Pennsylvania Code › Title 49 - PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS › Part I - DEPARTMENT OF STATE › Subpart A - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS › Chapter 49 - STATE BOARD OF SOCIAL WORKERS, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS AND PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS-LICENSURE OF PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS › GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 49.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
						have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
						otherwise:
Accredited educational institution
-A
						graduate school which is recognized as an institution of higher education or
						which is accredited by a regional accrediting association recognized by the
						Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
Act
-The Social Workers, Marriage and
						Family Therapists and Professional Counselors Act (63 P. S. §§
												1901-1922).
Board
-The State Board of Social Workers,
						Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors.
Client/patient
-An individual, group or
						family for whom a licensed professional counselor provides professional
						counseling services. In the case of an individual with a legal guardian such as
						a minor or legally incapacitated adult, the individual is the
						client/patient.
Doctoral degree in a field closely related to the
						practice of professional counseling
-Includes one of the
						following:
(i) Doctoral degrees in
					 social work, psychiatry, psychology, art therapy, dance/movement therapy, drama
					 therapy, music therapy, human services, counseling education and child
					 development and family studies.
(ii) Another doctoral degree in any applied
					 behavioral science which is awarded after successful completion of a master's
					 degree in a field closely related to the practice of professional counseling
					 and that includes advanced (beyond the master's level) clinical instruction and
					 advanced (beyond the master's level) coursework in any five of the educational
					 requirements in §
											49.2(1)-(8)
					 (relating to educational requirements).
Doctoral degree in professional
						counseling
-A doctoral degree which is awarded upon successful
						completion of a program which includes coursework that meets and builds upon
						the educational requirements in §49.2.
Immediate family member
-A
						parent/guardian, child, sibling, spouse or other family member with whom the
						client/patient resides.
Institution of higher education
-An
						independent institution of higher education, a community college, a
						State-related institution or a member institution of the State System. See 22
						Pa. Code §
											33.102 (relating to
						definitions).
Master's degree in a field closely related to the
						practice of professional counseling
-Includes one of the
						following:
(i) Degrees in social work,
					 psychology, art therapy, dance/movement therapy, drama therapy, music therapy,
					 human services, counseling education and child development and family
					 studies.
(ii) A degree in any
					 applied behavioral science that includes a practicum or internship and meets
					 any five of the educational requirements in §49.2 (1)-(8).
Planned program of 60 semester hours or 90
						quarter hours of graduate coursework in counseling or a field closely related
						to the practice of professional counseling
-A program which includes
						coursework that meets the criteria in § 49.2.
Professional relationship
-A therapeutic
						relationship which is deemed to exist for the period of time beginning with the
						first professional contact or consultation between a licensed professional
						counselor and a client/patient and continuing thereafter until the last date of
						a professional service. If a licensed professional counselor sees a
						client/patient on an intermittent basis, the professional relationship is
						deemed to start anew on each date that the licensed professional counselor
						provides a professional service to the client/patient.
Related field
-Includes the fields of
						psychiatry, psychology, social work, marriage and family therapy, art therapy,
						dance/movement therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, human services and
						counseling education.
Sexual intimacies
-Romantic, sexually
						suggestive, sexually demeaning or erotic behavior. Examples of this behavior
						include the following:
(i) Sexual
					 intercourse, or any touching of the sexual or intimate parts of the person for
					 the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire in either person.
(ii) Nontherapeutic verbal communication or
					 inappropriate nonverbal communication of a sexual or romantic nature.
(iii) Sexual invitations.
(iv) Soliciting or accepting a date from a
					 client/patient.
(v) Masturbating in
					 the presence of a client/patient or encouraging a client/patient to masturbate
					 in the presence of the licensed professional counselor.
(vi) Indecent exposure, kissing, hugging,
					 touching, physical contact or self-disclosure of a sexual or erotic
					 nature.
Supervisee
-An individual who is
						fulfilling the supervised experience requirement for licensure.
Supervision
-The act of overseeing,
						directing or instructing the activity or course of action of another.
Supervisor
-An individual providing
						supervision to a supervisee who meets the criteria in §
											49.3 (relating to qualifications
						for supervisors).
The provisions of this §
													49.1 amended under section 6(2) of
						  the Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors
						  Act (63 P. S. §
														1906(2)) and section
						  812.1 of The Administrative Code
						  of 1929 (71 P. S. §
														279.3(a)).
This section cited in 49 Pa. Code §
													49.13 (relating to licensed
						  professional counselor).