Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 46 - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL STANDARDS › Part LX - Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners › Subpart 1 - Licensed Professional Counselors › Chapter 6 - Application, Practice, and Renewal Requirements for Provisional Licensed Professional Counselors › Section LX-603 - Provisional Licensed Professional Counselors Licensing Requirements

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
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.