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 2011-2012. The Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) will regulate the LPCC license and applications for the grandparenting applicants.
Grandparenting period: Applicants must submit their application packet by December 31, 2011. If there are deficiencies, the applicant will have 12 months from the date of notification from the BBS to complete requirements. Requirements that may be completed during this 12-month period may include deficiencies in the years of experience, supervised hours, coursework and examinations.
Instruction in each the following subjects must be completed prior to licensure (requirements can be fulfilled with graduate or undergraduate university courses, online courses, home study courses or continuing education courses offered by BBS approved providers):
(1) Minimum of 15 contact hours of instruction in alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency
(2) Minimum of 10 contact hours of instruction in human sexuality
(3) Minimum of 15 contact hours of instruction in spousal or partner abuse
(4) Minimum of seven contact hours of instruction in child abuse assessment & reporting
(5) Minimum of 18 contact hours of instruction in California law and professional ethics, if not included in required core content area
(6) Minimum of 10 contact hours of instruction in aging and long-term care
(7) Minimum of 15 contact hours of instruction in crisis/trauma counseling
Hatherleigh courses can be used to provide credit for many of these requirements. For more information, call us at 1-800-367-2550 or write support@hatherleigh.com.