Quarterly Newsletter, September 2009, Vol. 18 No. 3

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REMINDER

LMFT License Renewals for 2009 are due December 31, 2009

To complete the renewal process complete the renewal form and attach to it any required documentation. You only need to fill out the front page on the renewal form if you did not receive an orange audit slip. If you received an orange audit slip, please complete the back of the form and submit materials verifying your continuing education activities (e.g. certificates, transcripts, letters). As soon as your application is processed, you will receive a renewal card stating your next expiration date of December 31, 2011. In order to be considered on time, all renewals must be postmarked on or before December 31, 2009.   If all materials are not received in the Board office postmarked by December 31, 2009, your license will become inactive. All renewal applications postmarked after this date will be assessed a $50.00 late fee and any application assessed a late fee will be required to include documentation of continuing education.  The renewal form can be found on our website at www.lpcboard.org.  If you have any questions regarding the renewal process, please contact the Board office. 

Board Welcomes New Member 

The Board welcomes Dustin S. Dowling, as it newest Board member, replacing Pat Hanchey, who resigned recently as Member at Large.  Dustin lives in Baton Rouge and is the Chief Administrative Officer at Peters Wealth Advisors.  Dustin is married and has three children.

Keeping Track of Counselor Interns

You have been contacted by a prospective counselor intern who wants to be supervised by you for at least the next two years. They have been approved by the board to begin supervision. What will you maintain as accurate records for the intern’s progression through the supervisory period? The law (RS 37:1107 A (6) states that the applicant “can document a minimum of three thousand hours of supervised experience during a minimum of two years of post-master’s degree experience in professional mental health counseling under the supervision of a licensed professional counselor.” This is not specific as to what methods are to be implemented during the supervisory period. A recent gathering of supervisors in Northwest Louisiana discussed this facet of the law and how it pertains to them. It was determined that each supervisor had their own concept of how to interpret the aforementioned portion of the law. Here are some of the responses of those supervisors. One supervisor keeps meticulous records of the interactions of the supervisor and the counselor. The information from each session with the counselor intern is kept in a folder with each visit annotated much like a counseling session with a client. The folder contained the date and time of the session, as well as the content of the session as it applies to paragraph 705 (A)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) of the rules. In addition to keeping an account of all paperwork submitted to the board on behalf of the counselor intern, another supervisor keeps a record of the counselor intern’s hours with a form in Excel format that is maintained by the intern. The form contains columns for the date, the description of the duties performed, direct client contact hours, indirect client contact hours, individual supervision hours, group supervision hours, and the form totals the hours. This form is e-mailed to the supervisor at the end of each month and is reviewed at each individual or group supervision setting. Another supervisor uses live observation almost exclusively as a form of tracking. The counselor intern is observed in their work setting with clients and performing administrative duties as well. The sessions are annotated on a form to accurately reflect how the counselor intern is utilizing the information provided in individual supervisory sessions after the observation. Yet another supervisor still uses the old six month evaluation form that the board requested of supervisors in times past. This form is useful for establishing and maintaining goals that could assist the counselor intern in their progression. The goals are reviewed at each six month evaluation to ensure successful completion. A counselor intern may have a goal that could span the entire supervisory period which would be monitored at each six month interval. As you can see, there are many variations of how to track the progress of the counselor intern. You may have other methods that are equally useful. If you feel your ideas could assist other supervisors, please email the board with your responses. They will be published in a future article.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Can a supervisor have only one counselor intern and have them apply for licensure with only 100 hours of individual supervision when they become eligible to apply for licensure?

ANSWER: To be published in the next article. Or you can research the question in the rules which can be found on the LPC board website (WWW.lpcboard.org)

ADDRESS CHANGES FOR: LPC/COUNSELOR INTERNS/LMFT/MFT INTERNS

Notify the Board in writing of your change of address. Be sure to let us know what address you wish to use for correspondence and what address you wish to use for the website. There is a rule which gives you 30 days to notify the Board of any and all changes in name, address, and phone number. Failure to comply with this rule will result in a $50.00 fine. It is very important that the Board have a current address for all of their licensees especially at renewal time.. Please help us by sending in your changes. You can change your address by e-mailing lpcboard@eatel.net, faxing 225/7652514, or by calling the Board office 225/7652515. mailto:lpcboard@eatel.net,

DECLARATORY STATEMENT NO. 08-01 

A question has been raised concerning the propriety of employment of counseling practicum students as interns during times when the university is closed (such as during semester breaks) and the students in question are not actively “enrolled” in a practicum or internship class at that time.

If the school affirmatively acknowledges that the individuals in question are “students” and provides the same level of supervision as that provided during the semester, as   otherwise required by applicable Board rules, this practice is permissible and the students in question would meet the “student” exception to licensing requirements.  Unless both of these requirements are met, this activity would constitute practicing without a license.   

                                                                                                                                    2-15-2008

INACTIVE LPC'S AS OF 06/30/2009 

 BOARD ACTION 

As of June 30, 2009 there were:               

LPCs                                       2186                                                   LMFTs                       880                         

Counselor Interns                       866                                                   MFT Interns                136

110 LPC Applications Reviewed                                             3 LMFT Applications Reviewed

  36 Approved for Licensure                                                  0 LMFTs Approved for Licensure

 60 Counselor Interns Registered for Supervision                     3 MFT Interns Registered for Supervision

 14  Counselor Interns Changed Supervisor                             0 MFT Intern Changed Supervisor

DISCIPLINE REPORT

Ten complaints have been filed in FY 02/03.  None remain under investigation 

Eleven complaints have been filed in FY 03/04.  None remain under investigation.

Ten complaints have been filed in FY 04/05.  None remain under investigation

Eight complaints have been filed in FY 05/06. None remains under investigation

Eighteen complaints have been filed in FY 06/07. Two remain under investigation

Eighteen complaints have been filed in FY 07/08. Eight remain under investigation

Eight complaints have been filed in FY 08/09.  Six remain under investigation.

BOARD MEMBERS AND MFT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

2009 Board Meeting Dates

January 23

February 20

March 13

April 17

May 15

June 19

July 17

August 21

September` 18

October 16

November 20

December 11

NCE Examination information and schedule for 2009/2010

v       November ’09                     11/02 – 11/07

v       December ’09                      12/07 – 12/12

v       January ’10                         01/04 – 01/09

v       February ’10                       02/08 – 02/13

v       March ’10                           03/01 – 03/06

v       April ’10                             04/05 – 04/10

v       May ’10                              05/03 – 05/08

v       June ’10                              06/07 – 06/12

v       July ’10                               07/05 – 07/10

v       August ’10                          08/02 – 08/07

v       September ’10                     09/13 – 09/18

v       October ’10                         10/04 – 10/09

v       November ’10                     11/01 – 11/06

v       December ’10                      12/06 – 12/11

Exam registration forms can be obtained by calling the LPC Board office at 225/765-2515 or the LPC Board website at www.lpcboard.org and also on the NBCC website at www.nbcc.org/stateboardmap.

Fee $185.00 make checks payable to NBCC. 

Questions about the Exam:  Tel: 336/547-0607  FAX:  336/547-0017

E-mail: nbcc@nbcc.org