PDFWAC 246-809-230

Supervised postgraduate experience.

(1) The experience requirements for the mental health counselor applicant's practice area include successful completion of a supervised experience requirement. Applicants who have held an active mental health counselor license for the past five consecutive years or more in another state or territory, without a disciplinary record or disqualifying criminal history, are deemed to have met the supervised experience requirements for Washington state licensure in subsection (3) of this section.
(2) In accordance with RCW 18.225.090 and 18.225.095, for applicants who can demonstrate they have practiced as a substance use disorder professional for at least three years within ten years from the date their application for mental health counselor license is submitted to the department, the department shall reduce the minimum total required supervised hours from three thousand hours to two thousand seven hundred hours. The requirements in subsection (3)(b)(i) and (ii) of this section shall apply regardless of the reduction of total required hours.
(3)(a) The experience requirement consists of a minimum of thirty-six months full-time counseling or three thousand hours of postgraduate mental health counseling under the supervision of a qualified licensed mental health counselor or equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner in an approved setting.
(b) Of the three thousand hours:
(i) One hundred hours spent in immediate supervision with the qualified licensed mental health counselor or equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner; and
(ii) At least one thousand two hundred hours must be direct counseling with individuals, couples, families, or groups.
(4) Applicants who have completed a master's or doctoral program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) will be credited with fifty hours of postgraduate supervision and five hundred hours of postgraduate experience.
(5) Applicants for licensed mental health counselor associate are not required to have supervised postgraduate experience prior to becoming an associate.
(6) Licensed mental health counselor associate applicants must declare they are working toward full licensure.
[Statutory Authority: 2019 c 444, 2019 c 446, 2019 c 351, and RCW 18.19.050, 18.205.060, 18.225.040, 43.70.110, and 43.70.250. WSR 20-12-074, § 246-809-230, filed 6/1/20, effective 7/2/20. Statutory Authority: RCW 18.225.040. WSR 17-13-082, § 246-809-230, filed 6/16/17, effective 7/17/17. Statutory Authority: Chapter 18.225 RCW. WSR 09-15-039, § 246-809-230, filed 7/8/09, effective 7/8/09. Statutory Authority: RCW 18.225.040 and [18.225.]090. WSR 06-18-043, § 246-809-230, filed 8/30/06, effective 9/30/06. Statutory Authority: 2001 c 251, RCW 43.70.250. WSR 01-17-113, § 246-809-230, filed 8/22/01, effective 9/22/01.]