Mental health care professionals: qualifications.

(1) Under existing law, the Board of Behavioral Sciences licenses and regulates marriage and family therapists and professional clinical counselors. Existing law requires the board to accept specified education an applicant gained while the applicant resided outside of California as satisfying certain educational requirements for licensure as a marriage therapist or as a professional clinical counselor. This bill would, instead, require the board to accept specified education an applicant gained from an out-of-state school. (2) Existing law requires an applicant seeking licensure as a professional clinical counselor or a marriage and family therapist to possess a degree that contains a practicum coursework requirement that may be satisfied by conducting face-to-face counseling. This bill would specify that the face-to-face counseling requirement of the practicum coursework be face-to-face counseling of individuals, couples, families, or groups. This bill would require that this counseling be supervised for applicants seeking licensure as a professional clinical counselor. (3) Existing law requires, with specified exceptions, an applicant seeking licensure as a professional clinical counselor to pass a licensure examination. Existing law requires these applicants to meet specified qualifications to be eligible to take the licensure examination, including possessing a degree that is counseling or psychotherapy in content, and that contains specified coursework. Existing law requires this degree to include supervised practicum or field study experience, as specified. This bill would require that the degree's practicum and field study experience involve direct client contact. (4) Existing law requires an applicant seeking licensure as a professional clinical counselor to possess a degree that is counseling or psychotherapy in content, and that contains specified coursework. Existing law allows remediation of a limited number of required core content coursework areas if they are missing from an applicant's degree program. This bill would prohibit remediation of the core content area of assessment, appraisal, and testing of individuals, as specified. The bill also would prohibit the remediation of the core content area of the principles of the diagnostic process and the use of diagnostic tools, as specified.