From bogus@does.not.exist.com Mon Nov 1 17:03:37 2010 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com (Oregon Bd Licensed Profess Counselors & Therapists Information) Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 17:03:37 -0700 Subject: [oblpct] PSU training Message-ID: This message is being sent as a courtesy of the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors & Therapists. It is not an endorsement. ____________________ Portland State University, Continuing Education, Graduate School of Education has a winter 2011 schedule of human services training at www.pdx.edu/ceed Courses include The Suicidal Client, Clinical Supervision, and Ethics and Legal Issues in Clinical Supervision. For program information, contact Kathy Lovrien at lovrienk at pdx.edu or (503) 725-8165. Becky Eklund, Executive Director Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists 3218 Pringle Road SE, #250 Salem, OR 97302 (503) 378-5499 www.oregon.gov/oblpct From bogus@does.not.exist.com Fri Nov 5 14:59:58 2010 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com (Oregon Bd Licensed Profess Counselors & Therapists Information) Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2010 14:59:58 -0700 Subject: [oblpct] Titles & licensure Message-ID: Who may call themselves "professional counselor", "counselor", "marriage and family therapist", or "therapist"? Those titles are not protected so anyone may use them. Only "Licensed Professional Counselor" and "Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist" are protected, meaning one must be licensed to use them. If I am not licensed, will it be legal for me to practice counseling or marriage and family therapy after January 1, 2011? It depends -- there are several license exemptions. If you meet any one of the following conditions, you may practice without a license as a professional counselor or marriage and family therapist. If you are an intern registered with the Board or have applied for internship If you do not meet education requirements for licensure If you work for a public/government agency (federal, state, local) If you work for a mental health agency certified by a government agency If you are a certified alcohol and drug counselor If you are a recognized member of the clergy as long as you are is acting in your ministerial capacity Becky Eklund, Executive Director Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists 3218 Pringle Road SE, #250 Salem, OR 97302 (503) 378-5499 www.oregon.gov/oblpct -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bogus@does.not.exist.com Thu Nov 18 17:52:15 2010 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com (Oregon Bd Licensed Profess Counselors & Therapists Information) Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:52:15 -0800 Subject: [oblpct] Training - Working with Latin American Immigrant Families Message-ID: This information is provided as a courtesy to those subscribed to the OBLPCT listserv. It is not an endorsement. On Friday, December 3rd, Dr. Pilar Hernandez-Wolfe will present Resilience-Based Interventions for Working with Latin American Immigrant Families at Lewis & Clark. Dr. Hernandez-Wolfe will provide a cultural equity framework for practitioners and will share her expertise in resilience-based interventions for clients. This workshop will be valuable for any clinician working with Latin American and other immigrant families. For more information on this workshop and Dr. Hernandez-Wolfe, please visit http://www.lclark.edu/graduate/programs/continuing_education/news/story/ ?id=4996 Chelsea Harper, M.A. Lewis& Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling (503)768-6024 Becky Eklund, Executive Director Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists 3218 Pringle Road SE, #250 Salem, OR 97302 (503) 378-5499 www.oregon.gov/oblpct From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed Nov 24 13:44:43 2010 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com (Oregon Bd Licensed Profess Counselors & Therapists Information) Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:44:43 -0800 Subject: [oblpct] VA standards for counselors Message-ID: The following article appeared in the Fall 2010 newsletter of the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC). You can view the full newsletter at http://cts.vresp.com/c/?NationalBoardforCert/c53b94e98e/e1aad83221/1bbeb 501a9 Veterans Administration Ready to Hire Counselors On September 30, the Veterans Administration (VA) released qualification standards that establish the official requirements for hiring counselors. These standards are the last formal step in implementing the law authorizing counselors to be employed within the VA-although the hiring of counselors will take time as positions gradually become available. This is a huge accomplishment for the counseling profession and the culmination of years of hard work. President Bush signed S. 3421 into law in December 2006, Section 201 of which added mental health counselors to the list of professions eligible to be employed by the Veterans Administration. Since passage, NBCC has been working with the American Counseling Association (ACA), American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA), and many dedicated counselors to press for implementation of the new law. As a result of this advocacy, in March 2009 the VA announced that it would create "a new occupational category, or categories, for MFTs and LPCs." While the news was positive, the concept of a joint occupational category for both professions was disconcerting. The three organizations, along with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT), worked collectively to ensure that each profession had its own category. In September 2009, the organizations were successful in getting a meeting scheduled with the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), John Sepulveda. The meeting was attended by the majority and minority staff of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, VA staff, and representatives from NBCC, ACA, AMHCA, AAMFT and CAMFT. The meeting produced a commitment by Assistant Secretary Sepulveda to create separate qualification standards for each profession to be completed by September 2010, and to request a federal Occupational Series for the two professions from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that would allow for the hiring of counselors throughout the federal government. Subsequent to the meeting, the VA began the implementation process. It created a Subject Matter Expert workgroup for each profession, which was tasked with developing the draft qualification standards. The workgroups requested information from the professional organizations, but would not disclose what happened during the development process. The organizations monitored the process very closely to ensure it was on track and consistent with its timeline, but were given little exposure to the content of the standards. An internal draft of the qualification standards was completed in July 2010 and collaboration with the unions occurred in August (a legal requirement). The final step in implementation was publication of the qualification standards, which occurred in September 2010. The new standards are final and can be changed only by going through the entire process outlined above. They are equivalent to the social work qualification standards, creating multiple levels of employment within the VA: GS-9 Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (Entry Level - for individuals with a graduate degree in counseling but who have not yet become licensed) GS-11 Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (Independent Practice Level) GS-12 Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor Program Coordinator GS-12 Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor Supervisor GS-13 Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor Program Manager GS-14 LPMHC Program Manager Leadership Assignments The standards require licensed counselors to have a master's degree in mental health counseling or a related field from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Cited examples of related mental health counseling fields include addiction counseling; community counseling; gerontology counseling; marital, couple and family counseling; and marriage and family therapy. A master's degree in mental health counseling is the only degree that will be recognized under the new standards. There are no substitute degrees authorized. At the time of publication, it is unclear when positions for LPMHCs will become available and at what rate. It will likely be a gradual process that will start with a few announcements and grow over time. NBCC and our allies will be working with the VA to disseminate information and ensure counselors are made aware of job opportunities. We welcome counselors to share with us their stories of success or hardship in obtaining positions within the VA so we can ensure full and fair access. We will also continue to press for an Occupational Series for the profession. TRICARE/Defense On May 28, 2010, the "National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2011" (H.R. 5136) passed the House of Representatives. The House NDAA included in it a "sense of Congress" directing the Department of Defense to implement regulations providing TRICARE independent practice authority for licensed mental health counselors. On June 4, 2010, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) reported S. 3454, the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011" to the Senate floor. The Senate NDAA included statutory language adding licensed mental health counselors to the list of independent practitioners under TRICARE provided that they met criteria established by the Institute of Medicine. NBCC, along with ACA and AMHCA, is pleased with the progress in both chambers of Congress, but remains committed to passing legislation that provides the greatest number of qualified counselors with independent practice authority. To accomplish this goal, the organizations are working with members and committee staff of the SASC and House Armed Services Committee (HASC) to promote the most inclusive language from both bills. Any compromise language will be considered by a conference of the two chambers, which cannot occur until the Senate approves its version of NDAA. The Senate NDAA got caught in a political battle prior to the election and was not brought up for a vote. The conflict arose over Republican opposition to provisions in the bill that repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" law banning homosexuals from serving openly in the military and a proposal giving young illegal immigrants who attend college or join the military a path to citizenship. The legislation is a priority for Congress during the lame-duck session and negotiations continue over the provisions in controversy. If agreement can be reached, the bill will be passed in the Senate and brought to conference with the House NDAA to reach a final compromise bill. NBCC, ACA and AMHCA have been meeting with offices of members of the Armed Services Committee in the House and Senate to build support for language that recognizes licensed counselors. These offices, as well as committee staff, understand our position and are interested in getting something done this year. The challenge now is to include the broadest language in any final NDAA bill. Institute of Medicine On October 13-15, the Institute of Medicine hosted a meeting entitled "A Quality Management System for Licensed Mental Health Counselors and Other Behavioral Health Professionals in the Military Health System." Dr. Joseph Wehrman, a member of the NBCC Board of Directors, was selected as one of the distinguished presenters at the workshop, as was Dr. Jan McMillan, NCC and former president of AASCB. The workshop focused on the development of a quality management system and scopes of practice for behavioral health professions within the military health system. It builds on the IOM report entitled the Provision of Mental Health Counseling Services under TRICARE, which included a recommendation for such a quality management system. Both Dr. Wehrman and Dr. McMillan presented on professional scopes of practice, demonstrating that all behavioral health professions have similar scopes and should be credentialed in a similar manner. Becky Eklund, Executive Director Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists 3218 Pringle Road SE, #250 Salem, OR 97302 (503) 378-5499 www.oregon.gov/oblpct