HB 744 -- Professional Counselors

Sponsor:  Treadway

This bill:

(1)  Expands the definition of "professional counseling" to
include diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional
disorders;

(2)  Limits a person's practice to demonstrated areas of
competence documented by relevant professional education,
training, and experience;

(3)  Exempts ministers, clergy, or duly accredited Christian
Scientist practitioners; substance abuse counselors; and state
employees or consultants from licensure as long as their
practice is consistent with established standards of their
profession;

(4)  Contains license renewal requirements;

(5)  Makes additions to the educational requirements necessary
to become a licensed professional counselor.  These include a
doctoral degree in a mental health discipline, a specialist's
degree consisting of 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours in
counseling or a mental health discipline, or a master's degree
in counseling consisting of 45 semester hours or 60 quarter
hours including 6 semester hours or 9 quarter hours of clinical
practicum.  An internship may be substituted for the clinical
practicum hours for those persons having a master's degree in a
mental health discipline.  Those with master's degrees and
currently certified by the Missouri Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education are exempt from the clinical practicum and
internship.  All applicants with master's degrees must have at
least 2 years of acceptable supervised counseling experience
before receiving their license;

(6)  Defines a "mental health discipline" as a degree in school
psychology, counseling psychology, or clinical psychology; and

(7)  Requires the Committee for Professional Counselors to adopt
an examination for licensure and allows the examination to be
prepared and administered by another organization.

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated September 13, 2001 at 2:03 pm