Licensure Requirements

(1) Preface. To qualify for licensure as a rehabilitation counselor, pursuant to the requirements of M.G.L. c. 112, § 165, as amended, an applicant must provide evidence satisfactory to the Board that the professionalstandards and education experience requirements described in 262 CMR 4.01(3) have been met by the applicant. All licensed rehabilitation counselors are charged with having knowledge of the existence of 262 CMR and required to practice rehabilitation counseling in accordance with them. (2) Definitions. Approved Supervisor. (a) A rehabilitation counselor currently certified as a CRC by the CRCC; (b) a currently licensed rehabilitationcounselor, or an individual who meets the qualifications for licensure as a rehabilitation counselor by the Board; or (c) a person who has a minimum of five years of clinical experience in rehabilitation counseling and either: 1. a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling or a related field; 2. a doctorate in psychology; or 3. a medical degree with a subspecialization in psychiatry. Board. Board of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions. CRCC. The Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification. CRC. Certified Rehabilitation Counselor credential issued by the CRCC. Full Time. 35 hours per week/48 weeks per year. Graduate Level Course. Three credit semester or four credit quarter graduate level course. GroupSupervision. A regularly scheduled meeting of not more thansixrehabilitationprofessionalswith an approved supervisor for a period of at least one hour. "Peer" supervision will not be considered to be qualifying supervision for these purposes. Individual Supervision. A meeting of not more than one or two rehabilitation professionals with an approved supervisor for a period of at least one hour. Internship. (a) A distinctly defined, post-practicum, supervised curricular experience intended to enable the rehabilitation counselor to refine and enhance basic rehabilitation counseling skills, develop more advanced rehabilitation counseling skills, and integrate professional knowledge and skills pertinent to the initial post-graduate professional experience. (b) An internship completed after the award of a qualifying graduate degree must include a clearly defined program and schedule of services and duties to be performed by the intern. Written evaluations of the performance of the interns, as well as an evaluation of the internship experiences by the intern, must be included in post-graduate internships. Licensure Examination. The examination for licensure as a rehabilitation counselor shall be the CRCC Certification Examination. The CRC credential/certification is not required for licensure. The licensure examination is administered two times per year by the CRCC. For information on sites, dates of administration, and fees, contact the CRCC. 262 CMR: BOARD OF ALLIED MENTAL HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PROFESSIONS 4.01: continued Recognized Educational Institution. An educational institution licensed by the state inwhichit is located which meets national standards for the granting of a master's or doctoral degree. "National Standards" shall be deemed to include, but not be limited to, approval by the United States Department of Education. Related Field. Counselor education, psychology, counseling psychology, education with a concentration in counseling or psychology, or other field determined by the Board to be a related field. Supervised Clinical Experience. A minimumtotalof200 hours of group and individual supervision in the clinicalpractice of rehabilitation counseling by an approved supervisor. A minimum of 100 hours of the required minimum 200 hours of supervision must be individual supervision. (3) Licensure Eligibility. A candidate for licensure as a rehabilitation counselor must meet the requirements set forth in 262 CMR 4.01(3)(a) through (e). (a) A Master's or Doctoral Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling or a Related Field from a Recognized EducationalInstitution. The graduate degree program of study must have included an internship. If an applicant's master's or doctoral degree program of study consisted of less than 48 semester hours, or, ifthe applicant's master's or doctoraldegree program of study did not include the courses listed in 262 CMR 4.01(3)(b) and/or an internship, evidence ofcompletionof graduate level courses and/or an internship outside of the degree program sufficient to meet the 48 semester hour, course and internship requirements, must be submitted to the Board for review and approval. An applicant who wasawarded a graduate degree from a combined professional graduate program must submit the program of study for such combined program for review and approval of such program by the Board; (b) Successful completion of one graduate level course in each of the following content areas (Total courses required = 5): - Job Placement/Development/Vocational Analysis/Transferable Skill Development - Vocational Assessment and Evaluation - Vocational and Affective Counseling - Rehabilitation Plan Development - Medical Aspects of Disabilities (c) A minimum of two years full-time, post-master's degree supervised clinical experience or equivalent part-time, work experience in rehabilitation counseling in a clinic or hospital licensed by the Department of Mental Health or accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals or in an equivalent center or institute, or under the direction of an approved supervisor. Applicants who have completed a qualifying master's degree consisting of a 48 semester hour program of study which included an internship may be credited a maximum of ½ of the total number of hours of the internship experience toward the clinical experience requirement; (d) Successful completion of a Supervised Clinical Experience; and (e) Achievement of a passing score on the licensure examination. If an applicant is currently a CRC in good standing, a copy of the applicant's CRCC membership certificate may be submitted with the licensure application in lieu of an examination score report from the CRCC.