Necessity Of Certification Or Licensure

(1) It is unlawful for any person who is not certified or licensed in the manner prescribed in T.C.A. §§ 63-22-101, et seq., to represent himself as a certified or licensed professional counselor or to hold himself out to the public as being licensed by means of using a title on signs, mailboxes, address plates, stationery, announcements, telephone listings, calling cards, or other instruments of professional identification. (2) Professional counseling is one of the healing arts and as such the practice of which is restricted to those persons credentialed by the board. Persons engaging in the practice of professional counseling without being credentialed or expressly exempted by the law are in violation of division law T.C.A. § 63-1-123. (3) Nothing in these rules shall be construed to constrict or limit the Medical Practice Act, the Social Work Certification and Licensing Law, the Nursing Practice Act, or the Psychology Licensing Act (T.C.A. § 63-22-113(a)). (4) These rules shall not apply to any Christian Science practitioner or to any priest, rabbi, or minister of the gospel of any religious denomination when performing counseling services as part of his pastoral or professional duties, or to any person who is licensed to practice medicine, when providing counseling services as part of his professional practice. (5) No other person shall hold himself out to the public by a title or description of services incorporating the words “certified professional counselor” (CPC) or “licensed professional counselor” (LPC), and he shall not state or imply that he is certified or licensed. Nothing in this rule shall prohibit a person from stating or using the educational degrees which he has obtained. (6) Use of Titles - (a) Any person who possesses a valid, unsuspended and unrevoked certificate issued by the Board has the right to use the title “Certified Professional Counselor” and to practice professional counseling, as defined in Rule 0450-01-.01. (b) Any person who possesses a valid, unsuspended and unrevoked license issued by the Board has the right to use the title “Licensed Professional Counselor” and to practice professional counseling, as defined in T.C.A. § 63-22-150. (c) Any person licensed by the Board to whom this rule applies must use the titles authorized by this rule whenever he or she is “advertising” [as that term is defined in rule 0450-01-.01(2)] or the failure to do so will constitute an omission of a material fact which makes the advertisement misleading and deceptive and subjects the professional counselor to disciplinary action pursuant to T.C.A. §§ 63-22-110(b)(4) and 63-22-117(a)(1). (7) These provisions do not apply to counselors working in a community/human services agency nor to professional counselors whose work is directly being supervised by an approved supervisor while obtaining the required years of work experience.