June 30, 2006
BOARD OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
ARTICLE 3: PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS
102-3-3a. Educational Education requirements. To qualify for
licensure as a professional counselor or a clinical professional counselor, the
applicant's educational qualifications and background education shall meet the applicable requirements
provided in the following subsections.
(a) Definitions.
(1) “Core faculty member” means an
individual who is part of the program’s teaching staff and who meets the
following conditions:
(A) Is an individual whose education,
training, and experience are consistent with the individual’s role within the
program and are consistent with the published description of the goals,
philosophy, and educational purpose of the program;
(B) is an individual whose primary
professional employment is at the institution in which the program is housed;
and
(C) is an individual who is
identified with the program and is centrally involved in program development,
decision making, and student training as demonstrated by consistent inclusion
of the individual’s name in public and departmental documents.
(2) “In residence,” when used to
describe a student, means that the student is present at the physical location
of the institution for the purpose of completing coursework during which the
student and one or more core faculty members are in face-to-face contact.
(3) “Primary professional employment”
means a minimum of 20 hours per week of instruction, research, any other
service to the institution in the course of employment, and the related
administrative work.
(b) Degree
requirements. At the time of
application, each applicant shall have fulfilled these requirements:
(1) Received either a master's or doctoral degree in
counseling; and
(2) as a part of or in addition to the coursework completed for
the counseling graduate degree, completed a minimum of 60 graduate semester
hours acceptable to the board, or the academic equivalent, of
which at least 45 graduate semester hours, or the academic equivalent,
shall clearly satisfy the coursework requirements provided in subsection (b)(c).
(b)(c) Coursework requirements.
Each applicant shall have satisfactorily completed formal academic
coursework that contributes to the development of a broad conceptual framework
for counseling theory and practice as a basis for more advanced academic
studies. This formal academic coursework
shall consist of a minimum of 45 graduate semester hours, or the
academic equivalent, of formal academic coursework that is are
distributed across the substantive content areas provided in this subsection. None of these credit hours shall be earned
through independent study courses. There
shall be a minimum of at least two discrete and unduplicated semester hours,
or their the academic equivalent, neither of which may be taken by independent study,
in each of the following substantive content areas:
(1) Counseling theory and practice, which shall include
studies in the basic theories, principles, and techniques of counseling
and their applications to professional settings;
(2) the helping relationship, which shall include studies in
the philosophic philosophical bases of helping relationships,
and the application of the helping relationship to counseling practice, and
as well as an emphasis on the development of practitioner and
client self-awareness;
(3) group dynamics, processes, and counseling approaches and
techniques, which shall include studies in theories and types of groups, as
well as descriptions of group practices, methods, dynamics, and facilitative
skills;
(4) human growth and development, which shall include the
following:
(A) Studies that provide a broad understanding of the nature
and needs of individuals at all developmental levels, with an emphasis
on psychological, sociological, and physiological models; and
(B) studies in normal and abnormal behavior, personality
theory, and learning theory;
(5) career development and lifestyle foundations, which
shall include studies in vocational theory, the relationship between career
choice and lifestyle, sources of occupational and educational information,
approaches to career decision-making processes, and career development
exploration techniques;
(6) appraisal of individuals, which
shall include and studies and
training in the development of a framework for understanding the individual,
including methods of data gathering and interpretation, individual and group
testing, and the study of individual differences;
(7) social and cultural foundations, which shall include
studies in change processes, ethnicity, subcultures, families, gender issues, the
changing roles of women, sexism, racism, urban and rural societies, population
patterns, cultural mores, use of leisure time, and differing life patterns.
These studies may come from the behavioral sciences, economics, political
science, and similar disciplines;
(8) research and evaluation, which shall include the
following:
(A) Studies in the areas of statistics, research design,
development of research, development of program goals and objectives, and
evaluation of program goals and objectives; and
(B) thesis preparation;
(9) professional orientation, which shall include studies in
the goals and objectives of professional organizations, codes of ethics, legal
considerations, standards of preparation and practice, certification,
licensing, and the role identities of counselors and others in the
helping professions; and
(10) supervised practical experience, which shall include
studies in the application and practice of the theories and concepts presented
in formal study. This experiential
practice shall be performed under the close supervision of the instructor with
the use of direct observation, and the preparation and review of
written case notes. Direct
observation may include the use of one-way mirrors in a counseling
laboratory, the use of videotaped or audiotaped sessions, and written
case notes or the use of real-time video conferencing or similar synchronous
communication devices.
(c)(d) Each applicant for licensure as a clinical professional counselor
whose master's or doctoral degree is earned before July 1, 2003 shall have a
earned the graduate degree required by the board for licensure as a
professional counselor in accordance with subsections (a)(b)
and (b)(c).
(d)(e) Each applicant for licensure as a clinical professional
counselor whose master’s or doctoral degree is earned on or after July 1, 2003
shall meet the following educational education requirements:
(1) Have earned a graduate degree required by the
board for licensure as a professional counselor in accordance with
subsections (a)(b) and (b)(c);
(2) completion of in addition to or as a part of
the academic requirements for the graduate degree, have completed 15
graduate semester credit hours, or the academic equivalent,
supporting diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders using the “diagnostic
and statistical manual of mental disorders” as specified in K.A.R. 102-3-15. The 15 graduate semester credit hours, or
the academic equivalent, shall include both of the following:
(A) The applicant shall
have satisfactorily completed two graduate semester hours, or the
academic equivalent, of discrete coursework in ethics and two graduate
semester hours, or the academic equivalent, of discrete
coursework in psychopathology and diagnostic assessment, including the study of
the latest edition of the "diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders" and assessment instruments that support diagnosis.
(B) In
addition, The applicant shall demonstrate,
through courses taken, education in have satisfactorily completed
coursework addressing treatment approaches and interdisciplinary referral
and collaboration and in treatment approaches; and
(3) completion of a graduate-level, supervised clinical
practicum pursuant to K.S.A. 65-5804a(c)(1)(C), and amendments thereto.
(e)(f) Program requirements.
In order to be approved by the board, each educational program in
professional counseling shall meet the following conditions:
(1) Have established program admission requirements acceptable
to the board that are at least partially based, in part or in
full, upon on objective measures or standardized achievement test
results tests and measures;
(2) require an established curriculum that encompasses a
minimum of two academic years of graduate study. At least one of
the academic years shall include at least 12 semester hours in residency at the
college or university granting the degree;
(3) have clear administrative authority and primary
responsibility within the program for the core and specialty areas of
training in professional counseling;
(4) have an established, organized, and comprehensive
sequence of study that is planned by administrators who are responsible for
providing an integrated educational experience in professional counseling;
(5) be chaired or directed by an identifiable person who
holds a graduate degree that was conferred by earned from a
regionally accredited college or university upon that person's actual
completion of a formal academic training program in professional counseling;
(6) have an identifiable, full-time, professional
faculty whose members hold conferred earned graduate degrees in
professional counseling or a related field;
(7) have an established and recognized an,
identifiable body of students who are formally enrolled in the program for
with the goal of obtaining a degree;
(8) have clearly identified and established residency
requirements that are substantially equivalent to those in
(9) require an appropriate
practicum, internship, or field, or laboratory training in professional counseling that
integrates didactic learning with supervised clinical experience; and
(10) (9) conduct an
ongoing, objective review and evaluation of student each student’s
learning and progress, and report this evaluation in the official student
transcripts.; and
(10)
require that at least 30 graduate semester credit hours, or the academic
equivalent, of coursework be completed “in residence” at one institution, and require
that the practicum or internship be completed at the same institution.
(f)(g) College or university requirements. In order for an applicant to qualify for
licensure, the college or university at which the applicant completed the
counseling degree requirements shall meet these requirements:
(1) Be institutionally accredited to award the graduate counseling degree;
(2) Be regionally
accredited, with accreditation standards equivalent to those met by
(3)(2) document in official publications, including course
catalogs and announcements, the program description, and
standards, and the admission requirements of the professional
counseling education and training program;
(4)(3) identify and clearly describe in pertinent institutional
catalogs the coursework, experiential, and other academic program requirements
that must be satisfied before conferral of the graduate degree in counseling;
(5)(4) clearly identify and specify in pertinent institutional
catalogs its intent to educate and train professional counselors;
(6)(5) have clearly established the professional counselor
education program as a coherent entity within the college or university a
professional counseling education and training program that, at the time
the applicant's graduate degree was conferred, met the program standards
provided in subsection (e)(f); and
(7)(6) have conferred the graduate degree in counseling upon the
applicant's successful completion of an established and required formal program
of studies.
(g)(h) The following types of study shall not be substituted for
or counted toward the coursework requirements of subsections (a), (b),
(c), (d), and (d)(e):
(1) Academic coursework that the applicant completed as a
part of or in conjunction with the undergraduate degree requirements;
(2) academic coursework that has been audited rather than
graded;
(3) academic coursework for which the applicant received an
incomplete or failing grade;
(4) coursework that the board determines is not closely
related to the field or practice of counseling;
(5) graduate or postgraduate coursework or training provided
by any college, university, institute, or training program that does not meet
the requirements of subsections (e)(f) and (f)(g);
and
(6) any continuing education, in-service
activity, or on-the-job training.
(h)(i) The following types of study may be counted toward the 60
graduate semester hours required under paragraph (a)(b)(2):
(1) No more than six graduate semester hours of independent
study that is related to the field or practice of counseling, except that
independent study shall not be used to meet any of the substantive
content area requirements specified in subsection (b)(c); and
(2) no more than four graduate semester hours for thesis
research and writing. (Authorized
by K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 74-7507; implementing K.S.A. 65-5804a, as
amended by L. 2006, Ch. 61, Sec. 1; effective Dec. 19, 1997; amended July
19, 2002; amended Aug. 8, 2003; amended P-____________.)
Document 28570V5