Counselor Questions
About Becoming a Certified Counselor in Washington State
Counselor Degrees and Course Work:
Question:
I’ve been reading much on the new regulations for counselors in the
state and the required classes to meet the new requirements.
I am a hypnotherapist and have had a private practice under the
registered counselor credential since 1993. I’m planning on
going into the new Certified Counselor credential. So I am
looking for the coursework they are requiring prior to taking the
test to get certified.
I’m not finding much information on where/who offers the classes.
That would be a great answer to have on your site.
Thanks much, Nancy.
March 15, 2008: (4 months to deadline)
Under the new 2008 Registered Counselor Law, Certified Counselors
are supposed to be able to show evidence of having completed course
work in risk assessment, ethics, appropriate screening and referral,
and Washington state law and other subjects identified by the
secretary and to pass an examination on those subjects.
The pending basic requirements are listed in the May
2, 2009 draft of Chapter 246-810
WAC. Several paragraphs of the draft WAC relate to
education and continuing education requirements--especially
246-810-022
dealing with Degrees and
246-810-027
dealing with who can offer Courses.
However, you should be able to
continue your practice under the hypnotherapist credential, if you
choose to do so. See the
Washington State web page for Hypnotherapist and click on
"Hypnotherapist License Application Package."
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[Revised answer July 2011] Don't even think about
becoming a Certified Counselor. This is a category for people
whose education and experience do not qualify them as a licensed
associate.
Any student planning to work on a
Masters Degree in Counseling you need to know that for full
licensure in Washington State you will need to complete 3,000 hours
(for LMHT or LMHC) to
3,200 hours (for a social worker license) of supervised counseling experience.
It is essential that you ensure
that your masters degree courses and practicum meet Washington State legal
requirements. Find and print out the application forms for the
license you wish to end up with. Decide ahead of time whether
you are going to be a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, a Licensed
Marriage and Family Therapist, or a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
Make sure you take the required courses. [
Find links to the various counselor license application forms on the counselor questions page.]
I agree that the situation is confusing and will
probably continue to be so until we reach July 1, 2009, when people
will begin to apply to the Health Department, Health Professionals
Quality Assurance for the new positions created by the 2008 law.
Please note that the health department is laboring to resolve all
these new issues of the 2008 law with reduced funding and restricted
staffing. They are busy implementing the new law and I am sure that
many issues have not been resolved yet.
Washington State will have these new Associate positions who cannot
charge for their services, so where will they get their hours of
experience? If, for example, you go to work for a mental health
agency, you would be working in the Agency Affiliated Counselor
category, so why be an Associate?
If you apply for the Certified Counselor category, you have a
masters degree so you meet the first requirement of having at least
a bachelors degree. You would need to pass an examination in risk
assessment, ethics, appropriate screening and referral, and
Washington state law, and other subjects. You will probably be able
to take the examination before your compete your masters degree
program, but we are talking about an examination which, at this
time, is still in the process of development.
Finally, you will
need to have a written supervisory agreement. Who you choose for a
supervisor is important.
Because of the lack of masters level supervisors in some of the
remote and rural communities, I have heard unconfirmed rumors that the health department
is considering allowing Certified Counselors with supervision
training to supervise
other Certified Counselors and Certified Advisors. However, because
you are working toward licensure, you need licensed supervisors so
that your counseling hours will count toward eventual licensure.
Each insurance company
sets its own reimbursement standards and, at present,
Insurance panels limit reimbursement to licensed counselors. As a
Certified Counselor, you are certified--not licensed. Your services
would not be billable to insurance companies. [If
the reader is aware of any
exception to this rule, please notify me immediately.] In addition,
most clients don't have mental health insurance, and private
practice counseling restrictions on Certified
Counselors are require them to refer to other licensed counselors all
those clients who are seriously impaired or have a DSM IV mental health diagnosis--the
client problems most likely to qualify for insurance reimbursement.
Floyd Else, MA, LMHC, NCC
Webmaster: http://www.CounselingSeattle.com
CounselingSeattle LLC
PO Box 6714, Bellevue, WA 98008-0714
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