Quarterly Newsletter, December 2003, Vol. 12 No.4

CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR LMFT’s 

The response to the licensing law for marriage and family therapists has been overwhelming!  Now comes the task for LMFT’s of acquiring Continuing Education Hours (CEH’s) to keep their licenses current.   

Many LMFT license holders have other licenses to practice mental health for which there are continuing education requirements. In order for dual license holders who are LPC’s and LMFT’s to keep all their continuing education  “bases” covered efficiently and effectively, a careful examination of the CEH requirements for LMFT’s as spelled out on the LPC Website is highly recommended!  

As with Licensed Professional Counselors, LMFT’s are required to accrue forty (40) CEH’s over the course of their two-year renewal cycle.  Half of these hours, or twenty (20) CEH’s, must be specific to the practice of marriage and/or family therapy or the systemic treatment of mental health disorders. Three (3) of these twenty “specialized” hours must deal specifically with ethics as they relate to the practice of marriage and family therapy.  Note that this three-hour ethics requirement cannot be fulfilled with an ethics workshop that is not specific to the ethics of working with marital or family systems.  

Workshop providers can pre-approve their workshops or seminars for LMFT’s by applying for approval to the Louisiana Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.  The Board of Examiners does not pre-approve workshops for CEH’s.  Workshop attendees should inquire in advance if any workshop they are attending is approved for LMFT’s.  The Board of Examiners reserves the right to not provide credit to licensees for workshops not pre-approved by the state professional organization.   

To cut down on CEH “redundancy,” dual license holders may search for those workshops that have been approved for both LPC’s and LMFT’s.  These workshop hours can count concurrently toward the renewal of both licenses.  However, if a workshop or seminar is pre-approved for LPC’s but not for LMFT’s, these hours may only count toward the LMFT’s twenty “nonspecialty” CEH requirement.   

CLERGY WHO COUNSEL

 In Louisiana, a member of the clergy who practices counseling (which is also termed mental health counseling) as defined by statute, generally must be licensed as a Professional Counselor (LPC), social worker, marriage and family therapist, substance abuse counselor, rehabilitation counselor, or psychologist.

Mental health counseling is defined in Louisiana Revised Statute (LRS) 37:1103(10)(a) as AYassisting an individual or group, through the counseling relationship, to develop an understanding of personal problems, to define goals, and to plan actions reflecting his or their interests, abilities, aptitudes, and needs as these are related to personal and social concerns, educational progress, and occupations and careers.@

Mental health counseling services are defined in LRS 37:1103(7) as AYthose acts and behaviors coming with the practice of mental health counselingY, including the diagnosis and treatment of conditions or disorders requiring mental health counselingY@

However, ministers may practice counseling or mental health counseling, as defined above, if they are recognized by their church as ministers and if they practice within the employment of their church.  Because freedom to practice one=s religion is guaranteed by the United State Constitution, members of the clergy who are employed by their churches may engage in counseling activities as a part of their religious ministry.

The statute section that provides for this exemption from licensure is found in LRS 37:1113(5) and states that the following persons and their activities are exempt from the licensure requirement: 

AAny priest, rabbi, Christian Science practitioner, or minister of the gospel of any religious denomination, provided they are practicing with the employment of their church or religious affiliated institution and they do not represent themselves as licensed professional counselors or mental health counselors unless they also have been licensed under the provisions of RS 37:1107.@

The LPC Board does not actively seek out individuals who may be practicing counseling without a license in Louisiana in violation of state statute.  However, if complaints are made to the board on official complaint forms that are available on our web site ( www.lpcboard.org ), then the situation will be investigated.  If it is determined that an individual is practicing counseling without a license in violation of state statute, the board has the authority to seek an injunction in a court of law to prohibit the individual from continuing his or her illegal practice.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

In July of 2003 a new law was passed that increased the LPC Board from nine members to ten.

As of August 15, 2003, John Shalett, MS, LCSW, LMFT, resigned from the Board and the MFT Advisory Committee to take a position in Providence, Rhode Island. On August 31, 2003, two member terms expired, Gary Grand, Member at Large and Pam Bollinger, MEd, LPC. On September 3, 2003, three new members were appointed to the Board. Tom Moore, MA, LPC, LMFT (MFT Advisory Committee/Board Member), Gloria Bockrath, PhD, LPC, LMFT (Board Member), and Michael Teague, MS (Member-at- Large). Tom previously served as secretary to the MFT Advisory Committee but was not a Board Member. He is now serving as Vice Chair of the MFT Advisory Committee and LPC Board Member. Gloria serves as Secretary to the Board, and Michael Teague, CEO of Southeast Louisiana Hospital, was appointed to serve as Member at Large.

As of October 24, 2003, Michael Teague resigned from the Board because of unanticipated demands in his current position. No one has been appointed to take Michael’s place at this time.

On November 17, 2003, Lynn Pearlmutter, PhD, LCSW, LMFT was appointed to take John Shalett’s place.

We wish to WELCOME Gloria, Tom, and Lynn to the Board. Gloria is in private practice and is on the faculty of the Baton Rouge Community College and Tom is also in private practice. Lynn is a full-time Associate Professor of Social Work at Tulane University. For a complete bio of Gloria, Tom, and Lynn visit our website.

NCE INFORMATION FOR 2004