Licensure & Certification

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All health facilities and emergency medical divisions in United States must comply with the regulatory and statutory requirements for state licensure and Medicare certification. Illinois forms one of the major states in United States where medical practitioners strictly comply with licensure and certification rules and regulations. According to IL Professional Counselor Licensing and Disciplinary Board, Licensure refers to particular health care entities that an individual medical person must have before providing any health care services. Certification is the legal authority given to health care entities with the interest of serving Medicare and Medicaid clients. Some of the laws regulating and impacting credentialing, licensing, and certification in Illinois State for Mental Health Counselors include the Professional Counseling Act and Professional Counseling Rules. These laws are found under the Illinois department of financial and professional regulation and guides credentialing and licensing of professional Mental Health Counselors in the State (idfpr, 2014).

Mental health professionals in Illinois must possess a license in order to carry out services to clients. The state of Illinois has two levels of mental health licenses, the Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and the Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC). Practitioners in LPC acquire their license through normal education and examination while LCPC must work under strict supervision and complete a test for them to hold a license. For a Mental Health Counselor to hold a professional license and certificate in Illinois, one must pass the following three key content areas.

Education

A Licensed Clinical professional Counselor must have a master’s degree or higher in professional counseling or other related fields from an accredited University in the State. The person can also have a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor credential issued by NBCC. On the other hand, a Licensed Professional Counselor must hold a master’s degree from a regionally accredited university and the program must be approved by IL Department. In addition, the person must have completed at least 48 semester hours in order to qualify for LPC licensure and certification (American Counseling Association, 2010, p. 26).

Experimental requirements

A LCPC must undergo two years of full-time supervised employment or experience in clinical professional counseling department. The supervisor should be a qualified LCPC with all the above educational requirements. A qualifier should provide face-to-face service to clients’ for 1, 920 hours out of the two years work experience. An applicant with doctoral degree only has one year of full-time supervision (American Counseling Association, 2010, p. 26).

Examination

Finally, the applicant should seat and pass the following exams. For LCPC, the applicant must pass the National Counselor Examination (NCE) and National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHC). On the other hand, the LPC applicant must pass The Licensed professional counselor (LPC), the NCE or Certified Revenue Cycle Executive (CRCE) (American Counseling Association, 2010, p. 26).

The State of Illinois has developed many publications and websites where applicants see revised and updated licensure and certification laws. Some of the most reliable websites include Illinois State Board of Education (http://www.isbe.net/licensure/) and Counselor-License (http://www.counselor-license.com/states/illinois-counselor-license.html). In order to remain current of all revisions and amendments to state laws, it is recommended that a Mental Health Counselor subscribe to newsletters and email alerts through the internet. In addition, one could frequently visit such websites and search for new messages posted on website page. Finally, a professional must register his or her license with the registration board for easier notification on any amendment or changes occurring.

References

American Counseling Association. (2010). Licensure Requirements for Professional Counselors.

Retrieved from

http://www.counseling.org/docs/licensure/72903_excerpt_for_web.pdf

idfpr. (2014, June 5). State of Illinois: Department of Financial and Professional

Regulation. State of Illinois : Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Retrieved August 24, 2014, from

http://www.idfpr.com/profs/info/ProfCounselor.asp