Virginia Administrative Code
Title 18 - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING
Agency 115 - BOARD OF COUNSELING
Chapter 20 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE PRACTICE OF PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING
Part V - Standards of Practice; Unprofessional Conduct; Disciplinary Actions; Reinstatement
Section 18VAC115-20-130 - Standards of practice
Universal Citation: 8 VA Admin Code 115-20-130
Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 3, September 23, 2024
A. The protection of the public health, safety, and welfare and the best interest of the public shall be the primary guide in determining the appropriate professional conduct of all persons whose activities are regulated by the board. Regardless of the delivery method, whether in person, by phone, or electronically, these standards shall apply to the practice of counseling.
B. Persons licensed or registered by the board shall:
1. Practice in
a manner that is in the best interest of the public and does not endanger the
public health, safety, or welfare;
2. Practice only within the boundaries of
their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience,
and appropriate professional experience and represent their education,
training, and experience accurately to clients;
3. Stay abreast of new counseling
information, concepts, applications, and practices that are necessary to
providing appropriate, effective professional services;
4. Be able to justify all services rendered
to clients as necessary and appropriate for diagnostic or therapeutic
purposes;
5. Document the need for
and steps taken to terminate a counseling relationship when it becomes clear
that the client is not benefiting from the relationship. Document the
assistance provided in making appropriate arrangements for the continuation of
treatment for clients, when necessary, following termination of a counseling
relationship;
6. Make appropriate
arrangements for continuation of services, when necessary, during interruptions
such as vacations, unavailability, relocation, illness, and
disability;
7. Disclose to clients
all experimental methods of treatment and inform clients of the risks and
benefits of any such treatment. Ensure that the welfare of the clients is in no
way compromised in any experimentation or research involving those
clients;
8. Neither accept nor give
commissions, rebates, or other forms of remuneration for referral of clients
for professional services;
9.
Inform clients of the purposes, goals, techniques, procedures, limitations,
potential risks, and benefits of services to be performed; the limitations of
confidentiality; and other pertinent information when counseling is initiated
and throughout the counseling process as necessary. Provide clients with
accurate information regarding the implications of diagnosis, the intended use
of tests and reports, fees, and billing arrangements;
10. Select tests for use with clients that
are valid, reliable, and appropriate and carefully interpret the performance of
individuals not represented in standardized norms;
11. Determine whether a client is receiving
services from another mental health service provider, and if so, refrain from
providing services to the client without having an informed consent discussion
with the client and having been granted communication privileges with the other
professional;
12. Use only in
connection with one's practice as a mental health professional those
educational and professional degrees or titles that have been earned at a
college or university accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education, or credentials granted by a national certifying
agency, and that are counseling in nature;
13. Advertise professional services fairly
and accurately in a manner that is not false, misleading, or deceptive;
and
14. Not engage in conversion
therapy with any person younger than 18 years of age.
C. In regard to patient records, persons licensed by the board shall:
1. Maintain
written or electronic clinical records for each client to include treatment
dates and identifying information to substantiate diagnosis and treatment plan,
client progress, and termination;
2. Maintain client records securely, inform
all employees of the requirements of confidentiality, and provide for the
destruction of records that are no longer useful in a manner that ensures
client confidentiality;
3. Disclose
or release records to others only with the client's expressed written consent
or that of the client's legally authorized representative in accordance with
§
32.1-127.1:03
of the Code of Virginia;
4. Ensure
confidentiality in the usage of client records and clinical materials by
obtaining informed consent from the client or the client's legally authorized
representative before (i) videotaping, (ii) audio recording, (iii) permitting
third party observation, or (iv) using identifiable client records and clinical
materials in teaching, writing, or public presentations; and
5. Maintain client records for a minimum of
five years or as otherwise required by law from the date of termination of the
counseling relationship with the following exceptions:
a. At minimum, records of a minor child shall
be maintained for five years after attaining the age of majority (18 years) or
10 years following termination, whichever comes later;
b. Records that are required by contractual
obligation or federal law to be maintained for a longer period of time;
or
c. Records that have been
transferred to another mental health service provider or given to the client or
his legally authorized representative.
D. In regard to dual relationships, persons licensed by the board shall:
1. Avoid dual
relationships with clients that could impair professional judgment or increase
the risk of harm to clients. Examples of such relationships include familial,
social, financial, business, bartering, or close personal relationships with
clients. Counselors shall take appropriate professional precautions when a dual
relationship cannot be avoided, such as informed consent, consultation,
supervision, and documentation to ensure that judgment is not impaired and no
exploitation occurs;
2. Not engage
in any type of romantic relationships or sexual intimacies with clients or
those included in a collateral relationship with the client and not counsel
persons with whom they have had a romantic relationship or sexual intimacy.
Counselors shall not engage in romantic relationships or sexual intimacies with
former clients within a minimum of five years after terminating the counseling
relationship. Counselors who engage in such relationship or intimacy after five
years following termination shall have the responsibility to examine and
document thoroughly that such relations do not have an exploitive nature, based
on factors such as duration of counseling, amount of time since counseling,
termination circumstances, client's personal history and mental status, or
adverse impact on the client. A client's consent to, initiation of, or
participation in sexual behavior or involvement with a counselor does not
change the nature of the conduct nor lift the regulatory prohibition;
3. Not engage in any romantic relationship or
sexual intimacy or establish a counseling or psychotherapeutic relationship
with a supervisee or student. Counselors shall avoid any nonsexual dual
relationship with a supervisee or student in which there is a risk of
exploitation or potential harm to the supervisee or student or the potential
for interference with the supervisor's professional judgment; and
4. Recognize conflicts of interest and inform
all parties of the nature and directions of loyalties and responsibilities
involved.
E. Persons licensed by this board shall report to the board known or suspected violations of the laws and regulations governing the practice of professional counseling.
F. Persons licensed by the board shall advise their clients of their right to report to the Department of Health Professions any information of which the licensee may become aware in his professional capacity indicating that there is a reasonable probability that a person licensed or certified as a mental health service provider, as defined in § 54.1-2400.1 of the Code of Virginia, may have engaged in unethical, fraudulent, or unprofessional conduct as defined by the pertinent licensing statutes and regulations.
Statutory Authority: § 54.1-2400 of the Code of Virginia.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Virginia 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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