Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 6, September 16, 2024
The Board shall grant a license as a licensed clinical mental
health counselor associate to persons preparing for the practice of counseling
who have:
(1) if applied before July
1, 2025, completed graduate training as defined in
G.S.
90-336(b1) or (b2), as
applicable; and three semester hours or five quarter hours in each of the
required coursework areas of study as follows:
(a) Coursework in Helping Relationships in
Counseling. Studies in this area provide an understanding of counseling and
consultation processes, including the following:
(i) counseling and consultation theories,
including both individual and systems perspectives, as well as coverage of
relevant research and factors considered in applications;
(ii) basic interviewing, assessment, and
counseling skills;
(iii) counselor
or consultant characteristics and behaviors that influence mental health
counseling relationships, including age, gender, and ethnic differences; verbal
and nonverbal behaviors; personal behaviors; and personal characteristics,
orientations, and skills;
(iv)
client or consultee characteristics and behaviors that influence mental health
counseling relationships, including age, gender, and ethnic differences; verbal
and nonverbal behaviors; and personal behaviors; personal characteristics,
orientations and skills; and
(v)
ethical considerations.
(b) Coursework in Practicum and Internship.
Practicum and internship experience shall be provided in a supervised graduate
counseling experience in a regionally accredited program of study. This
graduate counseling experience shall be completed as defined in Rule .0206 of
this Chapter.
(c) Coursework in
Professional Orientation to Counseling. Studies in this area provide an
understanding of all aspects of professional functioning, including history,
roles, organizational structures, ethics, standards, and credentialing,
including the following:
(i) history of the
counseling profession, including significant factors and events;
(ii) professional roles and functions of
counselors, including similarities and differences with other types of
professionals;
(iii) professional
organizations (primarily the ACA, its divisions, branches and affiliates),
including membership benefits, activities, services to members, and current
emphases;
(iv) ethical standards of
the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) or ACA and related ethical
and legal issues, and their applications to various professional activities
(e.g., appraisal, group work);
(v)
clinical mental health counselor preparation standards, their evolution, and
current applications;
(vi) clinical
mental health counselor credentialing, including counselor certification,
licensure and accreditation practices and standards, and the effects of public
policy on these issues;
(vii)
public policy processes, including the role of the clinical mental health
counselor advocating on behalf of the profession and its clientele;
and
(viii) ethical
considerations.
(d)
Coursework in Human Growth and Development Theories in Counseling. Studies in
this area provide an understanding of the nature and needs of individuals at
all developmental levels, relevant to counseling practice, including the
following:
(i) theories of individual and
family development, and transitions across the life span;
(ii) theories of learning and personality
development;
(iii) human behavior,
including an understanding of developmental crises, disability, addictive
behavior, psychopathology, and environmental factors as they affect both normal
and abnormal behavior;
(iv)
counseling strategies for facilitating development over the life span;
and
(v) ethical
considerations.
(e)
Coursework in Social and Cultural Foundations in Counseling. Studies in this
area provide an understanding of issues and trends in a multicultural and
diverse society that impact clinical mental health counselors and the
counseling profession, including, the following:
(i) multicultural and pluralistic trends,
including characteristics and concerns of counseling individuals from diverse
groups;
(ii) attitudes and behavior
based on factors such as age, race, religious preferences, physical disability,
sexual orientation, ethnicity and culture, family patterns, gender,
socioeconomic status, and intellectual ability;
(iii) individual, family, and group
counseling strategies with diverse populations; and
(iv) ethical considerations.
(f) Coursework in Group Counseling
Theories and Processes. Studies in this area provide an understanding of group
development, dynamics, and counseling theories; group counseling methods and
skills; and other group work approaches, including the following:
(i) principals of group dynamics, including
group counseling components, developmental stage theories, and group members'
roles and behaviors;
(ii) group
leadership styles and approaches, including characteristics of various types of
group leaders and leadership styles;
(iii) theories of group counseling, including
commonalities, distinguishing characteristics, and pertinent research and
literature;
(iv) group counseling
methods, including group counselor orientations and behaviors, ethical
standards, appropriate selection criteria, and methods of evaluation of
effectiveness;
(v) approaches used
for other types of group work in counseling, including task groups, support
groups, and therapy groups; and
(vi) ethical considerations.
(g) Coursework in Career
Counseling and Lifestyle Development. Studies in this area provide an
understanding of career counseling, development, and related life factors,
including the following:
(i) career-counseling
theories and decision-making process;
(ii) career, avocational, educational, and
labor market information resources; visual and print media; and computer-based
career information systems;
(iii)
career-counseling program planning, organization, implementation,
administration, and evaluation;
(iv) interrelationships among work, family,
and other life roles and factors, including multicultural and gender issues as
related to career counseling;
(v)
career and educational placement counseling, follow-up, and
evaluation;
(vi) assessment
instruments and techniques relevant to career counseling;
(vii) computer-based career-development
applications and strategies, including computer-assisted career-counseling
systems;
(viii) career-counseling
processes, techniques and resources, including those applicable to specific
populations; and
(ix) ethical
considerations.
(h)
Coursework in Assessment in Counseling. Studies in this area provide an
understanding of individual and group approaches to assessment and evaluation
in counseling practice, including the following:
(i) theoretical and historical bases for
assessment techniques in counseling;
(ii) validity, including evidence for
establishing content, construct, and empirical validity;
(iii) reliability, including methods of
establishing stability, internal, and equivalence reliability;
(iv) appraisal methods, including
environmental assessment, performance assessment, individual and group test and
inventory methods, behavioral observations, and computer-managed and
computer-assisted methods;
(v)
psychometric statistics, including types of assessment scores, measures of
central tendency, indices of variability, standard errors, and
correlations;
(vi) age, gender,
ethnicity, language, disability, and cultural factors related to the use of
assessment and evaluation in counseling services;
(vii) strategies for selecting,
administering, interpreting, and using assessment and evaluation instruments,
and techniques in counseling; and
(viii) ethical considerations.
(i) Coursework in Research and
Program Evaluation. Studies in this area provide an understanding of types of
research methods, basic statistics, and ethical and legal consideration in
research, including the following:
(i) basic
types of research methods to include qualitative and quantitative research
designs;
(ii) basic parametric and
nonparametric statistics;
(iii)
principles, practices, and applications of needs assessment and program
evaluation;
(iv) uses of computers
for data management and analysis; and
(v) ethical and legal considerations;
or
(2) If
applied on or after July 1, 2025, completed graduate training as defined in
G.S.
90-336(b2) and the required
content areas of study of the current standards set by the Council for
Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), as
incorporated in Rule .0206 of this Chapter, at the time of the receipt of
application as defined in Rule .0308(a) of this Chapter. The graduate
coursework shall also include three semester hours or five quarter hours in
each of the required content areas of study as follows:
(a) introduction to clinical mental health
counseling with professional issues and ethics;
(b) practicum and clinical mental health
internship; and
(c) appraisal and
assessment of mental health disorders with use and application of the current
edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), to
include psychopharmacology and differential diagnosis; and
(5) earned 60
semester hours or 90 quarter hours of graduate training in counseling or
related field from a program that is accredited by the Council for
Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
To prevent a lapse in licensure, licensed clinical mental
health counselor associates who desire to become licensed clinical mental
health counselors shall complete the application process for the licensed
clinical mental health counselor licensure no earlier than 60 days prior to
expiration of their licensed clinical mental health counselor associate license
or upon completion of the supervised professional practice hours as set forth
in Rule .0208 of this Chapter to allow for administrative processing and Board
action.
Authority
G.S.
90-334(h);
90-336(a);
90-336(b1);
90-336(b2);
Eff. January 1, 2010;
Amended Eff. July 1, 2014; January 1,
2010;
Pursuant to
G.S.
150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without
substantive public interest Eff. April 27, 2019;
Amended Eff.
February 1, 2023; January 1, 2020 (S.L. 2019-240, s.
3.(k)).
