Wyoming Administrative Code › Agency 078 - Mental Health Professions Board › Sub-Agency 0001 - Mental Health Professions Board › Chapter 11 - Licensed Professional Counselor › Section 11-3 - Education Requirement for Licensure

Current through July 13, 2024
(a) The applicant shall have
				received a master's or doctorate degree in counseling from a Council for
				Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) or
				Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) accredited program in
				counseling.
(b) Applicants who have
				completed graduate counselor programs not accredited by CACREP or CORE may be
				deemed to have met the educational requirement provided they meet the following
				criteria:
(i) The graduate degree program, and
				any applicable additional graduate level course work, was completed at an
				educational institution accredited by one of the regional or national
				institutional accrediting bodies recognized by the Council for Higher Education
				Accreditation (CHEA).
(ii) The
				program was substantially similar in content as required by CACREP including
				instructor qualifications, clinical supervision and course work.
(iii) The applicant must have completed a
				minimum of seventy-two (72) quarter hours or forty-eight (48) semester hours of
				graduate level course work. Applicants who graduated after July 1, 2013, must
				have completed a minimum of ninety (90) quarter hours or sixty (60) semester
				hours of graduate level course work.
(iv) The official transcripts, course
				prefixes, and course descriptions clearly identify the educational program as
				preparing persons to be professional counselors.
(v) Course work shall be completed in a
				master's or doctoral program or subsequent graduate level course
				work.
(vi) Course work was
				completed in each of the core areas defined herein:
(A) Practicums, Internships or Field
				Experience under clinical supervision.
(I)
				Students must complete supervised practicum experiences that total a minimum of
				100 clock hours over a minimum 10-week academic term.
(II) The program requires completion of a
				supervised internship in the student's designated program area of 600 clock
				hours, begun after successful completion of the practicum. The internship is
				intended to reflect the comprehensive work experience of a professional
				counselor appropriate to the designated program area. Each student's internship
				includes all of the following:
(1.) At least
				240 clock hours of direct service, including experience leading
				groups;
(2.) Weekly interaction
				that averages one hour per week of individual or triadic supervision throughout
				the internship, usually performed by the onsite supervisor; and
(3.) An average of 1 1/2 hours per week of
				group supervision provided on a regular schedule throughout the internship and
				performed by a program faculty member.
(B) Human Growth and Development- studies
				that provide an understanding of the nature and needs of individuals at all
				developmental levels, including all of the following:
(I) Theories of individual and family
				development and transitions across the life-span;
(II) Theories of learning and normal and
				abnormal personality development;
(III) Effects of crises, disasters, and other
				trauma-causing events on diverse individuals across the lifespan;
(IV) Individual, biological, neurological,
				physiological, systemic, spiritual, and environmental factors that affect human
				development, functioning, and behavior;
(V) A general framework for understanding
				differing abilities and strategies for differentiated interventions;
(VI) Theories and etiology of addictions and
				addictive behaviors; and
(VII)
				Ethical and culturally relevant strategies for promoting resilience and optimum
				development and wellness across the life span
(C) Social and Cultural Diversity- studies
				that provide an understanding of the cultural context of relationships, issues
				and trends in a multicultural society including all of the following:
(I) Research addressing multicultural and
				pluralistic characteristics within and among diverse groups nationally and
				internationally;
(II) Learning
				activities to foster student's self understanding of the impact of their
				heritage, attitudes, beliefs, understandings, and acculturative experiences on
				their views of others;
(III)
				Theories and models of multicultural counseling, identity development, and
				social justice and advocacy;
(IV)
				Strategies for identifying and eliminating barriers, prejudices, and processes
				of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination;
(V) Learning activities that foster
				understandings of the helpseeking behaviors of diverse clients;
(VI) Learning activities that foster
				understanding of the impact of spiritual beliefs on clients' and counselors'
				worldviews; and
(VII) Multicultural
				competencies and strategies for working with and advocating optimum wellness
				for diverse populations;
(D) Helping Relationships- studies that
				provide an understanding of counseling process in a multicultural society,
				including all of the following:
(I) Theories
				and models of effective counseling and wellness programs;
(II) Counselor characteristics and behaviors
				that influence the helping process;
(III) Essential interviewing, case
				conceptualization and counseling skills;
(IV) A systems approach that provides an
				understanding of family, social, community, and political networks;
(V) Theories, models, and strategies for
				understanding and practicing consultation; and
(VI) Ethical and culturally relevant
				strategies for developing helping relationships:
(VII) Developmentally relevant counseling
				treatment or intervention plans;
(VIII) Development of measurable outcomes for
				clients;
(IX) Empirically-based
				counseling strategies and techniques for prevention, intervention, and
				advocacy;
(X) Strategies to promote
				client understanding of and access to a variety of community-based
				resources;
(XI) Suicide prevention
				models and strategies;
(XII) Crisis
				intervention and psychological first aid strategies; and
(XIII) Processes for aiding students in
				developing a personal model of counseling.
(E) Group Work- studies that provide
				theoretical foundations of group work and dynamics associated with group
				process including all of the following:
(I)
				Therapeutic factors and how they contribute to group effectiveness;
(II) Characteristics and functions of
				effective group leaders;
(III)
				Approaches to group formation, including recruiting, screening, and selecting
				members;
(IV) Types of groups and
				other considerations that affect conducting groups in varied
				settings;
(V) Ethical and
				culturally relevant strategies for designing and facilitating groups;
				and
(VI) Direct experiences in
				which students participate as group members in a small group activity, approved
				by the program, for a minimum of 10 clock hours over the course of one academic
				term.
(F) Career
				Development- studies that provide an understanding of career development and
				related life factors, including all of the following:
(I) Theories and models of career
				development, counseling, and decision-making;
(II) Process for identifying and utilizing
				career, avocational, educational, occupational and labor market information
				resources, technology and information systems;
(III) Approaches for assessing the conditions
				of the work environment on clients' overall life experiences;
(IV) Strategies for assessing abilities,
				interests, values, personality, and other factors that contribute to career
				development;
(V) Strategies for
				career development program planning, organization, implementation,
				administration, and evaluation;
(VI) Strategies for advocating for diverse
				clients' career and educational development and employment opportunities in a
				global economy;
(VII) Strategies
				for facilitating client skills development for career, educational, and
				life-work planning and management;
(VIII) Approaches for conceptualizing the
				interrelationships among and between work, family, and other life roles and
				factors;
(IX) Methods of
				identifying and utilizing assessment tools and techniques relevant to career
				planning and decision making; and
(X) Ethical and culturally relevant
				strategies for addressing career development.
(G) Assessment- studies that provide an
				understanding of individual and group approaches to assessment and evaluation
				in a multicultural society, including all of the following:
(I) Historical perspectives concerning the
				nature and meaning of assessment;
(II) Basic concepts of standardized and
				non-standardized testing, norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessment
				and group and individual assessments;
(III) Statistical concepts, including scales
				of measurement, measures of central tendency, indices of variability, shapes
				and types of distributions, and correlations;
(IV) Reliability and validity in the use of
				assessments;
(V) Methods of
				effectively preparing for and conducting initial assessment meetings;
(VI) Procedures for assessing risk of
				aggression or danger to others, self-inflicted harm or suicide;
(VII) Procedures for identifying and
				reporting abuse:
(VIII) Use of
				assessments for diagnostic and intervention planning purposes;
(IX) Use of assessments relevant to
				academic/educational, career, personal, and social development;
(X) Use of environmental assessments and
				systematic behavioral observations;
(XI) Use of symptom checklists, personality
				and psychological testing;
(XII)
				Use of assessment results to diagnose developmental, behavioral, and mental
				disorders; and
(XIII) Ethical and
				culturally and developmentally relevant strategies for selecting,
				administering, and interpreting assessment and test results.
(H) Research and Program
				Evaluation- studies that provide an understanding of research methods,
				statistical analysis, needs assessment, and program evaluation, including all
				of the following:
(I) The importance of
				research in advancing the counseling profession, including its use to inform
				evidence based practice;
(II)
				Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research methods;
(III) Statistical methods used in conducting
				research and program evaluation;
(IV) Evaluation of counseling interventions
				and programs;
(V) Development of
				outcome measures for counseling programs;
(VI) Analysis and use of data in counseling;
				and
(VII) Ethical and culturally
				relevant strategies for conducting, interpreting and reporting the results of
				research and/or program evaluation studies.
(I) Professional Counseling Orientation and
				Ethical Practice- studies that provide an understanding of all of the following
				aspects of professional functioning:
(I)
				History and philosophy of the counseling profession and the origins of the
				counseling specialty areas;
(II)
				The multiple professional roles and functions of counselors across specialty
				areas and their relationships with other human service providers, including
				interagency and interorganizational collaboration and consultation;
(III) Counselors' roles and responsibilities
				as members of interdisciplinary community outreach and emergency management
				response teams;
(IV) Self-care
				strategies appropriate to the counselor role;
(V) Technology's impact on the counseling
				profession;
(VI) Strategies for
				personal and professional self-evaluation and implications for
				practice;
(VII) Counseling
				supervision models, practices, and processes;
(VIII) Professional organizations, including
				membership benefits, activities, services to members, and current
				issues;
(IX) Professional
				credentialing, including certification, licensure, and accreditation practices
				and standards, and the effects of public policy on these issues;
(X) The role and process of the professional
				counselor advocating on behalf of the profession;
(XI) Advocacy processes needed to address
				institutional and social barriers that impede access, equity, and success for
				clients; and
(XII) Ethical
				standards of professional organizations and credentialing bodies, and
				applications of ethical and legal considerations in professional
				counseling.