* § 8401-a. Diagnostic privilege. 1. For issuance of a privilege to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans, as defined in section eighty-four hundred one of this article, the applicant shall fulfill the following requirements:

(a) Application: File an application with the department;

(b) License: Be licensed and registered as a mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist, or a psychoanalyst in the state;

(c) Education: Verify the completion of a sixty semester hour master's degree or higher, or the clock hour equivalent program of study in a psychoanalytic institute, that includes completion of a core curriculum which includes at least twelve semester hours or clock hour equivalent of clinical courses that prepares the applicant to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans acceptable to the department. A person who has received a master's or higher degree during which they did not complete the required hours, may satisfy such requirement by completing the equivalent post-graduate courses in accordance with the commissioner's regulations;

(d) Experience: (i) Have completed at least two thousand hours of supervised, direct client contact that shall include, but not be limited to, diagnosis, psychotherapy and the development of assessment-based treatment plans, as defined in section eighty-four hundred one of this article, satisfactory to the department.

(ii) Subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall not apply to a mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist, or psychoanalyst who was licensed prior to June twenty-fourth, two thousand twenty-four, and who provides attestation, on a form prescribed by the department, from a supervisor in a facility setting or other supervised setting approved by the department under supervision in accordance with the commissioner's regulations, that such licensee has at least three years of experience engaged in direct client contact that shall include diagnosis, psychotherapy and the development of assessment-based treatment plans. Such licensee shall submit an application to the department within three years of the effective date of this section.

(e) Fee: Pay a fee of one hundred seventy-five dollars for issuance of a privilege to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans.

2. A mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist or psychoanalyst who engages in diagnosis and the development of assessment-based treatment plans without a privilege may be charged with professional misconduct under section sixty-five hundred nine of this title.

3. A privilege issued under this section shall be valid for the life of the holder, unless revoked, annulled, or suspended by the board of regents. Such a privilege shall be subject to the same oversight and disciplinary provisions as licenses issued under this title. The holder of a privilege issued under this section shall register with the department as a privilege holder in the same manner and subject to the same provisions as required of a licensee pursuant to section sixty-five hundred two of this title, provided that, at the time of each registration, the privilege holder shall certify that he or she continues to meet the requirements for the privilege set forth in this section. The fee for such registration shall be one hundred seventy-five dollars. The registration period for a privilege holder shall be coterminous with his or her registration under this article.

* NB Effective June 24, 2024