Organizations Agains Professional Counseling License Portability

Summer 2019 update: The American Counseling Association has created a state-past-state guide with updated information on licensure requirements across the state. Go to counseling.org/knowledge-heart/licensure-requirements for information on licensure in your state or U.S. territory.

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It's a frustrating scenario that happens all too ofttimes. A counselor moves to a new land and finds that although she has been practicing and licensed for years (or sometimes even decades), she doesn't come across the requirements to become licensed in her new place of residence.

That's considering counselor licensure titles and requirements across the U.s. still vary from land to land. Fifty-fifty the most veteran counselor might need to secure additional supervision hours or meet other requirements to get licensed after moving across state lines.

However, this may non be the case for besides many more years. The American Counseling Association and the American Association of Country Counseling Boards (AASCB) are working on two separate initiatives aimed at solidifying professional counselor identity and turning licensure portability into a reality. State licensing boards will be receiving two letters in the coming months, each requesting changes that might make information technology easier for counselor licenses to transfer from state to state in the future.

"I come across this [license portability] as the most of import discussion point in the regulatory process for our profession," says Pecker Green, a past president of AASCB and chair of the Professional person Counselor Examiners Committee, which regulates the exercise of professional person counseling and rehabilitation counseling in New Jersey. "My goal is to encounter portability in my lifetime. I'm 66, and I'm optimistic."

The showtime of the two letters will ask state licensing boards beyond the United States to adopt a uniform professional title — licensed professional person counselor (LPC) — and a uniform scope of practice, a 5-paragraph chore description that defines the piece of work of professional person counselors (see sidebar, below). This letter is the culmination of the Building Blocks to Portability Projection that was role of xx/20: A Vision for the Future of Counseling, a yearslong strategic planning initiative that was co-sponsored past ACA and AASCB.

The second letter will innovate the AASCB 5-Year Portability Proposal. This idea, developed and endorsed at AASCB's annual briefing this past January, would encourage state licensing boards to grant licenses to counselors who move into their country with at least five years of professional experience and a license in good standing in their previous state.

The first letter will be a articulation message from AASCB and ACA, co-signed by the presidents of both associations. The second alphabetic character will be from AASCB lonely, says Susan Hammonds-White, AASCB president. The two letters volition exist sent to licensing boards in 52 jurisdictions, which includes all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Both initiatives aim to brand counselor licensure more portable and compatible across the country.

License requirements for counselors were set upwardly state by state over a period of decades — commencement with Virginia in 1976 and ending with California in 2009 — as the profession matured and pushed to establish itself. Simply in the process, pregnant disparities arose between advisor licenses across the United states, from the number of supervision hours required to obtain a license to the license titles themselves.

More than 35 different license titles are currently in use by professional counselors across the land, points out David Kaplan, ACA's chief professional person officer. Kaplan, a by president of ACA who has worked as a advisor and counselor educator, says the profession is currently in the midst of a "portability crunch."

In an historic period when people are more transient, the state-to-state license disparities routinely pose a hardship for counselors, says Hammonds-White, an ACA member and LPC in private practice in Nashville, Tennessee. She believes the counseling profession has reached a phase of development and maturity that will now let it to address those disparities.

"We've been a profession long enough now to accept plenty longevity and plenty people who accept been in the field for a while to be able to await at ourselves in a more unified way," she says.

In the counseling process, it is key for the counselor and the client to understand and trust each other. The same holds true for the factions inside the counseling profession, Hammonds-White says. "Possibly nosotros're doing that [trusting] at a more national level. Maybe what nosotros're saying is, 'I run across you. I meet yous as legitimate. I accept what you have called to do in your land … [and] I'thou OK with you lot condign a counselor in my land.' I see it equally another step in the process of connecting beyond the country," she says.

According to Kaplan and Hammonds-White, ACA and AASCB receive more calls and questions from counselors about licensure portability than whatsoever other consequence. Kaplan says ACA headquarters receives at least 10 calls per week from members who are facing challenges related to licensure portability, including those who are moving considering of a new task, a life alter such as a marriage or divorce, or a spouse who is in the war machine.

"Information technology's the single biggest event we get calls near," Kaplan says.

A movement toward uniformity

The joint letter from ACA and AASCB is expected to be sent this bound, according to Kaplan. A draft was being written as this article went to print.

Co-signed by Hammonds-White and ACA President Robert L. Smith, the letter will formally request that country licensing boards accept necessary action to adopt licensed professional counselor equally the professional title in their state, along with the five-paragraph scope of practice for counselors.

In certain states, making such changes will take time and may pose a challenge. "We're request states to do something that is hard for states to do, which is to open their statutes," Hammonds-White says. "Depending on the political climate to a degree, opening the statute, you take to be a little watchful about doing that. [All the same], we promise that some states will be able to do this relatively easily."

The process will vary from state to state, Kaplan explains. Some licensing boards have the power to modify regulations on their own, while others must first petition their state legislature. He is hopeful that some states volition prefer the advisor license title and scope of practise within the next twelvemonth, with a majority of country boards following arrange within v years.

"It's kind of like a wave," Hammonds-White says. "If nosotros become enough states to get a critical mass going, other states will expect at what's being done and [decide] to get on lath. Information technology's kind of like the domino effect."

Having a uniform license title and scope of practice rather than the mishmash of different titles and task descriptions that currently exist for counselors across the Usa should help remove at least two of the obstacles to license portability for counselors, Kaplan says.

This by fall, in that location was widespread endorsement of both a single licensure championship (LPC) and a scope of exercise for professional counseling amid the 31 major counseling organizations that participated in the 20/20 Edifice Blocks to Portability Projection. Of the 29 organizations that ultimately voted, just the American Mental Wellness Counselors Association voted not to endorse the common licensure title, while the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association voted not to endorse the telescopic of practice.

[Editor's notation: The American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA) voted against accepting the scope of practice last fall. All the same, the organization changed position and voted to endorse the telescopic of practice at the 2015 ACA Briefing and Expo in March.]

"Being able to say that the profession of counseling accepts this [licensure championship and scope of practice] really gives information technology gravitas. … This shows we're working on [portability] and making progress," Kaplan says. "It won't be immediate, only it's progress."

The five-year proposal

The counseling profession'southward leaders are taking a multipronged approach to addressing licensure portability, Kaplan says. The scope of practice and licensure title constitute 1 prong, while AASCB'south five-year proposal represents another prong.

"We need multiple fronts on this," he says. "In that location's no one magic reply that will solve everything as it gets complicated."

The AASCB 5-yr proposal will recommend allowing licensing boards to grant licenses to counselors who move into the state with v or more years of experience and a license in good continuing from their previous land. Some states might as well choose to require a jurisprudence examination, Hammonds-White says.

"This is AASCB's response to the concerns that we hear, as board members, all the fourth dimension regarding portability," she says. "Nosotros hear from counselors who move with years, fifty-fifty decades, of experience, and in most circumstances they have to meet the requirements of their new state, which may mean more supervision hours. … We see the furnishings on people's lives. We're very committed to working on portability."

AASCB will draft a letter asking states to adopt the five-year proposal in the coming months, afterward the joint alphabetic character regarding the uniform scope of practice and preferred licensure championship has been sent, Hammonds-White says.

As is the instance with the request concerning the scope of exercise and licensure title, adoption of AASCB's five-year proposal would require some states to alter their statues. In New Jersey, for instance, it could take a full year to make such a significant change, says Light-green, a longtime ACA member and retired professor of rehabilitation counseling at the Academy of Medicine and Dentistry of New Bailiwick of jersey, which has since merged with Rutgers Academy. "Counselors need to recognize that any changes we're proposing require regulatory and statutory process, and that takes time," he says. "If we can go this conversation, this dialogue, started at present, nosotros tin can make for a quicker passage of any kind of regulatory or statutory changes that need to be fabricated."

Hither, likewise, Hammonds-White hopes to run into a domino outcome, with licensing boards adopting the idea as they see other states doing and then.

The idea that eventually grew into the five-year proposal was first mentioned and discussed at AASCB'south annual briefing in the winter of 2014, according to Hammonds-White. Members were receptive to the idea and returned to AASCB's 2015 conference in January having spent the yr giving it serious thought. "We discussed it more than [in January] and really decided it was the way to go," Hammonds-White says. "It became a proposal, something we feel will work. … As the conference closed, we introduced this proposal for [AASCB] state representatives to have back to their state counseling boards to take a look at."

Hammonds-White, Kaplan and Green moderated a closing session on license portability at AASCB'due south Jan conference, which was held in Savannah, Georgia. Dark-green calls the proposal "a more artistic way of looking alee."

"We desire to brand sure all voices are heard, simply at the same time proceed AASCB equally an contained vocalism for the regulatory process for our profession," he says. "We want to make sure we're doing what'south in the best interest for [the licensing boards'] role, which is to protect the public."

Keeping the momentum going

Once the two messages are sent, ACA and AASCB will follow up with state licensing boards to provide back up and offer any aid they may demand to ensure the five-twelvemonth proposal, scope of practice and licensure title are adopted, Kaplan says.

The all-time mode for counselors to keep the momentum going is to contact their respective state counseling associations and licensing boards. It will be helpful if counselors permit these entities know that the issue of portability is important and that counselors back up the ACA and AASCB initiatives, agree Light-green and Hammonds-White.

"This is the time to stride up to the plate," Green says. "I promise counselors recognize that they accept the right to accost [portability] concerns with their state licensing boards. [Getting involved] volition assist move things along."

Light-green, Kaplan and Hammonds-White go the sense that the counseling profession will be receptive to the portability proposals from AASCB and ACA — much more than so than might have been the case even 5 years ago. Trust and cooperation betwixt states has increased dramatically during that fourth dimension, they concur. Hammonds-White points out that two states, Louisiana and Iowa, already accept out-of-state licenses from counselors with five or more years of feel, much every bit the AASCB five-year proposal hopes to achieve.

"We've seen and then many significant changes in our profession in recent history," Greenish says. "A couple of years ago, people would have said this [portability] could never happen. We've been able to have a very mature conversation with all the players. … I'm proud of the fact that ACA and AASCB are willing to take these creative steps as a way to address portability. At that place are challenges, but I'm confident and hopeful this could exist a way to address national portability."

New Jersey'south Professional Counselor Examiners Committee met in February. Dark-green, its president and chair, says he explained the upcoming portability initiatives to members as well equally the two letters that will exist arriving in the coming months. "We're ready to begin the process in New Jersey," he says. "Nosotros're starting to go our ducks in club."

New Bailiwick of jersey already uses LPC as the professional person championship for counselors. However, if the lath decides to prefer the scope of practice and five-year proposal, it will crave a statutory change, Green says.

At the same fourth dimension, New Jersey is ahead of the game when it comes to portability because the country licensing board has the ability to waive some of the statutory requirements for counselors who have three or more years of feel in some other state, Green explains. This is considered on a case-past-instance basis, he adds.

Looking ahead

Portability is a complicated effect, and these initiatives won't be a total solution for the challenges counselors face up in this area, Kaplan says. However, they do offering a step in the right management and represent movement on a topic that may need to exist untangled for years to come.

For example, AASCB discussed two portability ideas at its January briefing that are nonetheless in the development stage. The first would involve licensure reciprocity between states that share a border, such as Tennessee and Kentucky. If the idea were to come to fruition, state licensing boards could set up an agreement to accept counselor licenses from a neighboring country, and vice versa, Hammonds-White says. This would brand circumstances much easier for counselors who alive near the edge of ii or more states.

The 2nd thought is for regional agreements. In this scenario, multiple states inside a region — for example, New England or the Southwest — would agree to accept licenses from practitioners who motion state to state inside the region. These types of interstate compacts "involve a whole lot of legalities," Hammonds-White acknowledges. "Nosotros're just starting to wait at the idea."

In improver to the five-year proposal, these ideas, though still in the development and discussion stage, show that AASCB is committed to working on portability, Hammonds-White says.

"State licensing boards take done an admirable job of complying to legislative statutes by establishing regulations to protect the public," Greenish says. "That is the chief goal of all licensing boards, to protect the public. … We have certainly done that, and I'thou very proud of our states. But I also recognize that it's a very transient profession. Counselors are constantly moving from state to state. We see that in the emails and phone calls that ACA and AASCB receive. We take this as a very responsible challenge for us."

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UPDATE:

Counseling licensure lath representatives from Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia met at the ACA 2015 Conference in Orlando to hash out an interstate compact for counselor licensure. On Fri, March twenty, Kentucky and Tennessee signed the agreement and the other 2 states are moving forward to implement the compact. This is the first advancement of an interstate compact for reciprocity of counselor licensure within a region.

[Editor'due south note: This news came to fruition after the to a higher place article went to print.]

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Background information on the 20/twenty initiative, as well as contact information for state counseling associations and licensing boards, can be institute on the ACA website at counseling.org. Once finalized, a copy of the articulation letter from ACA and AASCB will exist posted to the CT Online website at ct.counseling.org.

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Scope of practice for professional counseling as endorsed by 20/20 organizations

The contained practice of counseling encompasses the provision of professional counseling services to individuals, groups, families, couples and organizations through the awarding of accustomed and established mental health counseling principles, methods, procedures and ethics.

Counseling promotes mental health wellness, which includes the achievement of social, career and emotional development across the life span, as well every bit preventing and treating mental disorders and providing crunch intervention.

Counseling includes, merely is not limited to, psychotherapy, diagnosis, evaluation; administration of assessments, tests and appraisals; referral; and the establishment of counseling plans for the treatment of individuals, couples, groups and families with emotional, mental, addiction and physical disorders.

Counseling encompasses consultation and program evaluation, programme administration within and to schools and organizations, and training and supervision of interns, trainees and prelicensed professional counselors through accustomed and established principles, methods, procedures and ideals of counselor supervision.

The exercise of counseling does not include functions or practices that are not within the professional's training or didactics.

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Bethany Bray is a staff writer for Counseling Today. Contact her at bbray@counseling.org.

Messages to the editor:ct@counseling.org

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Source: https://ct.counseling.org/2015/03/addressing-counselings-portability-crisis/

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