Requires thirty-six hours of mandatory continuing education for mental health practitioners during each triennial registration period; makes related provisions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7061
IN SENATE
April 26, 2012
___________
Introduced by Sen. ROBACH -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to mandatory continuing
education for mental health practitioners and clarifies authorization
to practice
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 8412
2 to read as follows:
3 § 8412. Mandatory continuing education. 1. Requirement of continuing
4 education.
5 (a) Each licensed mental health counselor, marriage and family thera-
6 pist, psychoanalyst, and creative arts therapist required under this
7 article to register triennially with the department to practice in the
8 state shall comply with the provisions of the mandatory continuing
9 education requirements prescribed in subdivision two of this section
10 except as set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subdivision.
11 Licensed mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists,
12 psychoanalysts and creative arts therapists who do not satisfy the
13 mandatory continuing education requirements shall not practice until
14 they have met such requirements, and they have been issued a registra-
15 tion certificate, except that a licensed mental health counselor,
16 marriage and family therapist, psychoanalyst, and creative arts thera-
17 pist may practice without having met such requirements if he or she is
18 issued a conditional registration certificate pursuant to subdivision
19 three of this section.
20 (b) Each licensed mental health counselor, marriage and family thera-
21 pist, psychoanalyst, and creative arts therapist shall be exempt from
22 the mandatory continuing education requirement for the triennial regis-
23 tration period during which they are first licensed. In accordance with
24 the intent of this section, adjustment to the mandatory continuing
25 education requirement may be granted by the department for reasons of
26 health certified by an appropriate health care professional, for
27 extended active duty with the armed forces of the United States, or for
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15465-01-2
S. 7061 2
1 other good cause acceptable to the department which may prevent compli-
2 ance.
3 (c) A licensed mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist,
4 psychoanalyst, and creative arts therapist not engaged in practice, as
5 determined by the department, shall be exempt from the mandatory contin-
6 uing education requirement upon the filing of a statement with the
7 department declaring such status. Any licensee who returns to the prac-
8 tice of mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy, psycho-
9 analysis, or creative arts therapy during the triennial registration
10 period shall notify the department prior to reentering the profession
11 and shall meet such mandatory education requirements as shall be
12 prescribed by regulations of the commissioner.
13 2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for regis-
14 tration as a licensed mental health counselor, marriage and family ther-
15 apist, psychoanalyst, and creative arts therapist shall complete a mini-
16 mum of thirty-six hours of acceptable formal continuing education as
17 specified in subdivision four of this section, a maximum of twelve hours
18 of which may be self-instructional course work acceptable to the depart-
19 ment. Any licensed mental health counselor, marriage and family thera-
20 pist, psychoanalyst, and creative arts therapist whose first registra-
21 tion date following the effective date of this section occurs less than
22 three years from such effective date, but on or after June thirtieth,
23 two thousand thirteen, shall complete continuing education hours on a
24 prorated basis at the rate of one-half hour per month for the period
25 beginning June thirtieth, two thousand thirteen up to the first regis-
26 tration date thereafter. A licensee who has not satisfied the mandatory
27 continuing education requirements shall not be issued a triennial regis-
28 tration certificate by the department and shall not practice unless and
29 until a conditional registration certificate is issued as provided for
30 in subdivision three of this section. Continuing education hours taken
31 during one triennium may not be transferred to a subsequent triennium.
32 3. The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional regis-
33 tration to a licensee who fails to meet the continuing education
34 requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who
35 agrees to make up any deficiencies and complete any additional education
36 which the department may require. The fee for such a conditional regis-
37 tration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the trien-
38 nial registration. The duration of such conditional registration shall
39 be determined by the department but shall not exceed one year. Any
40 licensee who is notified of the denial of registration for failure to
41 submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required continuing
42 education and who practices without such registration may be subject to
43 disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of
44 this title.
45 4. As used in subdivision two of this section, "acceptable formal
46 continuing education" shall mean formal courses of learning which
47 contribute to professional practice in mental health counseling,
48 marriage and family therapy, psychoanalysis, or creative arts therapy
49 and which meet the standards prescribed by regulations of the commis-
50 sioner. Such formal courses of learning shall include, but not be limit-
51 ed to, collegiate level credit and non-credit courses, professional
52 development programs and technical sessions offered by national, state
53 and local professional associations and other organizations acceptable
54 to the department, and any other organized educational and technical
55 programs acceptable to the department. The department may, in its
56 discretion and as needed to contribute to the health and welfare of the
S. 7061 3
1 public, require the completion of continuing education courses in
2 specific subjects to fulfill this mandatory continuing education
3 requirement. Courses must be taken from a sponsor approved by the
4 department, pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner.
5 5. Licensed mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists,
6 psychoanalysts, and creative arts therapists shall maintain adequate
7 documentation of completion of acceptable formal continuing education
8 and shall provide such documentation at the request of the department.
9 Failure to provide such documentation upon the request of the department
10 shall be an act of misconduct subject to disciplinary proceedings pursu-
11 ant to section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.
12 6. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five dollars,
13 shall be payable on or before the first day of each triennial registra-
14 tion period, and shall be paid in addition to the triennial registration
15 fee required by section sixty-seven hundred thirty-four of this chapter.
16 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 8402 of the education law, as added by
17 chapter 676 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
18 1. Definition of the practice of mental health counseling. The prac-
19 tice of the profession of mental health counseling is defined as:
20 (a) the evaluation, assessment, diagnosis, amelioration, treatment,
21 modification, or adjustment to a disability, problem, or disorder of
22 behavior, character, development, emotion, personality or relationships
23 by the use of verbal or behavioral methods with individuals, couples,
24 families or groups in private practice, group, or organized settings;
25 [and]
26 (b) the use of assessment instruments and mental health counseling and
27 psychotherapy to identify, evaluate, diagnose and treat dysfunctions and
28 disorders for purposes of providing appropriate mental health counseling
29 services; and
30 (c) diagnosis in the context of licensed mental health counseling
31 practice is the process of distinguishing between similar mental,
32 emotional, behavioral, developmental, and addictive disorders, impair-
33 ments and disabilities within a psychosocial framework on the basis of
34 their similar and unique characteristics consistent with accepted clas-
35 sification systems.
36 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 8403 of the education law, as added by
37 chapter 676 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
38 1. Definition of the practice of marriage and family therapy. The
39 practice of the profession of marriage and family therapy is defined as:
40 (a) the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of nervous and mental
41 disorders, whether affective, cognitive or behavioral, which results in
42 dysfunctional interpersonal family relationships including, but not
43 limited to familial relationships, marital/couple relationships,
44 parent-child relationships, pre-marital and other personal relation-
45 ships;
46 (b) the use of mental health counseling, psychotherapy and therapeutic
47 techniques to evaluate and treat marital, relational, and family
48 systems, and individuals in relationship to these systems;
49 (c) the use of mental health counseling and psychotherapeutic tech-
50 niques to treat mental, emotional and behavioral disorders and ailments
51 within the context of marital, relational and family systems to prevent
52 and ameliorate dysfunction; [and]
53 (d) the use of assessment instruments and mental health counseling and
54 psychotherapy to identify [and], evaluate, diagnose and treat dysfunc-
55 tions and disorders for purposes of providing appropriate marriage and
56 family therapy services; and
S. 7061 4
1 (e) diagnosis in the context of licensed marriage and family therapy
2 practice is the process of distinguishing between similar mental,
3 emotional, behavioral, developmental, and addictive disorders, impair-
4 ments and disabilities within a psychosocial framework on the basis of
5 their similar and unique characteristics consistent with accepted clas-
6 sification systems.
7 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 8404 of the education law, as added by
8 chapter 676 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
9 1. Definition of the practice of creative arts therapy. The practice
10 of the profession of creative arts therapy is defined as:
11 (a) the assessment, evaluation, diagnosis and the therapeutic inter-
12 vention and treatment, which may be either primary, parallel or adjunc-
13 tive, of mental, emotional, developmental and behavioral disorders
14 through the use of the arts as approved by the department; [and]
15 (b) the use of assessment instruments and mental health counseling and
16 psychotherapy to identify, evaluate, diagnose and treat dysfunctions and
17 disorders for purposes of providing appropriate creative arts therapy
18 services; and
19 (c) diagnosis in the context of licensed creative arts therapy prac-
20 tice is the process of distinguishing between similar mental, emotional,
21 behavioral, developmental, and addictive disorders, impairments and
22 disabilities within a psychosocial framework on the basis of their simi-
23 lar and unique characteristics consistent with accepted classification
24 systems.
25 § 5. Subdivision 1 of section 8405 of the education law, as added by
26 chapter 676 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
27 1. Definition of the practice of psychoanalysis. The practice of the
28 profession of psychoanalysis is defined as:
29 (a) the observation, description, evaluation, [and] interpretation,
30 diagnosis and treatment of dynamic unconscious mental processes that
31 contribute to the formation of personality and behavior in order to
32 identify and resolve unconscious psychic problems which affect interper-
33 sonal relationships and emotional development, to facilitate changes in
34 personality and behavior through the use of verbal and nonverbal cogni-
35 tive and emotional communication, and to develop adaptive functioning;
36 [and]
37 (b) the use of assessment instruments and mental health counseling and
38 psychotherapy to identify, evaluate, diagnose and treat dysfunctions and
39 disorders for purposes of providing appropriate psychoanalytic services;
40 and
41 (c) diagnosis in the context of licensed psychoanalysis practice is
42 the process of distinguishing between similar mental, emotional, behav-
43 ioral, developmental, and addictive disorders, impairments and disabili-
44 ties within a psychosocial framework on the basis of their similar and
45 unique characteristics consistent with accepted classification systems.
46 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however,
47 section one of this act shall take effect June 30, 2013. Effective imme-
48 diately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
49 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
50 authorized and directed to be made and completed by the state education
51 department.
