Indiana Administrative Code
Title 839 - DIVISION OF FAMILY RESOURCES
Article 1 - TANF ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Rule 5 - Mental Health Counselors
Section 5-1 - Educational requirements for mental health counselors and mental health counselor associates
Current through March 20, 2024
Authority: IC 25-23.6-2-8
Affected: IC 25-23.6-8.5
Sec. 1.
(a) As used in IC 25-23.6-8.5-1, "master's degree in an area related to mental health counseling" means a degree earned in one (1) of the following programs:
(b) An applicant for licensure as a mental health counselor or mental health counselor associate with a graduate degree not listed in subsection (a), or an applicant asserting that his or her program is equivalent to a program in counseling whose content areas are listed in IC 25-23.6-8.5-3, must provide the board with the following information:
(c) As used in IC 25-23.6-8.5-2, "regional accrediting body" means a college or university that was accredited prior to or within two (2) years of the time of the applicant's graduation by one (1) of the following:
(d) An applicant for licensure as a mental health counselor or mental health counselor associate under IC 25-23.6-8.5 must show successful completion of a degree curriculum that shall encompass a minimum of forty-eight (48) semester hours or seventy-two (72) quarter hours of graduate study for the master's degree or a minimum of ninety-six (96) semester hours or one hundred forty-four (144) quarter hours of graduate study for the doctoral degree. If the course titles as stated on the transcript do not clearly reflect the course work content areas as listed in IC 25-23.6-8.5-3, the applicant must document the course or combination of courses in which the material was covered. Further, the applicant for licensure shall document a minimum of sixty (60) semester hours or ninety (90) quarter hours of graduate credit in mental health counseling or a related field. Only graduate level courses are acceptable for establishing equivalency. The board will not accept course work counted or credited toward an undergraduate degree.
(e) The following criteria shall be used to identify a master's or doctoral program in counseling or an area related to mental health counseling:
(f) As used in IC 25-23.6-8.5-3, "practicum" means a distinctly defined, supervised curricular experience intended to enable the student to develop basic counseling skills and to integrate professional knowledge and skills appropriate to the student's program emphasis. The practicum shall be a minimum of one hundred (100) clock hours and include the following:
(g) As used in IC 25-23.6-8.5-3, "internship" means a distinctly defined, supervised curricular experience intended to enable the student to refine and enhance basic counseling skills, to develop more advanced counseling skills, and to integrate professional knowledge and skills appropriate to the student's initial postgraduation professional placement. A supervised internship of six hundred (600) clock hours that is begun after successful completion of the student's practicum includes the following:
(h) The practicum and internship experiences listed in this section are tutorial forms of instruction. Individual supervision is supervision rendered to one (1) person at a time, and group supervision is supervision rendered to at least two (2) and not more than twelve (12) individuals at one (1) time.
(i) As used in IC 25-23.6-8.5-3, "advanced internship" means a minimum of three hundred (300) clock hours of supervised experience that must be completed in a setting in which the individual is providing mental health services under the direct supervision of a professional as defined in subsection (m).
(j) The required practicum, internship, and advanced internship experiences listed in this section must have been primarily in the provision of direct counseling services. This includes knowledge, skill, or experience derived from direct observations of, and participation in, the practice of counseling. No course intended primarily for practice in the administration and grading of appraisal or assessment instruments shall count toward these clinical semester hour requirements.
(k) The required experiences gained through the practicum, internship, and advanced internship may not be taken concurrently, and the academic credit must appear on the applicant's official graduate transcript.
(l) As used in IC 25-23.6-8.5-3, "one hundred (100) hours of face-to-face supervision" refers to the entire clinical experience requirement of one thousand (1,000) hours. This includes individual and group supervision. The applicant must document that at least one hundred (100) hours were spent face-to-face with a supervisor during the practicum, internship, and advanced internship. The graduate counseling student may work away from the premises of the educational institution but must:
(m) As used in IC 25-23.6-8.5-3, "supervised practice experience" means experience gained under supervision provided by: