Porter believes the 2009 licensure victory can be largely attributed to the bipartisan support resulting from the bill being carried by two well-respected legislators: Sen. Mark Wyland, a Republican representing South Orange County and North San Diego County, and Sen. Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat representing the 6th district. Sen. Wyland became a natural choice to carry SB 788, the successful 2009 bill. He championed counselor licensure because it would expand mental health access to rural areas, without resulting in greater taxpayer cost, and it would expand mental health services provided at military bases in his district, following enactment of federal legislation designating counselors as providers within the military and veterans’ health systems. As president pro tempore of the California Senate, Sen. Steinberg’s co-sponsorship of SB 788 encouraged support from Senate Democrats.
California’s new counselor licensure law will put California counselors on par with counselors licensed in all 49 other states and the District of Columbia. Some concessions were made with currently licensed California mental health practitioners. LPCCs will be restricted in their use of assessments. Also, LPCCs cannot “treat couples and families” unless they satisfy several criteria set forth in the bill to demonstrate clinical expertise working with couples and families. For counselors beginning graduate work before 2012, 48 hours of graduate coursework are required. Counselors beginning graduate work in 2012 and after will need 60 hours of graduate coursework.
“The increase in counselor graduate hours occurring in 2012 is in sync with an increase in the graduate hours necessary for California marriage and family therapists to earn licensure,” Porter noted.
To accomplish counselor licensure, “CCCL established an Advocacy Network of counselors throughout the state, devising a database of counselors who wanted to assist with lobbying for licensure,” she said. CCCL then divided these counselors into 120 legislative districts. CCCL had 120 district captains to meet with California’s legislators, and each district captain came equipped with a packet about SB 788 when visiting with a legislator. In addition to legislative meetings, counselors pushed for counselor licensure by telephoning and writing legislators.
When asked who will benefit most from California’s new licensure law, Porter stated resolutely, “California has a scarcity of mental health workers in both rural and urban areas, but I believe the rural areas will benefit most from counselor licensure."
CCCL is a 501(c)(6) organization, founded with a mission to promote and advance the profession of counseling and to protect consumers of counseling services in California. Some of the many associations comprising the CCCL include: the California Counseling Association, the California Mental Health Counselors Association, the California Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, the California Career Development Association, the California Association of School Counselors, the California Rehabilitation Counseling Association, the California Rehabilitation Association, the Northern California Art Therapy Association, and the Southern California Chapter of the American Dance Therapy Association.
