Arizona Laws 32-3301. Licensed professional counselor; licensure; requirements
A. A person who wishes to be licensed by the board to engage in the practice of professional counseling as a licensed professional counselor shall:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 32-3301
- Board: means the board of behavioral health examiners. See Arizona Laws 32-3251
- Client: means a patient who receives behavioral health services from a person licensed pursuant to this chapter. See Arizona Laws 32-3251
- Direct client contact: means the performance of therapeutic or clinical functions related to the applicant's professional practice level of psychotherapy that includes diagnosis, assessment and treatment and that may include psychoeducation for mental, emotional and behavioral disorders based primarily on verbal or nonverbal communications and intervention with, and in the presence of, one or more clients, including through the use of telehealth pursuant to Title 36, Chapter 36, Article 1. See Arizona Laws 32-3251
- Equivalent: means comparable in content and quality but not identical. See Arizona Laws 32-3251
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Practice of professional counseling: means the professional application of mental health, psychological and human development theories, principles and techniques to:
(a) Facilitate human development and adjustment throughout the human life span. See Arizona Laws 32-3251
- Psychoeducation: means the education of a client as part of a treatment process that provides the client with information regarding mental health, emotional disorders or behavioral health. See Arizona Laws 32-3251
1. Meet the education requirements of subsection B of this section and the work experience requirements of subsection F of this section.
2. Pass an examination approved by the board.
B. An applicant for licensure shall furnish documentation as prescribed by the board by rule that the person has received a master’s or higher degree with a major emphasis in counseling from a regionally accredited college or university in a program of study that includes at least sixty semester credit hours or ninety quarter credit hours at one of the following:
1. A program accredited by the council for the accreditation of counseling and related educational programs or the national council on rehabilitation education.
2. A program with a curriculum that has been approved by the board pursuant to section 32-3253.
3. A program with a curriculum meeting requirements as prescribed by the board by rule.
C. A program that is not accredited by the council for the accreditation of counseling and related educations programs or the national council on rehabilitation education must require seven hundred hours of supervised clinical hours and twenty-four semester hours or thirty-two quarter hours in courses in the following eight core content areas as prescribed by the board by rule:
1. Professional orientation and ethical practice.
2. Social and cultural diversity.
3. Human growth and development.
4. Career development.
5. Helping relationships.
6. Group work.
7. Assessment.
8. Research and program evaluation.
D. Credit hours offered above those prescribed pursuant to subsection C of this section must be in studies that provide a broad understanding in counseling related subjects as prescribed by the board by rule.
E. The board may accept equivalent coursework in which core content area subject matter is embedded or contained within another course, including another subject matter.
F. An applicant for licensure shall furnish documentation as prescribed by the board by rule that the applicant has received at least twenty-four months in post-master’s degree work experience in the practice of professional counseling under supervision that includes at least one thousand six hundred hours of direct client contact and that meets the requirements prescribed by the board by rule. An applicant may use a doctoral-clinical internship to satisfy the requirement for one year of work experience under supervision.
G. In addition to the requirements of subsection F of this section, the applicant must have at least one hundred hours of clinical supervision as prescribed by the board by rule. For the direct client contact hours, not more than four hundred hours may be in psychoeducation.
H. The applicant’s supervisor shall attest on a board-approved form that the applicant both:
1. Was observed during supervised hours to have demonstrated satisfactory competency in clinical documentation, consultation, collaboration and coordination of care related to clients to whom the applicant provided direct care.
2. Has a rating of at least satisfactory in overall performance.
I. An applicant who is deficient in hours required pursuant to subsection B of this section may satisfy those requirements by successfully completing post-master’s degree coursework.
J. An applicant who completed a degree before July 1, 1989 and whose course of study did not include a practicum may substitute a one-year doctoral-clinical internship or an additional year of documented post-master’s degree work experience in order to satisfy the requirements of subsection B of this section.