Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) An applicant for licensure
as a mental health counselor shall meet the experience requirement for licensure
as a mental health counselor by submitting sufficient documentation of having
completed a supervised experience of at least 3,000 clock hours providing mental
health counseling in a setting acceptable to the department, all in accordance
with the requirements of this section. Not less than 1,500 clock hours of such
required experience shall consist of direct contact with clients. The remaining
experience may consist of other activities that do no involve direct client
contact, including but not limited to, recordkeeping, case management, research,
supervision and professional development.
(b) The supervised experience must be obtained
after the applicant completes the program required for licensure as a mental
health counselor, as prescribed in section
79-9.1 of this Subpart, and the
experience must be obtained in accordance with the following paragraphs:
(1) any experience obtained in New York must be
performed by an applicant under a limited permit issued by the department, except
the department may, in limited circumstances, accept experience that was not
obtained under a limited permit where an applicant demonstrates that such
experience was obtained in an authorized setting under a qualified supervisor;
and
(2) any experience completed in
another jurisdiction may be accepted by the department if it was completed in a
setting authorized to provide mental health counseling in that jurisdiction and
the experience was provided under a qualified supervisor, as determined by the
department.
(c)
Supervision of the experience. The experience shall be supervised in accordance
with the requirements of this subdivision.
(1)
An applicant shall obtain experience under this section while under the general
supervision of a qualified supervisor. General supervision shall mean that a
qualified supervisor shall be available for consultation, assessment and
evaluation when professional services are being rendered by an applicant and the
supervisor shall exercise the degree of supervision appropriate to the
circumstances. The supervisor shall provide an average of one hour per week or
two hours every other week of face-to-face individual or group supervision
wherein the supervisor of such experience shall:
(i) review the applicant's assessment,
evaluation and treatment of each client under his or her general supervision;
and
(ii) provide oversight, guidance
and direction to the applicant in developing skills as a mental health
counselor.
(2)
Qualifications for supervisors of the required experience. The supervisor of the
experience shall be licensed and registered in New York State to practice mental
health counseling, medicine, as a physician assistant, psychology, licensed
clinical social work, or as a registered professional nurse or nurse
practitioner, pursuant to article 163, 131, 131-b, 139, 153 or 154 of the
Education Law, respectively; or be an individual with equivalent qualifications
as determined by the department; or for applicants who apply for licensure in
mental health counseling on or before December 31, 2007, be an individual with
certification or registration by an acceptable national certifying or registering
body for mental health counselors. To be acceptable to the department, the
national certifying or registering body must be recognized nationwide as an
organization that certifies or registers mental health counselors throughout the
United States based upon a review of their qualifications to practice mental
health counseling and must have adequate standards for the review of the
applicant's qualifications for practicing mental health counseling, as determined
by the department. Such standards must include standards for the review of the
applicant's education and experience for practicing mental health counseling and
may include an examination requirement.
(3) Face-to face supervision may utilize
technology acceptable to the Department, including secure video conferencing to
protect confidentiality.
(d) Setting for the experience. For a setting
for the experience to be acceptable to the Department, it shall meet the
following requirements:
(1) the setting shall
be a location at which legally authorized individuals provide services that
constitute the practice of mental health counseling, as defined in section
8402
(1) of the Education Law. For purposes of this
section, an acceptable setting shall be:
(i) a
professional corporation, registered limited liability partnership, or
professional service limited liability company authorized to provide services
that are within the scope of practice of mental health counseling;
(ii) a sole proprietorship owned by a licensee
who provides services that are within the scope of his or her profession and
services that are within the scope of practice of mental health
counseling;
(iii) a professional
partnership owned by licensees who provide services that are within the scope of
practice of mental health counseling;
(iv) a program or service operated, regulated,
funded, or approved by the department of mental hygiene, the office of children
and family services, the department of corrections and community supervision, the
office of temporary and disability assistance, the state office for the aging and
the department of health or a local governmental unit as that term is defined in
section
41.03 of the
Mental Hygiene Law or a social services district as defined in section
61 of the
Social Services Law;
(v) an entity
holding a waiver issued by the Department pursuant to section
6503-a or
6503-b of the
Education Law to provide services that are within the scope of practice of mental
health counseling;
(vi) a program or
facility authorized under federal law to provide services that are within the
scope of practice of mental health counseling; or
(vii) an entity authorized under New York law
or the laws of the jurisdiction in which the entity is located to provide
services that are within the scope of practice of mental health
counseling;
(2) the
setting in which the experience is gained shall be responsible for the services
provided by individuals gaining experience for licensure. The setting shall also
be responsible for providing adequate supervision to such individuals and for
assigning a qualified supervisor, as defined in this section, to individuals
gaining experience for licensure; and
(3) the setting shall not be a private practice
owned or operated by the applicant.
(e) Verification of the experience. The
licensed supervisor shall submit verification of the supervised experience on
forms acceptable to the department. The supervisor is responsible for maintaining
documentation of the applicant's supervised practice and hours of supervision,
and for submitting a copy of such documentation to the department upon its
request.
