LANSING, Mich. — Licensed professional counselors have been diagnosing and treating patients for decades in Michigan, but now, the state is proposing new rules that could change that.
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) is considering changing the rules for counselors so that they can no longer diagnose patients or use psychotherapy techniques.
Chris DeBoer, a licensed professional counselor in Okemos said that if he can't diagnose patients, then he can't treat them.
"I signed a five-year lease on this place. If those proposed changes go through, my scope of practice basically becomes nothing," said DeBoer.
DeBoer opened Red Cedar Relationship Counseling in March, but he's worried that if the state redefines the work counselors are allowed to do, he'll be forced to close.
"I can't counsel because our ethics requires us to be able to diagnose for us to be able to treat."
The problem is that state law doesn't allow counselors to diagnose or use psychotherapy. The state says many counselors don't realize that and have been misinterpreting the rules for years.
The proposed change would make licensing rules and the law match up, but DeBoer says it won't allow him to do what he's been trained to do.
"They say that this is what you have to be trained in as a counselor, but you're not allowed to do it and so in that case, what is our scope of practice? What are we being licensed to do?"
There is a possible solution. Experts say that House Bill 4325 would allow counselors to continue making diagnoses.
If that bill passes, it would override the licensing rules for counselors.
A public hearing on the new licensing rules for counselors has been scheduled for Friday at the G. Mennen Williams building at 525 W. Ottawa St. in downtown Lansing at 9 AM.
Full statement from LARA Communications Director, Jason Moon:
"The current counseling rules are outdated and are in need of an update. In particular, one of the issues being addressed in the rule is the use of the words "diagnose and psychotherapy" which are used in definitions of the current rules. The pending rules seek to move the definitions from one section to the proper section under the education portion of the rules to provide the clarity needed to align with the statutory authority. The current placement of the "diagnose and psychotherapy" has caused concerns with the manner in which the Board of Counselors and the counseling profession have been interpreting the rules to mean that licensees are allowed to diagnose and use psychotherapy techniques, despite the statute not allowing this practice under the profession's scope.
Prior to moving forward with the rule changes, the department had worked with the Board and stakeholders for years to get this and the manner in which the scope of practice was being interpreted, addressed. Each time efforts were made to proceed in updating the rules, the Michigan Mental Health Counselors Association and licensed counselors moved forward with legislative efforts to have the law changed to allow the counselors to diagnose and use psychotherapy techniques. On each occasion, the department agreed to delay the rulemaking process to give the stakeholders an opportunity to work it out in statute. More recently, HB 5776 was introduced in April 2018 to accomplish that goal during the last legislative session, but it did not pass. HB 4325 was introduced in March 2019 to address the issue.
It is the goal of the department to move the language to the proper place of the existing rules along with making other necessary technical updates to the rules. The current law does not give the department authority to expand or change the scope of practice of this profession by rule.
In terms of the status of the rules, a public hearing has been scheduled for October 4th. Once the public hearing occurs, the rules will need to be reviewed based on the public comment and then prepared for further consideration before moving through the remainder of the process, which will take some time to complete.
The updated rules provide greater clarity needed for licensees and aid in their understanding of the requirements of the rules. These rules would create a regulatory framework making compliance easier for licensees and would help protect the safety of Michiganders. However, the department cannot seek to promulgate rules that are improper and exceeds authority of the statute.
Counselors will still be able to practice their profession under the new rules. The rule changes have nothing to do with scope of practice for LPCs as that would require a statutory change by the legislature. The current and new rules do not allow licensees to diagnose and use psychotherapy techniques because the statute does not allow this practice under the profession's scope."
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