STATE OF LOUISIANA

LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS BOARD OF EXAMINERS

 Guidelines for Developing a Statement of Practice

Our statutes and rules require that all LMFTs and MFT Interns develop a formal description of how they conduct counseling. This description is called the Statement of Practice. A copy of the Statement must be supplied to the Board of Examiners when applying for registration of supervision and when applying for licensure.

Applicants already licensed by one or more other allied mental health professions may integrate the requirements specific to licensed marriage and family therapy into any similar informed consent document required for licensure by such allied mental health professions and submit this integrated document.

Some required information from the rules must be included in each statement. Each Statement of Practice is a unique document, reflecting the individual therapist whose practice it describes. However, those developing a Statement for the first time may be helped by the materials posted on the website. Please read the specific directions from RULES §4720 FOR STATEMENT OF PRACTICE before developing a Statement of Practice.

You will find a sample Statement describing the practice of a fictional LMFT/MFT Intern. In the margin of the sample you will find numbers that correspond to specific sections of the LMFT rules for Statements. A checklist is provided on the website for you to check to be sure you have included all required areas. If you do not have any additional information you may delete section 12. Additional information also could be added in existing sections or you could use additional sections for information not required that you would like to give your clients.

You may wish to use the sample as a rough guide in the construction of your own document, consulting the corresponding rules where changes from the sample document are needed to describe your unique practice. You are, of course, also free to develop your Statement using any format you prefer, as long as you include the material required by our rules. For example, you may wish to use personalized letterhead for Section 1, your name, address, phone number and other demographic information that you may wish to give your clients. As always, if you have any questions or comments about this or any other aspect of practice, please contact the Board office.