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S1181.................................................by HEALTH AND WELFARE
LICENSED PASTORAL COUNSELORS - Amends existing law to revise qualifications
for licensure of licensed pastoral counselors; and to provide a code of
ethics.
02/15 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/16 Rpt prt - to Health/Wel
02/23 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/24 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/01 3rd rdg - PASSED - 32-3-0
AYES--Andreason, Branch, Bunderson, Burtenshaw, Cameron, Crow,
Danielson, Darrington, Davis, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure, Geddes, Ipsen,
Keough, King, Lee, McLaughlin, Noh, Parry, Richardson, Riggs, Risch,
Sandy, Schroeder, Sorensen, Stegner, Stennett, Thorne, Twiggs,
Wheeler, Whitworth
NAYS--Boatright, Hawkins, Ingram
Absent and excused--None
Floor Sponsor - Ipsen
Title apvd - to House
03/02 House intro - 1st rdg - to Health/Wel
S1181|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-fifth Legislature First Regular Session - 1999IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1181 BY HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO QUALIFICATIONS FOR LICENSURE FOR LICENSED PASTORAL COUNSELORS; 3 AMENDING SECTION 54-3405A, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE QUALIFICATIONS FOR LICEN- 4 SURE OF LICENSED PASTORAL COUNSELORS AND TO PROVIDE A STATUTORY CODE OF 5 ETHICS. 6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 7 SECTION 1. That Section 54-3405A, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 8 amended to read as follows: 9 54-3405A. QUALIFICATIONS FOR LICENSURE FOR LICENSED PASTORAL COUNSELORS. 10 Licensure as a "licensed pastoral counselor" shall be restricted to persons 11 who have successfully completed the following requirements who have applied 12 for licensed pastoral counselors (L.Pas.C.) and: 13 (1) Holds a master of divinity (M.Div.) degree or doctoral degree with a 14 major in pastoral counseling from an accredited university orreligious15institutionseminary with a requirement of sixty (60) 16 semester credit hours of counseling related courses in a minimum of eight (8) 17 of the following eleven (11) areas with the areas of study being 18 specified :by the American association of pastoral counsel-19ors (AAPC):20 (a) Theories of personality and personality development; 21 (b) Theories of counseling and psychotherapy; 22 (c) Marriage and family dynamics and counseling; 23 (d) Group dynamics and counseling; 24 (e) Personality, culture and ethics; 25 (f) Psychology of religious experience; 26 (g) Pastoral assessment and treatment; 27 (h) Psychopathology; 28 (i) Theories of pastoral care; 29 (j) Research methods; 30 (k) Orientation to the helping professions. 31 (2) Completion ofa practicum of supervised counseling experience32of four hundred (400) contact hours, supervised at a ratio of one (1) hour of33supervision for each ten (10) contact hourstwo thousand (2,000) 34 contact hours of postgraduate supervised counseling experience provided by a 35 licensed pastoral counselor (L.Pas.C.) or a licensed professional counselor 36 with private practice specialty (L.P.C.-P) acceptable to the board . 37 (3)Graduate studies shall have been at a university or institution38which has been accredited by one (1) of the following: The middle states asso-39ciation of colleges and secondary schools, the New England state association40of colleges and secondary schools, the north central association of colleges41and secondary schools, the northwest association of colleges and secondary42schools, the southern association of colleges and secondary schools or the43western colleges association. The pastoral counselor program may also be2 1accredited by the association of theological schools (ATS).2(4) Completion of two thousand (2,000) contact hours of postgraduate3supervised counseling experience, with an approved supervisor. Approved super-4visors include an American association of pastoral counselors approved super-5visor, a licensed pastoral counselor, a licensed psychiatrist, a licensed psy-6chologist, or a licensed professional counselor. The ratio of supervision to7contact hours shall be one (1) to twenty (20).8(5)Successful completion of the national counselor examination as 9 required by the board. 10 (64 ) Each licensed pastoral counselor must 11 obtain twenty (20) contact hours of continuing education in an area that is 12 approved by the board per year. 13 (75 ) Each licensed pastoral counselor shall 14 adhere to the following code of ethics :of the15American counseling association16 (a) To maintain responsible association with the faith group in 17 which the pastoral counselor has ecclesiastical standing. 18 (b) To diagnose or provide treatment only for those problems or issues 19 that are within the reasonable boundaries of the pastoral counselor's com- 20 petence. 21 (c) To establish and maintain appropriate professional relationship 22 boundaries. 23 (d) To use the pastoral counselor's knowledge for the benefit of the peo- 24 ple served and not to secure unfair personal advantage. 25 (e) To clearly represent the level of training and limit the practice to 26 that level. 27 (f) To conduct the pastoral counseling practice with due regard to recog- 28 nized business and accounting procedures. 29 (g) To represent facts truthfully to clients, referral sources and third 30 party payors regarding credentials and services rendered and to correct 31 any misrepresentation of the licensed pastoral counselor's professional 32 qualifications or affiliations. 33 (h) To not abandon or neglect clients and if the licensed pastoral coun- 34 selor is unable or unwilling for appropriate reasons to provide profes- 35 sional help or continue a professional relationship every reasonable 36 effort is made to arrange for continuation of treatment with another pro- 37 fessional. 38 (i) To make only realistic statements regarding the pastoral counseling 39 process and its outcome. 40 (j) To show sensitive regard for the moral, social and religious stan- 41 dards of clients and communities and avoid imposing the licensed pastoral 42 counselor's beliefs on others, although these beliefs may be expressed 43 when appropriate in the pastoral counseling process. 44 (k) To continue counseling relationships only as long as it is reasonably 45 clear that the clients are benefitting from the relationship. 46 (l) To recognize the trust placed in and unique power of the therapeutic 47 relationship and to acknowledge the complexity of some pastoral relation- 48 ships, to avoid exploiting the trust and dependency of clients and to 49 avoid dual relationships with clients which could impair the licensed 50 pastoral counselor's professional judgment, compromise the integrity of 51 the treatment or use the relationship for the licensed pastoral counselor. 52 (m) To avoid all forms of sexual behavior or harassment with clients even 53 when a client invites or consents to the behavior or involvement. "Sexual 54 behavior" shall be defined as, but not limited to, all forms of overt and 55 covert seductive speech, gestures and behavior as well as physical contact 3 1 of a sexual nature; and "harassment" is defined as, but is not limited to, 2 repeated comments, gestures or physical contacts of a sexual nature. 3 (n) To recognize that the therapist/client relationship involves a power 4 imbalance, the residual effects of which are operative following the ter- 5 mination of the therapy relationship. 6 (o) To keep, store or dispose of all records of a client in a manner 7 that assures security and confidentiality. 8 (p) To not disclose client confidences to anyone, except as mandated by 9 law to prevent a clear and immediate danger to someone in the course of a 10 civil, criminal or disciplinary action arising from the counseling where 11 the pastoral counselor is a defendant, for the purposes of supervision or 12 consultation or previously obtained written permission. In cases involving 13 more than one (1) person as a client, written permission shall be obtained 14 from all legally accountable persons who have been present during the 15 counseling before any disclosure can be made. 16 (q) To not offer ongoing clinical services to persons currently receiving 17 treatment from another professional without prior knowledge of and in con- 18 sultation with the other professional, with the clients' informed consent 19 and to not solicit such clients. 20 (r) To not misrepresent the licensed pastoral counselor's professional 21 qualifications, affiliations and functions, or falsely imply sponsorship 22 or certification by any organization . 23 (86 ) The board shall have the option of employ- 24 ing a consultant to assist in the review of applications and in disciplinary 25 actions. The cost of the consultation shall be included in the fee for the 26 pastoral counselor license. 27 (97 ) The board may issue licenses to those per- 28 sons meeting the qualifications for licensure as a licensed pastoral counselor 29 (L.Pas.C) and the licensed pastoral counselor license shall be a separate and 30 distinct license from the licensed professional counselor license. 31 (108 ) For the purposes of this chapter, fees and 32 disciplinary actions, the terms "licensed pastoral counselor" and "licensed 33 professional counselor" shall have the same meaning. The board may promulgate 34 rules to implement the provisions of this section in compliance with chapter 35 52, title 67, Idaho Code.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS09057
This legislation will designate qualifications necessary to
be pastoral counselor, with the inclusion of a code of
ethics to be followed.
FISCAL NOTE
No fiscal impact.
CONTACT: Senator Ipsen
332-1326
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/ FISCAL NOTE S1181