				  required to use the examples given in Subparagraphs a-f.
a. Clients may realize that they have
				  additional issues that they were not aware of before the therapy as a result of
				  the therapy.
b. Making changes
				  through therapy may bring about unforeseen changes in a person's
				  life.
c. Individual issues may
				  surface for each spouse as clients work on a marital relationship.
d. Making changes in communication and/or
				  ways of interacting with others may produce adverse responses from
				  others.
e. Marital or family
				  conflicts may intensify as feelings are expressed.
f. Individuals in marital or family therapy
				  may find that spouses or family members are not willing to change.
12. Briefly add any additional
				  information that you believe is important for your clients to be informed about
				  your qualifications and the therapy that you provide.
13. End with a general statement indicating
				  that the client(s) have read and understand the statement of practice,
				  providing spaces for the date, client(s)' signatures, and your signature.
				  PLMFTs need to have a line for their LMFT-approved supervisor's
				  signature.