BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 243
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 243 (Wyland)
As Amended May 7, 2013
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :34-0
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 12-0
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|Ayes:|Gordon, Jones, Bocanegra, | | |
| |Campos, Dickinson, | | |
| |Eggman, Hagman, | | |
| |Maienschein, Mullin, | | |
| |Skinner, Ting, Wilk | | |
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SUMMARY : Revises the current training and education
requirements for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors
(LPCCs) in order for them to complete the training required for
treatment of couples or families during a degree program, rather
than after the program. Specifically, this bill :
1)Deletes the current requirement that LPCCs obtain additional
training and education beyond the minimum training and
education required for licensure, and instead allows that
training and education to be obtained during a degree program,
as specified.
2)Adds the direct counseling of couples or families to the 1,750
hours of direct counseling currently required of LPCC
applicants, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the bill . Currently, LPCCs are not authorized to
provide counseling services for the assessment or treatment of
couples or families unless they have completed additional
training and education beyond the minimum requirement for
licensure. As the Board of Behavior Sciences (BBS) interprets
existing law, LPCCs who are interested in providing these
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services are required to take additional coursework or
training outside of a master's or doctoral degree program,
when many degree programs specifically offer marriage and
family coursework as a part of the degree program. This bill
simply revises current law to allow LPCCs to obtain the
required training and education during their master's or
doctoral degree program, rather than after, in order to
provide treatment and services for couples and families. This
bill is sponsored by the California Association for Licensed
Professional Clinical Counselors.
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "Existing
law specifies that Professional clinical counseling does
not include the assessment or treatment of couples or
families unless the professional clinical counselor has
completed all of the following additional training and
education, beyond the minimum training and education
required for licensure?Because the additional education
requirement for the LPCC license includes the language
'beyond the minimum training and education required,' the
[BBS] is interpreting this language to mean that
specialized coursework taken within an individual's
master's degree education cannot be accepted as the
'additional education' required for the practice of
working with couples or families. It is also interpreted
that LPCC hours cannot be included within the required
3000 post-degree supervised hours. This unintentionally
required subsequent coursework and supervised hours in
addition to existing degree requirements. These
interpretations do not reflect the intent of the original
bill."
3)The Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor license . SB 788
(Wyland), Chapter 619, Statutes of 2009, established the LPCC
Act. LPCCs are the newest of the four licensure groups for
mental health related services regulated by the BBS.
California was the 50th state to establish licensure for this
profession. LPCCs can use a variety of psychological
techniques to help their clients, including individual, group,
and marriage and family therapy. Mental health services are
provided in numerous settings including, but not limited to,
community mental health clinics, private practice, and
hospital settings.
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4)Licensure requirements . In order to obtain licensure as an
LPCC, an applicant who began graduate study on or after August
1, 2012, is required to obtain a master's or doctoral degree
from an accredited or approved institution, which covers
counseling or psychotherapy in content, and includes
supervised practicum in specified content areas. In addition,
an applicant must obtain a minimum of 3,000 post-degree hours
of experience supervised by a LPCC, Licensed Marriage and
Family Therapist, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, licensed
psychologist or licensed physician and surgeon who is
certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry
and Neurology.
Of the 3,000 hours required, not less than 1,750 hours must
involve direct counseling with individuals or groups in a
clinical mental health counseling setting and 150 hours in a
hospital or community mental health setting. In addition, an
applicant must receive a passing score on the National
Clinical Mental Health Counselor Examination (NCMHCE) and the
California Law and Ethics Exam, which are taken upon
completion of the supervised hours.
Under current law, in order to provide marriage and family
therapy services upon licensure, the LPCC must also complete
education and training requirements beyond the minimum
education requirements outlined by their degree program
including six semester or nine quarter units of study focused
on the application of marriage and family therapy, not less
than 500 hours of supervised experience working directly with
couples, families or children, and at least six hours of
continuing education related to marriage and family therapy.
This bill seeks to allow an applicant for licensure to obtain
coursework on marriage and family services during an
appropriate degree program as opposed to obtaining coursework
after earning the degree. Without the change that this bill
proposes, students will need to repeat the course work
post-degree which could be costly and difficult, and would
potentially delay licensure.
Analysis Prepared by : Elissa Silva / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
SB 243
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FN: 0001128