HB 175 -- Professional Counselors

Sponsor:  Treadway

This bill:

(1)  Expands the definition of professional counseling to
include diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional
disorders;

(2)  Limits practice to demonstrated areas of competence
documented by relevant professional education, training and
experience;

(3)  Exempts ministers, clergy, duly accredited Christian
scientists, substance abuse counselors, and state employees or
consultants from licensure as long as their practice is
consistent with established standards of their profession;

(4)  Contains licensing renewal requirements;

(5)  Makes additions to the educational requirements necessary
to become a licensed professional counselor.  These include a
doctoral degree in a mental health discipline, a specialist's
degree consisting of 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours in
counseling or a mental health discipline, or a masters degree in
counseling consisting of 45 semester hours or 60 quarter hours
including 6 semester hours or 9 quarter hours of clinical
practicum.  An internship may be substituted for the clinical
practicum hours for those persons having a masters degree in a
mental health discipline.  Those with master's degrees and
currently certified by the Missouri Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education are exempt from the clinical practicum and
internship.  All applicants with master's degrees must have at
least 2 years of acceptable supervised counseling experience
before receiving their license;

(6)  Defines a mental health discipline as a degree in school
psychology, counseling psychology, or clinical psychology; and

(7)  Requires the Committee for Professional Counselors to adopt
an examination for licensure and allows the examination to be
prepared and administered by another organization.