Registering as a LPCC Intern is part of the Traditional Path to LPCC licensure. Following is an overview of the requirements.  See sections 4999.42 - 4999.48 in the LPCC Law for more detail.

1. The LPCC license requires 3,000 hours of post-degree supervised experience as a registered Professional Clinical Counselor Intern (PCCI) with the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS).  Pre-degree supervised hours do not count toward these 3,000 hours.

2. Registration as a PCCI requires completion of all of the LPCC education requirements, including all the core content courses and the additional continuing education hours and the two-unit university credit psychopharmacology course.  Those who begin graduate study August 1, 2012 and after will include these continuing education topics and the psychopharmacology course within their degrees.

3. The supervised experience must take place in a setting that lawfully and regularly provides mental health counseling or psychotherapy and provides oversight for the PCCI.  A counselor cannot work in a private practice until registered as an intern.

4. Post-degree hours of experience can be credited toward the 3,000 hours, if the candidate applies for registration within 90 days of the granting of the qualifying degree.  Otherwise, hours begin to count from the date the BBS receives the intern application, provided that the candidate is approved for internship.

5. The PCCI must be supervised by an approved Supervisor, who has documented two years of clinical experience as a California LPCC, LMFT, LCSW, licensed clinical psychologist, or physician who is certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. The supervisor must have been licensed for at least 2 years in California, have received professional training in supervision and his or her license must be current and valid.

6. A PCCI must be an employee or volunteer and NOT an independent contractor.

7. The 3,000 supervised hours can be achieved in no less than 2 years and no more than 6 years.

8. The LPCC supervision requirements include 150 hours of clinical experience in a hospital or community mental health setting.

9. Counselors who would like to practice marriage and family therapy and/or supervise Marriage and Family Therapist Interns (MFTIs) should include 500 hours of supervised practice with couples, families and children in their internship. In addition, LPCCs must have 6 units of marriage and family therapy theory and practice. See 4999.20 LPCC Scope of Practice in the LPCC Law.

As BBS approved LPCC Interns, graduates of the LPCC Respecialization Certificate will have the opportunity to provide counseling to clients as clinical counselors while in their post degree/certificate internship. Services can be provided in numerous settings, such as a residential facility, hospital, day treatment program, school, or the client’s home. Students participate in a variety of activities at the internship as specified in the LPCC Statutes outlined in 4999.20.  (a) (1) "Professional clinical counseling" means the application of counseling interventions and psychotherapeutic techniques to identify and remediate cognitive, mental, and emotional issues, including personal growth, adjustment to disability, crisis intervention, and psychosocial and environmental problems. "Professional clinical counseling" includes conducting assessments for the purpose of establishing counseling goals and objectives to empower individuals to deal adequately with life situations, reduce stress, experience growth, change behavior, and make well-informed, rational decisions.

(2)"Professional clinical counseling" is focused exclusively on the application of counseling interventions and psychotherapeutic techniques for the purposes of improving mental health, and is not intended to capture other, nonclinical forms of counseling for the purposes of licensure. For purposes of this paragraph, "nonclinical" means nonmental health.

(3) "Professional clinical counseling" does NOT include the assessment or treatment of couples or families unless the professional clinical counselor has completed all of the following additional training and education, beyond the minimum training and education required for licensure:

(A) One of the following:
(i) Six semester units or nine quarter units specifically focused on the theory and application of marriage and family therapy.
(ii) A named specialization or emphasis area on the qualifying degree in marriage and family therapy; marital and family therapy; marriage, family, and child counseling; or couple and family therapy.

(B) No less than 500 hours of documented supervised experience working directly with couples, families, or children.

(C) A minimum of six hours of continuing education specific to marriage and family therapy, completed in each license renewal cycle.
 

(4) "Professional clinical counseling" does NOT include the provision of clinical social work services.

 (b) "Counseling interventions and psychotherapeutic techniques" means the application of cognitive, affective, verbal or nonverbal, systemic or holistic counseling strategies that include principles of development, wellness, and maladjustment that reflect a pluralistic society. These interventions and techniques are specifically implemented in the context of a professional clinical counseling relationship and use a variety of counseling theories and approaches.

(c) "Assessment" means selecting, administering, scoring, and interpreting tests, instruments, and other tools and methods designed to measure an individual's attitudes, abilities, aptitudes, achievements, interests, personal characteristics, disabilities, and mental, emotional, and behavioral concerns and development and the use of methods and techniques for understanding human behavior in relation to coping with, adapting to, or ameliorating changing life situations, as part of the counseling process. "Assessment" shall not include the use of projective techniques in the assessment of personality, individually administered intelligence tests, neuropsychological testing, or utilization of a battery of three or more tests to determine the presence of psychosis, dementia, amnesia, cognitive impairment, or criminal behavior.

(d) Professional clinical counselors shall refer clients to other licensed health care professionals when they identify issues beyond their own scope of education, training, and experience.

The student may work alone or as a co-counselor providing clinical counseling services to individuals or groups, NOT couples or families. Clinical activities are recorded as part of the hours required for the LPCC license.

The main goal of the intern experience is to prepare students to become clinical counselors. The LPCC Internship provides students with:

• The ability to discern when a case falls within the scope of their practice
• The skills to assess and diagnose a range of clinical problems and to develop a treatment plan based on the clinical assessment.
• The ability to apply a systemic theoretical orientation in the treatment of clinical counseling and interpersonal dysfunction.
• The ability to formulate and implement appropriate treatment plans and to demonstrate the practical application and use of various treatment methods, techniques, interventions, and specialties.
• The ability to understand, interpret, and apply legal/ethical standards in specific practice situations.
• The knowledge of management practices and the ability to appropriately implement them.
• The experience and training of providing clinical services to clients and groups from diverse socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds.
• The experience of determining and implementing appropriate community referrals.