Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Health Professions
 
Board
Board of Counseling
 
chapter
Regulations Governing the Practice of Professional Counseling [18 VAC 115 ‑ 20]
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8/31/18  6:42 pm
Commenter: Corinne Datchi, PhD, ABPP, Seton Hall University

Strongly opposed to restriction of licensure and supervision
 

As a graduate of a CACREP-accredited master's program, I strongly oppose legislation that would restrict the supervision of counseling trainees to LPCs and LMFTs. This would not only limit counseling students' access to clinical training opportunities and potentially delay their ability to graduate from their programs and achieve licensure, but also it would conflict with efforts to create an integrated health care system based on interprofessional collaboration. Integrated health care and interprofessional collaboration are now well-established principles of best practice in health-related settings. Legislation that limits supervision promotes professional silos and goes against efforts towards collaboration and integration to provide the best care possible to patients with mental health needs. In addition, legislation that restricts counseling licensure to graduates of CACREP-programs may have adverse consequences on consumers residing in areas where access to mental health services is limited; it has the potential to further reduce the number of LPCs in those areas and therefore further limit access to mental health care.

 

 

 

CommentID: 66869