MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2017 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Welfare
By: Senator(s) Harkins
AN ACT TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 73-30-3, 73-30-9, 73-30-19 73-30-25, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, RELATING TO THE LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS PRACTICE LAW; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 73-30-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
73-30-3. The following terms shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context shall otherwise require:
(a) "Licensed professional counselor" shall mean and is restricted to any person who holds himself out to the public by any title or description of services incorporating the words licensed professional counselor or psychotherapist, and who offers to render professional counseling or psychotherapy services to individuals, groups, organizations, corporations, institutions, government agencies or the general public for a fee, monetary or otherwise, implying that he is licensed.
(b) "Practice of counseling/psychotherapy" shall mean rendering, offering to render or supervising those who render to individuals, groups, organizations, corporations, institutions, government agencies or the general public any service involving the applications of counseling procedures and other related areas of the behavioral sciences to help in learning how to solve problems or make decisions related to personal growth, marriage, family or other interpersonal or intrapersonal concerns.
(c) "Counseling/Psychotherapy procedures" shall mean the application of mental health, psychological or human development principles, through cognitive, affective, behavioral or systematic intervention strategies that address wellness, personal growth or career development, as well as pathology. Counseling/Psychotherapy involves diagnosis, assessment and treatment by use of the following:
(i) Counseling/psychotherapy methods and techniques, both verbal and nonverbal, which require the application of principles, methods or procedures of understanding, predicting and/or influencing behavior, and motivation;
(ii) Informational and community resources for personal or social development;
(iii) Group and/or placement methods and techniques which serve to further the goals of counseling;
(iv) Designing, conducting and interpreting research on human subjects or any consultation on any item above; and
(v) Appraisal techniques including, but not limited to, testing of achievement, abilities, interests, aptitudes and personality.
(d) "Fees for licensed counseling services" shall mean any form of compensation received for the practice of counseling.
(e) "Board" shall mean the Mississippi State Board of Examiners for Licensed Professional Counselors.
SECTION 2. Section 73-30-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
73-30-9. The board shall issue a license as a licensed professional counselor, without regard to race, religion, sex or national origin, to each applicant who furnishes satisfactory evidence of the following:
(a) The applicant has completed an application on a form prescribed by the board accompanied by a nonrefundable initial licensing fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
(b) The applicant is at least twenty-one (21) years of age.
(c) The applicant is of good moral character.
(d) The applicant is a resident of or pays income tax in the State of Mississippi, or has an immigration document to verify legal alien work status in the United States. The immigration document must be current and issued by the United States Immigration Bureau.
(e) The applicant is not in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations adopted hereunder.
(f) The applicant shall have an earned doctoral degree primarily in counseling, guidance or related counseling field, or have a master's degree or educational specialist's degree from a regionally or nationally accredited college or university program in counselor education or a related counseling program subject to board approval. The master's degree or educational specialist's degree shall consist of a program of not less than sixty (60) acceptable semester hours or ninety (90) acceptable quarter hours. Persons applying for licensure with a master's degree of less than sixty (60) semester hours or ninety (90) quarter hours may complete the additional coursework required without earning an additional degree, provided the coursework is in a regionally or nationally accredited college or university program in counseling or a related field. Proof of same must be submitted in the form of an updated transcript to the board when reapplying for licensure. All applicants shall provide official transcripts of all graduate work.
(g) The applicant must pass the examination approved by the board, as set forth in Section 73-30-7(5).
(h) The applicant has had two (2) years of supervised experience in professional counseling, or its equivalent, acceptable to the board, one (1) year of which may be concurrent with the pursuit of the master's degree program. Applicant shall submit verification of previous employment.
Each application or filing made under this section shall include the social security number(s) of the applicant in accordance with Section 93-11-64, Mississippi Code of 1972.
(i) After January 1, 2008, the board shall require each first-time applicant for licensure and may require applicants for license renewal to apply to the Department of Public Safety for a state and national background check which will include consulting sex offender registries.
SECTION 3. Section 73-30-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
73-30-19. Any person who represents himself by the title "Licensed Professional Counselor" without having first complied with the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for each offense.
SECTION 4. Section 73-30-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
73-30-25. It is not the intent of this chapter to regulate against members of other duly regulated professions in this state who do counseling in the normal course of the practice of their own profession. This chapter does not apply to:
(a) Any person registered, certified or licensed by the state to practice any other occupation or profession while rendering counseling services in the performance of the occupation or profession for which he is registered, certified or licensed;
(b) Certified school counselors when they are practicing counseling within the scope of their employment;
(c) Certified vocational counselors when they are practicing vocational counseling within the scope of their employment;
(d) Counselors in postsecondary institutions when they are practicing within the scope of their employment;
(e) Student interns or trainees in counseling pursuing a course of study in counseling in a regionally or nationally accredited institution of higher learning or training institution if activities and services constitute a part of the supervised course of study, provided that such persons be designated a counselor intern;
(f) Professionals employed by regionally or nationally accredited postsecondary institutions as counselor educators when they are practicing counseling within the scope of their employment;
(g) [Deleted]
(h) Duly ordained ministers or clergy while functioning in their ministerial capacity and duly accredited Christian Science practitioners;
(i) Professional employees of regional mental health centers, state mental hospitals, vocational rehabilitation institutions, youth court counselors and employees of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security or other governmental agency so long as they practice within the scope of their employment;
(j) Professional employees of alcohol or drug abuse centers or treatment facilities, whether privately or publicly funded, so long as they practice within the scope of their employment;
(k) Private employment counselors;
(l) Any nonresident temporarily employed in this state to render counseling services for not more than thirty (30) days in any year, if in the opinion of the board the person would qualify for a license under this chapter and if the person holds any license required for counselors in his home state or country; and
(m) Any social workers holding a master's degree in social work from a school accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and who do counseling in the normal course of the practice of their own profession.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2017.