Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 46 - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL STANDARDS
Part LX - Professional Counselors
Subpart 1 - Licensed Professional Counselors
Chapter 7 - Application and Renewal Requirements for Licensed Professional Counselors
Section LX-707 - Renewal Requirements for Licensed Professional Counselors and Board Approved Supervisors
Universal Citation: LA Admin Code LX-707
Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. General Guidelines
1. A licensee must accrue
40 clock hours of continuing education by every renewal period every two years.
Of the 40 clock hours of continuing education, 3 clock hours must be accrued in
ethics and 6 clock hours must be accrued in diagnosis (assessment, diagnosis,
and treatment under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders 5, as published by the American Psychiatric Association). A
board-approved supervisor must accrue 3 clock hours (of the required 40 clock
hours of continuing education) in supervision.
2. One continuing education hour (CEH) is
equivalent to one clock hour.
3.
Accrual of continuing education begins only after the date the license was
issued.
4. CEHs accrued beyond the
required 40 hours may not be applied toward the next renewal period. Renewal
periods run from July 1 to June 30, every two years.
5. The licensee is responsible for keeping a
personal record of his/her CEHs until official notification of renewal is
received. Licensees should not forward documentation of CEHs to the board
office as they are accrued.
6. At
the time of renewal, 10 percent of the licensees will be audited to ensure that
the continuing education requirement is being met. Audited licensees will be
notified to submit documentation of accrued CEHs.
B. Approved Continuing Education for Licensed Professional Counselors and Board Approved Supervisors
1. Continuing education requirements are
meant to encourage personal and professional development throughout the
counselors career. For this reason, a wide range of options are offered to
accommodate the diversity of counselors' training, experience, and geographic
locations.
2. A licensee may obtain
the 40 CEHs through one or more of the options listed below. Effective July 1,
2014 a maximum of 20 CEHs may be obtained through an online format, with the
exception of coursework obtained through a regionally accredited institution of
higher education.
a. Continuing Education
Approved by Other Organizations. Continuing education that is approved by
either the American Counseling Association (ACA), its divisions, regions and
state branches, Louisiana Counseling Association (LCA), or the National Board
of Certified Counselors (NBCC) will be accepted by the Board of Examiners. One
may contact these associations to find out which organizations, groups or
individuals are approved providers. One may receive one clock hour of
continuing education for each hour of direct participation in a structured
educational format as a learner. Credit cannot be granted for:
business/governance meetings; breaks; social activities including meal
functions, except for actual time of a content speaker. Credit cannot be given
for an approved session to persons who leave early from that session.
Verification can consist of copies of certificates of attendance.
b. Continuing Education Not Preapproved. For
those organizations, groups or individuals that do not carry provider status by
one of the associations listed in Subparagraph a of this Paragraph, the
continuing education hours will be subject to approval by the Licensed
Professional Counselors Board of Examiners at the time of renewal. The board
will not pre-approve any type of continuing education. The continuing education
must be in one of the 14 approved content areas listed in
§707 C, and be given by a qualified
presenter. A qualified presenter is considered to be someone at the master's
level or above and trained in the mental health field or related services. One
may receive one clock hour of continuing education for each hour of direct
participation in a structured educational format as a learner. Credit cannot be
granted for business/governance meetings, breaks, social activities, including
meal functions, except for actual time of a content speaker. Credit cannot be
given for an approved session to persons who leave early from that session.
Verification for workshops, seminars, or conventions can consist of copies of
certificates of attendance. Typically one continuing education unit (CEU) is
equivalent to 10 clock hours (CEH).
c. Coursework. CEHs may also be gained by
taking coursework (undergraduate or graduate) from a regionally accredited
institution in one of the 14 approved content areas for continuing education
listed in §707.
C One may take a course for credit or audit a
course. In a college or university program, one semester hour is equivalent to
15 clock hours and one quarter hour is equivalent to 10 clock hours. Therefore,
45 CEHs will be given for a three hour university course completed at a
regionally accredited university. Verification for coursework can consist of
either copies of transcripts for coursework taken for credit or letter of
attendance from instructor for courses audited.
d. Home Study (10 hours maximum per renewal
period, effective July 1, 2014). Journals published by ACA, LCA, professional
refereed journals, video presentations, and webinars are all approved home
study options. Each option must carry a provider number from either NBCC, ACA,
LCA, or other board-approved mental health organizations. Each activity will
specify the number of CEHs that will be granted upon completion. Verification
consists of a certificate issued by NBCC, ACA, LCA, or certificates from other
professional mental health organizations that will be reviewed by the
board.
e. Presentations (10 hours
maximum per renewal period, effective July 1, 2014). Presenters may get credit
for original presentations at a rate of five clock hours per one hour
presentation. Presenters must meet the qualifications stated in Subparagraph
B.2.b above. The presentation must be to the professional community, not to the
lay public or a classroom presentation. The presentation must also be in one of
the 14 approved content areas listed in
§707. C Verification of
the presentation consists of obtaining a letter from the workshop/convention
coordinator stating the topic, date, and number of hours of
presentation.
f. Publishing (10
hours maximum per renewal period, effective July 1, 2014). Authors may receive
five clock hours per article or chapter in a book. The article must be
published in a professional refereed journal. Both articles and chapters must
be in one of the 14 approved content areas listed in
§707. C Verification will
consist of either a reprint of the article/chapter, or a copy of the
article/chapter, cover of the book/journal and page listing the editor or
publisher.
g. Counseling (10 hours
maximum per renewal period). One may receive one clock hour of continuing
education per counseling hour as a client. To qualify, one must be a client
receiving services from a licensed mental health professional having
qualifications equal to, or exceeding, those currently required of counselors.
Consultation and supervision hours do not qualify. Verification will consist of
a letter from the counseling mental health professional verifying client
therapy hours.
h. Research (10
hours maximum per renewal period, effective July 1, 2014). One may receive one
clock hour of continuing education per hour of planning or conduct of, or
participation in, counseling or counseling-related research. To qualify, this
activity must constitute an original and substantive educational experience for
the learner. Verification will consist of a letter from the faculty member or
researcher.
i. Peer Supervision (10
hour maximum per renewal period). One may receive one clock hour of continuing
education per hours of performing peer supervision activities. For example,
case work consultation.
C. Approved Content Areas. Continuing education hours must be in one of the following 14 content areas:
1. counseling theory-includes a study of
basic theories, principles and techniques of counseling and their application
in professional settings;
2. human
growth and development-includes studies that provide a broad understanding of
the nature and needs of individuals at all developmental levels, normal and
abnormal human behavior, personality theory and learning theory within
appropriate cultural contexts;
3.
social and cultural foundations-includes studies that provide a broad
understanding of societal changes and trends, human roles, societal subgroups,
social mores and interaction patterns, and differing lifestyles;
4. the helping relationship-includes studies
that provide a broad understanding of philosophic bases of helping processes,
counseling theories and their applications, basic and advanced helping skills,
consultation theories and their applications, client and helper
self-understanding and self-development, and facilitation of client or
consultee change;
5. group
dynamics, processing and counseling-includes studies that provide a broad
understanding of group development, dynamics, and counseling theories, group
leadership styles, basic and advanced group counseling methods and skills, and
other group approaches;
6.
lifestyle and career development includes:
a.
studies that provide a broad understanding of career development theories,
occupational and educational information sources and systems, career and
leisure counseling, guidance, and education;
b. lifestyle and career decision-making,
career development program planning and resources, and effectiveness
evaluation;
7. appraisal
of individuals-includes studies that provide a broad understanding of group and
individual educational and psychometric theories and approaches to appraisal,
data and information gathering methods, validity and reliability, psychometric
statistics, factors influencing appraisals, and use of appraisal results in
helping processes;
8. research and
evaluation-includes studies that provide a broad understanding of types of
research, basic statistics, research report development, research
implementation, program evaluation, needs assessment, publication of research
information, and ethical and legal considerations associated with the conduct
of research;
9. professional
orientation-includes studies that provide a broad understanding of professional
roles and functions, professional goals and objectives, professional
organizations and associations, professional history and trends, ethical and
legal standards, professional preparation standards, professional credentialing
and management of private practice and agency settings;
10. marriage and family-includes studies that
provide a broad understanding of marriage and family theories and approaches to
counseling with families and couples. This includes appraisal of family and
couples systems and the application of these to counseling families and/or
couples;
11. chemical
dependency-includes studies that provide a broad understanding of chemical
dependency issues, theories, and strategies to be applied in the helping
relationship for chemical dependency counseling;
12. supervision-includes studies in theory
and techniques of supervision as well as ethical and legal issues, case
management, and topics relative to the specific supervised setting;
13. abnormal includes studies of emotional
and mental disorders experienced by persons of all ages, characteristics of
disorders, common nosologies of emotional and mental disorders utilized within
the U.S. health care system, and the most recent edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as
published by the American Psychiatric Association. This includes:
a. studies of preferred treatment approaches
for disorders based on research;
b.
common medications used by psychiatrists to treat disorders, and
c. working with other health care and mental
health care professionals in treating individuals with emotional and mental
disorders;
14.
psychopharmacology includes the scientific study of the effects of drugs on
mood, sensation, thinking, and behavior. This also includes a range of
substances with various types of psychoactive properties, which involves drugs
used in the treatment of psychopathological disorders and drugs of abuse, and
focuses on the chemical interactions with the brain.
D. Types of documentation needed for verification:
1. copy of certificate of
attendance for workshops, seminars, or conventions;
2. copy of transcript for coursework taken
for credit/letter of attendance from instructor for courses audited;
3. home study verification form or
certificate issued by NBCC/ACA/LCA;
4. letter from workshop/convention
coordinator verifying presentations;
5. copy of article, cover and editorial board
page for publications;
6. letter
from counseling mental health professional verifying number of hours in
counseling as a client;
7. letter
from the faculty member or researcher verifying number of hours in
research;
8. letter or certificate
from the LPC Board of Examiners, or from the board-approved counseling service
organization, verifying number of hours of service.
AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 37:1101-1123.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Louisiana may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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