CALPCC

CALPCC is a new membership organization designed to protect the new license and to support Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCCs) in California.

Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor

California became the 50th state to license professional counselors when the Governor signed SB 788 on October 11, 2009. The bill became law on January 1, 2010 and the first counselors will begin to be licensed in 2011.

The Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) will regulate the license. The BBS has submitted Rules and Regulations, that will implement the counselor licensure law, and they are awaiting approval by various state agencies. Although there appear to be no issues with the Rules and Regulations, this approval is taking longer than expected, due to state budget constraints and the turnover of staff that comes with a change of Governors.    It is planned for there to be a six-month grandparenting period from the date that applications are available.  Applicants will have 12 months to complete any deficiencies from the date of their letter of deficiencies from the BBS.

The bill stipulates that grandparenting, reciprocity and intern registration<nobr></nobr> will begin January 1, 2011, but because the BBS is not allowed to release applications until the Rules and Regulations have been approved, that timeline cannot be met. Although the BBS has requested expedited decisions, it could be several months into 2011 before they will be able to release applications.

So far, the State hiring freeze has precluded the BBS from hiring additional staff to implement the LPCC license. Unless this changes, this will mean that once applications are accepted, it may take several months for counselors to receive a response from the BBS.

Any of these conditions could change at any time and CALPCC will keep counselors updated. It took us many years to get the license in California, so counselors can be patient a few more months! The good news is that counselors will have more time to work on meeting the licensing requirements.

There should be no problem with applications for regular licensure being available on January 1, 2012 for those not eligible for grandparenting.

Licensure Requirements

Following are summaries of four sets of requirements:

1. Requirements for Grandparenting: Applies to those with two years post-degree counseling experience or those who are currently licensed as MFTs or LCSWs in California NO LONGER AVAILABLE!
2. Requirements for reciprocity: Applies to counselors who have been licensed in another state for at least two years.
3. Requirements before 2012: Applies to those who do not qualify for grandparenting or reciprocity and begin graduate study before August 1, 2012 and will complete that study on or before December 31, 2018.
4. Requirements after 2012: Applies to those who begin graduate study after August 1, 2012, or who begin graduate study before 2012, but do not complete that study before 2018.

View the descriptions of the core content areas, required for licensure.

View providers of required continuing education, graduate courses, and exam study programs.

CALPCC has done a great job putting together information specific to the LPCC licensing process. Please take a moment and watch the webinar below.

View the CALPCC's latest webinar by clicking on the play button displayed on the video below.  You may also view it in full screen by clicking on the icon in the lower right hand corner of the video.

Licensing Requirements before 2012

Following is a summary of requirements for those, who do not qualify for grandparenting or reciprocity, and begin graduate study BEFORE AUGUST 1, 2012 and complete that study on or before December 31, 2018: Applications accepted after January 1, 2012.

Education: A 48-semester-unit master’s or doctoral degree from an accredited or approved institution, which is counseling or psychotherapy in content, includes 6 semester units or 9 quarter units of supervised practicum or fieldwork study, and contains at least 3 semester units, or four and one half quarter units, of coursework in 7 the following 9 core content areas, all of which must be completed before licensure.

• (A)  Counseling and psychotherapeutic theories and techniques (includes counseling theories, selection of counseling interventions, orientation to wellness and prevention, etc.)

• (B)  Human growth and development across the lifespan (includes psychopathology, normal and abnormal behavior, developmental crises)

• (C)  Career development theories and techniques

• (D)  Group counseling theories and techniques

• (E)  Assessment, appraisal and testing

• (F)  Multicultural counseling theories and techniques

• (G)  Principles of diagnosis, treatment planning and prevention of mental and emotional disorders and dysfunctional behavior

• (H)  Research and evaluation

• (I)  Professional orientation, ethics and law in counseling

View definitions of each core content area.

In addition to the course requirements described above, a minimum of 12 semester units of advanced coursework to develop knowledge of specific treatment issues, special populations, application of counseling constructs, assessment and treatment planning, clinical interventions, therapeutic relationships, psychopathology or other clinical topics.

In addition to, or as part of the graduate degree, instruction in each of the following content areas must be completed prior to licensure:

Note: With the exception of the course in psychopharmacology, which is a university graduate or undergraduate credit course, the following requirements can be fulfilled with either university courses or  continuing education courses. See Course Providers on this website for available courses.