PURPOSE: This rule defines the educational requirements for professional counselors.

1. (1) In order to qualify for supervision, provisional licensure, or licensure as a professional counselor, an applicant shall have received a graduate degree at the master’s, specialist, or doctoral level that consisted of a course of study with a major in counseling from an acceptable educational institution.

   1. (A) An acceptable educational institution shall mean a regionally accredited institution approved by the United States Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
   2. (B) A master’s degree with a major in counseling shall consist of at least forty-eight

2. (48) semester hours or seventy-two (72) quarter hours.

   1. (C) Any course offered primarily via correspondence course, Internet (such as a chat room or discussion group), electronic mail (email), or other delivery method or system, or whether by audio or video tape, or any other form of communication that does not allow the participants to interact verbally and visually, shall not be acceptable for course work pursuant to 20 CSR 2095- 2.010(4)(A)–(K) even if credit is awarded by the educational institution and the offering appears on the transcript.

      1. 1. For the purpose of this rule, non-

interactive communication shall be defined as those courses in which the student has no means of simultaneously interacting with the course instructor visually and verbally during the transmission of course information.

1. (D) Continuing education or work experience shall not be considered as a form of graduate course work, even if credit is awarded by the educational institution and the offering appears on the transcript.

1. (2) Pursuant to sections 337.510.1(1) and 337.520(1)5, RSMo, a course of study with a major in counseling shall teach counseling principles, theories, techniques, and counseling interventions and shall be defined as one

2. (1) of the following:

   1. (A) A graduate degree accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), or its successor organization, or the Counseling on Rehabilitation Education, Incorporated (CORE), or its successor organization;
   2. (B) A graduate degree in counseling or guidance and counseling; or
   3. (C) A graduate degree in counseling psychology, clinical psychology, or school psychology that includes a three (3)-semester hour graduate course in each core area as defined in 20 CSR 2095-2.010(4)(A) through (J).
3. (3) An applicant with a master’s degree that is less than forty-eight (48) semester hours or seventy-two (72) quarter hours may submit a written request to the committee to conduct an educational review to determine compliance with 20 CSR 2095-2.010(2)(B) or (C). To be licensed, the applicant shall submit a written plan to the committee to obtain the required graduate course work to meet the forty-eight (48) semester-hour or seventy-two 20 CSR 2095-2
4. (72) quarter-hour and core course work requirements.
5. (4) The applicant shall have the burden of demonstrating that the degree consisted of a course of study with a major in counseling. If the applicant’s transcript does not clearly delineate that the degree consisted of a course of study with a major in counseling, the applicant may be required to obtain a letter from the chair of the department of counseling education, or other appropriate school official, stating that the applicant has a master’s, specialist, or doctoral degree consisting of a course of study with a major in counseling. The letter shall be on official letterhead of the college or university. The applicant may also be required to provide evidence that the degree program included no less than one

6. (1) three (3) semester-hour or one (1) five (5) quarter-hour graduate course in each of the following core areas:

   1. (A) Counseling Theory—Courses acceptable for this area shall cover the various major theories and techniques of counseling; and
   2. (B) Human Growth and Development— Courses acceptable for this area shall cover various stages of the human growth cycle and include information about theories of development or various aspects of development; and
   3. (C) Social and Cultural Diversity—Courses acceptable for this area cover various cultural and social class issues in areas such as race, sexual orientation, aging, disability, socioeconomic, ethnic, gender related, or other issues of diversity that emerge in a pluralistic society; and
   4. (D) Helping Relationship—Courses acceptable for this area cover theoretical foundations pertaining to professional skill training that enable the counselor to understand the client’s problems more fully and accurately and to interview effectively; and
   5. (E) Group Counseling—Courses acceptable for this area cover the theories, principles, and techniques of providing counseling or psychotherapy with groups of people; and
   6. (F) Career Development—Courses acceptable for this area cover concepts about how career development unfolds, the lifelong processes, and the influences upon clients or patients that lead to work values, occupational choice, creation of a career pattern, decision-making style, integration of roles, issues concerning identity, and patterns of work adjustment; and
   7. (G) Appraisal—Courses acceptable for this area cover structured and unstructured assessment of the mental health functions and psychopathology of a person; and FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION
   8. (H) Research Methods—Courses acceptable for this area cover principles, methods, techniques, and tools used in performing research in counseling; and
   9. (I) Professional Orientation—Courses acceptable for this area cover such areas as professionalism, legal issues and responsibilities, ethics, fields of training, and practice specialization; and
   10. (J) Diagnosis—Courses acceptable for this area provide an understanding and a working knowledge of psychodiagnostics using classification systems with an emphasis on the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Course content regarding the DSM must include understanding the organizational structure, professional terminology used in the manual, and competence in its application as it is used in the assessment process and subsequent treatment planning; and
   11. (K) At least six (6) semester hours or nine

7. (9) quarter hours of graduate level supervised practicum, internship, or field experience in the practice of counseling.

   1. 1. Any practicum, internship, or field

experience shall be clearly delineated on the transcript with graduate level credit and a passing grade.

1. (5) In determining whether a degree program included no less than one (1) three (3) semester-hour or a five (5) quarter-hour graduate course in a core area, the following shall apply:

   1. (A) It shall be the applicant’s responsibility to document that the course was an indepth study of a particular core area through course descriptions from official school catalogues, course syllabi, bulletins, or with written documentation from an appropriate school official;
   2. (B) A seminar course shall be acceptable if the applicant is awarded a passing grade and graduate credit is clearly delineated on the transcript;
   3. (C) Reading courses or independent study shall be submitted to the committee for review;
   4. (D) Undergraduate course work shall not be in compliance with core requirements unless graduate credit is clearly delineated on the transcript;
   5. (E) When evaluating transcripts based upon a quarter-hour system, the committee shall consider a quarter hour of graduate credit as two-thirds (2/3) of a semester hour. A semester hour of graduate credit shall be defined as fifteen (15) clock hours of regularly scheduled classroom study; and
   6. (F) No more than six (6) semester hours or nine (9) quarter hours in seminar course work or independent study shall be applicable to the total number of hours of graduate study comprising a course of study with a major in counseling.
2. (6) Upon receipt of official educational transcripts from the college or university and/or information relating to the program, and upon payment of the fee for an educational review as defined in 20 CSR 2095-1.040(1), the committee will review education credentials or a proposed plan for obtaining the appropriate education in compliance with these rules. All information shall be submitted to the committee no later than thirty (30) days prior to the next regularly scheduled committee meeting. Information received fewer than thirty (30) days before a committee meeting may be reviewed at the committee’s discretion.
3. (7) Graduate course work consisting of a course of study with a major in counseling and from a school, college, university, or other institution of higher learning outside of the United States, may be considered in compliance with these rules if, at the time the school, college, university, or other institution of higher learning where the applicant was enrolled or graduated, maintained a standard of training substantially equivalent to the standards of training of those institutions accredited by one of the regional accredited commissions recognized by the United States Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The committee shall determine if the standard of training was substantially the same as those institutions accredited by one

4. (1) of the regional accrediting commissions recognized by the United States Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

   1. (A) It shall be the applicant’s responsibility to document that the course work consisted of a course of study with a major in counseling, is substantially the same as those institutions accredited by one (1) of the regional accrediting commissions recognized by the United States Department of Elementary and Secondary Education through course descriptions from official school catalogues, course syllabi, bulletins, or with written documentation from an appropriate school official explaining how the course was an indepth study of a particular core area as defined in subsections (4)(A)–(K).

AUTHORITY: section 337.510, RSMo Supp. 2008 and section 337.520, RSMo 2000.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 95-2.010. Original rule filed Oct. 16, 1986, effective Jan. 30, 1987. Amended: Filed May 2, 1989, effective July 27, 1989. Amended: Filed July 3, 1990, effective Dec. 31, 1990. Amended: Filed Aug. 5, 1991, effective Dec. 9, 1991. Rescinded and readopted: Filed Dec. 1, 2004, effective June 30, 2005. Moved to 20 CSR 2095-2.010, effective Aug. 28, 2006. Rescinded and readopted: Filed Nov. 21, 2008, effective May 30, 2009. *Original authority: 337.510, RSMo 1985, amended 1989, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 337.520, RSMo 1985, amended 1989, 1993, 1995.