Title BPC — California Bus. & Prof. Code

(a) An associate registration shall expire one year from the last day of the month in which it was issued. (b) To renew a registration, the registrant, on or before the expiration date of the registration, shall do the following: (1) Apply for a renewal on a form prescribed by th…

(a) Licenses issued under this chapter shall expire no more than 24 months after the issue date. The expiration date of the original license shall be set by the board. (b) To renew an unexpired license described in subdivision (a), the licensee, on or before the expiration date o…

Licenses issued under this chapter that have expired may be renewed at any time within three years of expiration. To renew an expired license described in this section, the licensee shall do all of the following: (a) File an application for renewal on a form prescribed by the boa…

A license that is not renewed within three years after its expiration may not be renewed, restored, reinstated, or reissued, except that a former licensee may apply for and obtain a new license if he or she complies with all of the following: (a) No fact, circumstance, or conditi…

A suspended license is subject to expiration and shall be renewed as provided in this article, but that renewal does not entitle the licensee, while it remains suspended and until it is reinstated, to engage in the activity to which the license relates, or in any other activity o…

In enacting this chapter, the Legislature recognizes that licensed professional clinical counselors practice a separate and distinct profession from the professions practiced by licensed marriage and family therapists and licensed clinical social workers. As such, the Legislature…

A revoked license is subject to expiration as provided in this article, but it may not be renewed. If it is reinstated after its expiration, the licensee shall, as a condition precedent to its reinstatement, pay a reinstatement fee in an amount equal to the renewal fee in effect …

(a) A licensed professional clinical counselor may apply to the board to request that his or her license be placed on inactive status. A licensee who holds an inactive license shall do all of the following: (1) Pay a biennial fee of one-half of the active renewal fee. (2) Be exem…

(a) (1) The board shall issue, upon submission of a completed application as prescribed by this section and payment of the fee fixed by this chapter, a retired license to a professional clinical counselor who holds a license that is current and active or a license that is inactiv…

The board shall report each month to the Controller the amount and source of all revenue received pursuant to this chapter and at the same time deposit the entire amount thereof in the State Treasury for credit to the Behavioral Sciences Fund.

(a) The moneys credited to the Behavioral Sciences Fund under Section 4999.114 shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be used for the purposes of carrying out and enforcing the provisions of this chapter. (b) The board shall keep records that will reasonably ensure that fu…

A licensee or registrant shall give written notice to the board of a name change, giving both the old and new names. The written notice shall be submitted to the board within 30 days of the issuance of a new government-issued photographic identification. The licensee or registran…

(a) (1) The title “professional clinical counselor intern” or “professional clinical counselor registered intern” is hereby renamed “associate professional clinical counselor” or “registered associate professional clinical counselor,” respectively. Any reference in any statute or…

(a) The board shall assess the following fees relating to the licensure of professional clinical counselors: (1) The fee for the application for licensure shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250). The board may adopt regulations to set the fee at a higher amount, up to a maximum…

(a) In addition to the fees charged pursuant to Section 4999.120 for the biennial renewal of a license pursuant to Section 4999.102, the board shall collect an additional fee of twenty dollars ($20) at the time of renewal. The board shall transfer this amount to the Controller wh…

A professional clinical counselor corporation is a corporation that is authorized to render professional services, as defined in Section 13401 of the Corporations Code, so long as that corporation and its shareholders, officers, directors, and employees who are rendering professi…

It shall constitute unprofessional conduct and a violation of this chapter for any person licensed under this chapter to violate, attempt to violate, directly or indirectly, or assist in, or abet the violation of, or conspire to violate, any provision or term of this article, the…

The name of a professional clinical counselor corporation and any name or names under which it may be rendering professional services shall contain the words “licensed professional clinical counselor” or “professional clinical counselor” and wording or abbreviations denoting a co…

Except as provided in Section 13403 of the Corporations Code, each director, shareholder, and officer of a professional clinical counselor corporation shall be a licensed person, as defined in Section 13401 of the Corporations Code.

The income of a professional clinical counselor corporation attributable to professional services rendered while a shareholder is a disqualified person, as defined in Section 13401 of the Corporations Code, shall not in any manner accrue to the benefit of that shareholder or his …

A professional clinical counselor corporation shall not perform or fail to perform any act the performance of which, or for which the failure to perform, would constitute unprofessional conduct under any statute, rule, or regulation. In the conduct of its practice, a professional…

The board may formulate and enforce any rule or regulation to carry out the purposes and objectives of this article, including as follows: (a) Any rule or regulation that requires that the articles of incorporation or bylaws of a professional clinical counselor corporation shall …

A person engages in the practice of professional clinical counseling when he or she performs or offers to perform or holds himself or herself out as able to perform this service for remuneration in any form, including donations.

The board shall do all of the following: (a) Communicate information about its activities, the requirements and qualifications for licensure, and the practice of professional clinical counseling to the relevant educational institutions, supervisors, professional associations, app…

(a) (1) “Professional clinical counseling” means the application of counseling interventions and psychotherapeutic techniques to identify and remediate cognitive, mental, and emotional issues, including personal growth, adjustment to disability, crisis intervention, and psychosoc…

(a) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent qualified persons from doing work of a psychosocial nature consistent with the standards and ethics of their respective professions. However, these qualified persons shall not hold themselves out to the public by any title or description …

(a) Notwithstanding Section 4999.30, a person who holds a license in another jurisdiction of the United States as a professional clinical counselor may provide professional clinical counseling services in this state for a period not to exceed 30 consecutive days in any calendar y…

The settings described in Section 4999.22 are exempt settings and do not fall under the jurisdiction of this chapter or the board except as specified in Section 4999.22, and with the following exceptions: (a) Any individual working or volunteering in an exempt setting who is lice…

(a) For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply: (1) “Nonexempt setting” means a setting that does not qualify as an exempt setting, as specified in Section 4999.22. (2) “Private practice” means a type of nonexempt setting that meets all of the following cri…

(a) Nothing in this chapter shall restrict or prevent activities of a psychotherapeutic or counseling nature on the part of persons employed by accredited or state-approved academic institutions, public schools, government agencies, or nonprofit institutions who train graduate st…

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a person shall not practice or advertise the performance of professional clinical counseling services without a license issued by the board, and shall pay the license fee required by this chapter.

(a) This section shall apply to applicants for licensure or registration who began graduate study before August 1, 2012, and completed that study on or before December 31, 2018. Those applicants may alternatively qualify under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 4999.33. …

(a) This section shall apply to the following: (1) Applicants for licensure or registration who begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and do not complete that study on or before December 31, 2018. (2) Applicants for licensure or registration who begin graduate study before …

(a) A clinical counselor trainee may perform activities and services provided that the activities and services constitute part of the clinical counselor trainee’s supervised course of study and that the person is designated by the title “clinical counselor trainee.” (b) All pract…

(a) Each educational institution preparing applicants to qualify for licensure shall notify each of its students by means of its public documents or otherwise in writing that its degree program is designed to meet the requirements of Section 4999.32 or 4999.33 and shall certify t…

(a) An applicant shall meet all of the following qualifications to qualify for registration as an associate: (1) Earned a master’s or doctoral degree as specified in Section 4999.32 or 4999.33, as applicable. An applicant whose education qualifies the applicant under Section 4999…

The board may audit the records of any supervisor to verify the completion of the supervisor qualifications specified by this chapter and by regulation. A supervisor shall maintain records of completion of the required supervisor qualifications for seven years after termination o…

The board shall adopt regulations regarding the supervision of associates that may include, but not be limited to, the following: (a) Supervisor qualifications. (b) Continuing education requirements of supervisors. (c) Registration or licensing of supervisors, or both. (d) Genera…

(a) The board may issue a professional clinical counselor license to any person who meets all of the following requirements: (1) He or she has received a master’s or doctoral degree described in Section 4999.32 or 4999.33, as applicable. (2) He or she has completed at least 3,000…

An applicant for licensure as a professional clinical counselor or registration as an associate shall satisfy the following qualifications: (a) Not be subject to denial of licensure pursuant to Section 480. (b) (1) Not have been convicted of a crime in this or another state or in…

(a) Every applicant for a license as a professional clinical counselor shall take one or more examinations, as determined by the board, to ascertain their knowledge, professional skills, and judgment in the utilization of appropriate techniques and methods of professional clinica…

(a) Effective January 1, 2016, a registrant or an applicant for licensure as a professional clinical counselor shall pass the following examinations as prescribed by the board: (1) A California law and ethics examination. (2) A clinical examination administered by the board, or t…

(a) Each applicant and registrant shall obtain a passing score on a board-administered California law and ethics examination in order to qualify for licensure. (b) A registrant shall take a board-administered California law and ethics examination before their registration renewal…

(a) The board may issue a license to a person who, at the time of submitting an application for a license pursuant to this chapter, holds a license in another jurisdiction of the United States as a professional clinical counselor at the highest level for independent clinical prac…

(a) This section applies to persons with education gained from an out-of-state school or experience gained outside of California who apply for licensure or registration who do not qualify for a license under Section 4999.60. (b) The board shall accept education gained from an out…

(a) This section applies to persons with education gained from an out-of-state school who apply for licensure or registration and who do not qualify for a license under Section 4999.60. (b) For purposes of Section 4999.61, education is substantially equivalent if all of the follo…

(a) Effective January 1, 2016, an applicant who fails the examination specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 4999.53 may, within one year from the notification date of that failure, retake the examination as regularly scheduled without further application upon p…

(a) On or after January 1, 2021, an applicant for licensure as a professional clinical counselor shall show, as part of the application, that they have completed a minimum of six hours of coursework or applied experience under supervision in suicide risk assessment and interventi…

(a) On or after July 1, 2023, an applicant for licensure as a professional clinical counselor shall show, as part of the application, that they have completed a minimum of three hours of training or coursework in the provision of mental health services via telehealth, which shall…

A licensee shall display their license in a conspicuous place in the licensee’s primary place of practice when rendering professional clinical services in person.