RULE 14  --  LICENSURE BY EXAMINATION (C.R.S. §§ 12-43-603)

(a)   Criteria for application.

(1)  The applicant must submit to the Board a completed application for licensure, all fees, official transcript(s), and all supporting documentation required by the Board in order for the Board to review the application for licensure.

(2)  An applicant for licensure must pass the required examination, meet the experience requirements, and become licensed within five (5) years of the date of initial application for licensure. If the applicant fails to become licensed within this time period, s/he must submit a new application and fee and must meet the educational, experience and examination requirements in effect at the time of the new application. Licensure applicants have a continuing obligation to update their application with information of changes from the original application at any time prior to licensure.  However, this may not apply in those exceptions allowable under statute concerning professional counselor candidates.

(b)   Education and Training Requirements.  Many graduate programs in professional counseling go under other names. Some programs labeled as counseling programs are not primarily focused on professional counseling. The Board has therefore established the following factors to determine whether or not a particular program from which an applicant for licensure received the master's or doctoral degree qualifies as a master's or doctoral program with a major in professional counseling or its equivalent in compliance with C.R.S. §§ 12-43-603(1)(c) and 12-43-601(6). To meet the statutory requirements, the master's or doctoral program must meet either (1) or (2), below:

(1)   Accredited program. The applicant obtained a master's or doctoral degree from a program that was approved by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).   If enrolled after August 31, 2014, the applicant must be enrolled in an approved program comprised of not less than 60 semester credit hours; or

(2)   Equivalent program.  Candidates who graduated from a non-CACREP approved program must submit their educational credentials to a Board approved credentialing agency for evaluation and determination of whether the program satisfies the requirements of this Rule.

All of the following requirements shall be considered in order to establish equivalency:

(A)  The required master's or doctoral level study and master's or doctoral degree were obtained from a regionally-accredited institution of higher learning;

(B)  The program stood as a coherent and recognizable entity within the institution, offering an integrated and organized sequence of study planned to provide appropriate training for the practice of professional counseling;

(C)  There was an identifiable full-time faculty, with an individual responsible for the program who was a full-time faculty member and who met the requirements for approval as a supervisor or a person who presents proof satisfactory to the Board, that at the time of serving as the faculty member, s/he possessed essentially the same education, experience, and training as that necessary to qualify for licensure under the Act.

(D)  The program had an identifiable body of students who were matriculated in that program for a degree;

(E)  The master's or doctoral program included examination and grading procedures designed to evaluate the degree of mastery of the subject matter by the students:

(1)  Except as provided in Subsection (2) below, for a master's or doctoral degree, the curriculum must include a minimum of 48 semester hours or 72 quarter hours of graduate study (for the master's degree) or a minimum of 96 semester hours or 144 quarter hours of graduate study (for the doctoral degree) and supervised field experience of not fewer than 700 hours that was counseling in nature, if enrolled prior to August 31, 2014.

(2) If enrolled prior to August 31, 2014, an individual whose qualifying master degree upon which licensure is to be based included less than 48 semester hours or 72 quarter hours for a master’s degree or 96 semester hours or 144 quarter hours for a doctoral degree, who did not complete 700 hours of supervised professional practice as a part of the degree program, or who did not complete course work in all of the content areas required by Rule 14(b)(2)(G) may complete these requirements post-degree in order to obtain licensure, if:

(a)  All course work, field, and post-degree coursework for licensure experiences are completed through an institution of higher education that is accredited by a regional accrediting organization accepted by the Board through Rule 14(b)(3) or through a counseling program recognized by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP);

(b)  All course work and field experiences are taken and passed for credit; and

(c)  All individuals who did not complete 700 hours of supervised professional practice as part of the original degree program may submit evidence of post-degree work experience for consideration and credit at the discretion of the Board.

(3)   If enrolled after August 31, 2014, an individual whose qualifying master degree upon which licensure is to be based included less than 60 semester hours for a master’s degree, who did not complete 700 hours of supervised professional practice as a part of the degree program, or who did not complete course work in all of the content areas required by Rule 14(b)(2)(G) may complete these requirements post-degree in order to obtain licensure, if:

(a)  All course work, field experiences and post-degree coursework for licensure are completed through an institution of higher education that is accredited by a regional accrediting organization accepted by the Board through Rule 14(b)(3) or through a counseling program recognized by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP);

(b)  All course work and field experiences are taken and passed for credit; and

(c)  No more than six (6) semester credits or nine (9) quarter credits are completed post-degree for purposes of licensure.

(F)  The core program required each student to demonstrate knowledge and skill competence in each of the following substantive content areas. Competence is demonstrated by passing suitable comprehensive examinations in each of the eight areas, successful completion of two or more graduate semester hours (three or more graduate quarter hours) in each of the eight areas, or by other suitable means as determined by the Board:

(1)  Human growth and development - includes studies that provide a broad understanding of the nature and needs of individuals at any developmental level, normal and abnormal human behavior, personality theory, and learning theory within cultural contexts.

(2)  Social and cultural foundations - includes studies that provide a broad understanding of societal changes and trends, human roles, societal subgroups, social mores and interaction patterns, and differing lifestyles.

(3)  Helping relationships - includes studies that provide a broad understanding of philosophic bases of helping processes, counseling theories and their applications, basic and advanced helping skills, consultation theories and their applications, client and helper self-understanding and self-development, and facilitation of client or consultee change.

(4)  Groups - includes studies that provide a broad understanding of group development, dynamics, and counseling theories; group leadership styles; basic and advanced group counseling methods and skills; and other group approaches.

(5)  Lifestyles and career development - includes studies that provide a broad understanding of career development theories; occupational and educational information sources and systems; career and leisure counseling, guidance, and education; lifestyle and career decision-making; career development program planning and resources; and effectiveness evaluation.

(6)  Appraisal - includes studies that provide a broad understanding of group and individual educational and psychometric theories and approaches to appraisal, data and information-gathering methods, validity and reliability, psychometric statistics, factors influencing appraisals, and use of appraisal results in helping processes.

(7)  Research and evaluation - includes studies that provide a broad understanding of types of research, basic statistics, research-report development, research implementation, program evaluation, needs assessment, and ethical and legal considerations.

(8)  Professional orientation - includes studies that provide a broad understanding of professional roles and functions, professional goals and objectives, professional organizations and associations, professional history and trends, ethical and legal standards, professional preparation standards, and professional credentialing.

If the course titles as stated on the transcript do not clearly reflect the subject matters listed above, the applicant must document the course or combination of courses in which the material was covered.

(G)  If the master's or doctoral degree was awarded prior to September 1, 1992, the Board will accept the degree irrespective of the number of semester hours or quarter hours of graduate study required to obtain the degree, provided the core program required each student to demonstrate knowledge and skill competence in seven of the eight substantive content areas listed above.

(H)  Only graduate level courses are acceptable as establishing equivalency. The Board will not accept coursework counted or credited toward an undergraduate degree.

(3)   Foreign-trained applicants. Foreign-trained applicants must submit educational credentials to a credentialing agency utilized by the Board for evaluation of equivalency. After course equivalency is established, the Board will evaluate the educational credentials to determine whether or not the program is equivalent to a program approved by CACREP.

(c)   Post-Graduate Experience Requirements.

The Board will approve post-master's or post-doctoral supervised practice as meeting the requirements for licensure set out in C.R.S. § 12-43-603(1)(d) when that practice satisfies the requirements of this subsection.

(1)   Definitions. As used in C.R.S. § 12-43-603(1)(d) and this rule, unless the context indicates otherwise:

(A)  "Individual supervision" means supervision rendered to one individual at a time.

(B)  "Group supervision" means supervision rendered to not more than ten (10) individuals at one time.

(C)  "Post-master's experience" or "post-doctoral experience" means experience under approved supervision acquired subsequent to the date certified by the degree-granting institution as that on which all requirements for the master's or doctoral degree (whichever is applicable) have been completed.

(D)  "Practice in professional counseling” means all services included within the definition of psychotherapy in C.R.S. § 12-43-201(9) and particularly those services and practices included within the definition of professional counseling in C.R.S. § 12-43-601(5).

(E)  "Supervision" means personal direction and responsible direction provided by a supervisor approved by the Board.

(1)  "Personal direction" means direction actually rendered by the approved supervisor.

(2)  "Responsible direction" or "direction" means the approved supervisor has sufficient knowledge of all clients for whom supervision is provided, including face-to-face contact with the client when necessary, to develop and to monitor effective service delivery procedures and the supervisee's treatment plan. Further, all decisions requiring the special skill, knowledge, and/or training of a licensed professional counselor are made in collaboration with, and with the approval of, the approved supervisor. Such decisions include, but are not limited to: type, duration, effectiveness, and method of psychotherapy services provided; fees and billing procedures; approval of cases; and personal observation, evaluation, oversight, review, and correction of services provided by the supervisee.

(F)  "Consultation" describes a voluntary relationship between professionals of relative equal expertise or status wherein the consultant offers her/his best advice or information on an individual case or problem for use by the consultee as s/he deems appropriate in her/his professional judgment. Consultation is not supervision. Experience under contract for consultation will not be credited toward fulfillment of supervision requirements.

(2)   Certification of Completion. Each applicant shall file with the Board, upon forms supplied by the Board, a verified statement signed under penalty of law by their approved supervisor(s) attesting to the applicant's satisfactory completion of the required post-master's or post-doctoral practice of psychotherapy under supervision and attesting to the applicant's having met the generally accepted standards of practice during the supervised practice.

(3)   Supervision.

(A)  The Board may accept any of the following as a supervisor provided the proposed supervisor’s experience is substantially equivalent to those within the scope of a licensed professional counselor:

(1)  A licensed professional counselor who, at the time of the supervision, was licensed by the Board in the jurisdiction in which the applicant's services were performed.

(2)  A licensed clinical social worker who, at the time of the supervision, was licensed by the Board in the jurisdiction in which the applicant's services were performed.

(3)  A marriage and family therapist who, at the time of the supervision, was licensed by the Board in the jurisdiction in which the applicant's services were performed.

(4)  A psychologist who, at the time of the supervision, was licensed by the Board in the jurisdiction in which the applicant's services were performed.

(B)  The approved supervisor must keep records that document they have effectively trained, evaluated and credited the applicant for licensure. The records must reflect the exact number of hours of applicable post-master's or post-doctoral practice of psychotherapy and the exact number of hours of supervision completed in compliance with this Rule.

(4)   Number of hours of post-master's practice in psychotherapy under supervision.

(A)  The post-master's practice in psychotherapy under supervision cannot be completed in fewer than (24) twenty-four months and may involve supervision by more than one (1) supervisor as defined in these rules.

(B)  The two (2) years of post-master's practice in psychotherapy under supervision required by C.R.S. § 12-43-603(1)(d) must include at least 2,000 hours of psychotherapy obtained in such a manner that they are reasonably uniformly distributed over a minimum of twenty-four (24) months.

(C)  The teaching of the practice of psychotherapy may count up to 600 hours of post-master's practice in psychotherapy under supervision and up to thirty (30) hours of supervision, provided this teaching experience was supervised by a supervisor as defined in these rules.

(5)   Number of hours of post-doctoral practice in psychotherapy under supervision.

(A)  The post-doctoral practice in psychotherapy under supervision cannot be completed in fewer than twelve (12) months and may involve supervision by more than one supervisor as defined in these rules.

(B)  The one year of post-doctoral practice in psychotherapy under supervision required by C.R.S. § 12-43-603(1)(d) must include at least 1,000 hours of psychotherapy obtained in such a manner that they are reasonably uniformly distributed over a minimum of twelve (12) months and must be documented as being completed not fewer than 60 days prior to the administration of the examination.

(C)  The teaching of the practice of psychotherapy may count up to 300 hours of post-doctoral practice in psychotherapy under supervision and up to fifteen (15) hours of supervision, provided this teaching experience was supervised by a supervisor as defined in these rules.

(6)   Number of hours of post-master's or post-doctoral supervision.

(A)  For each 1,000 hours of supervised practice in psychotherapy, applicants must receive a minimum of 50 hours of supervision. A minimum of 35 of the 50 hours must be face-to-face supervision. The remaining hours up to the 50 hours may be by group supervision. No other modes of supervision will be accepted.

(B)  The post-master's or post-doctoral supervision hours must be reasonably distributed over each 1,000 hours of supervised practice in psychotherapy in a manner consistent with the accrual of the hours of supervised post-master's or post-doctoral practice.

(C)  With respect to supervision of the teaching of psychotherapy, the supervision hours must be reasonably distributed over the teaching experience in a manner consistent with the accrual of the hours of teaching experience.

(d)   Examination. In accordance with C.R.S. §§ 12-43-203(3)(b), 12-43-603(1)(e), and 12-43-603(4), the Board establishes these requirements for the licensing examination to demonstrate professional competence in professional counseling, including special knowledge and skill in psychotherapy. 

(1)   Jurisprudence Examination. Applicants shall be required to pass a Board developed jurisprudence examination.

(2)   National Examination. The examination in professional counseling shall be the counselor certification examination administered under contract with the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. (NBCC).

(A)   Reexamination. In the event an applicant fails to receive a passing grade on the examination, s/he may apply to the NBCC for reexamination and is subject to the requirements of NBCC.

(3)   Application. An applicant for licensure shall apply directly to the NBCC, or such other testing service the Board may contract with at the time, to sit for the appropriate examination.

(A)  A student in their last semester or quarter of either a CACREP approved or non-CACREP approved graduate degree program may apply directly to the NBCC to sit for the professional counselor examination.

(4)   Exam Results. Examination results will be valid for up to five (5) years after the date of the examination.