Abstract
Licensed professional counselors (LPC) are recognized as mental health clinicians that are skilled in the examination, treatment, and prevention of various mental health issues, including addiction and clinical disorders. The requirements for becoming an LPC include the successful completion of a Board-approved academic program and passing the National Counselor Examination. The Michigan public health legislature recognizes LPCs as professional clinicians under the counselor licensure law. Along with the set of Administrative rules, the licensure law serves as a primary source of guidance regarding the scope of LPC practice. It is integral to understand the scope of professional counseling in terms of interventions and other psychotherapeutic techniques. This paper is going to focus on the legal limitations, ethical expectations, and required training for LPCs in the use of assessment.
Types of Assessment
There are specific regulations regarding the responsibilities of mental health clinicians. In general, the Michigan law regulates that licensed professional counselors’ scope of practice includes:
- “Assessment, testing and evaluation
- Individual, family and group counseling and psychotherapy
- Diagnosis and treatment planning for mental and emotional disorders
- Prevention, behavior modification, and guidance to individuals, families, and organizations” (Michigan Counseling Association, 2015, para. 4).
Section 333.18101 of the MI Counselor Licensure Law specifies that professional counseling combines evaluation with appraisal techniques, guidance, individual and group interventions, as well as behavior modification plans (Michigan Counseling Association, 2015). To establish a counseling relationship and identify the problem, LPCs need to possess competence in the utilization of assessment. Michigan Counseling Association establishes (2015) that licensed counselors are at the highest level of test evaluators. This means that LPCs have a right to use a range of testing instruments protected by the National Fair Access Coalition on Testing (FACT) and partially regulated by the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics.
Assessment is an integral part of professional counseling since it helps medical professionals to ascertain necessary information about clients, establish appropriate objectives, and determine the most efficient interventions. The process of gathering insights about a client is not limited to a single test or survey. On the contrary, it is a complex approach, which incorporates various assessment methods and multiple sources. LPCs can use standardized and non-standardized tests, checklists, portfolios, rating scales, interviews, and surveys. To gather accurate information, counselors’ sources may include clients’ partners, family, teachers, etc. There are legal limitations to the types of assessment LPC professionals can utilize. Under the Section 333.18101 of Michigan’s Public Health Code, licensed professional counselors specialize in “selecting, administering, scoring, and interpreting assessments, tests, and appraisals that are designed to assess an individual’s aptitudes, interests, attitudes, abilities, achievements, and personal characteristics” (Sanok, 2019). However, there has been a legislative battle in the state that threatened to redefine the LPC scope of practice.
House Bill 4325 suggested a different interpretation of the Public Health Code in terms of the scope of LCP practice. It put limitations on counselors by denying them the right to diagnose and utilize psychotherapy techniques (Sanok, 2019). Since, under these new regulations, it is now “beyond their craft to diagnose and treat mental illnesses, insurance companies may consider services provided by an LPC to be not medically necessary” (Sanok, 2019). This could change the status of licensed counselors and affect their legal right to have access and utilize certain assessment techniques, including projective methods and standardized tests.
Ethical Expectations
There is a set of fundamental ethical expectations regarding assessment in counseling. Client welfare should remain a top priority for LPCs, which is why they are not to misuse the information gathered during the assessment (American Counseling Association, 2014). They have to respect clients’ right to the results of such assessment and counselors’ interpretations of these results. Another important concept that LPCs need to keep in mind is informed consent. Medical practice requires counselors to explain the specifics and objectives of any assessment to clients (American Counseling Association, 2014). It also implies prior agreements between LPCs and their clients as to who has access to assessment results. The client or their representative must give consent for the assessment data to be released to any professionals who are deemed qualified by LPCs to interpret the results (American Counseling Association, 2014). The ACA Code of Ethics also emphasizes that licensed professional counselors have an ethical obligation to provide proper diagnosis and select appropriate treatment for a patient (American Counseling Association, 2014). Counselors need to be considerate of clients’ cultural backgrounds. Their socio-economic and cultural experiences may affect the way they function in society and react to certain phenomena.
Professional counselors need to consider the negative and positive implications of their diagnosis. This can result in an LPC’s decision to refrain from reporting their patient’s psychological condition. They also have to be aware of biases that can lead to misdiagnosis of pathology. Counselors must be thoughtful and consider “the validity, reliability, psychometric limitations, and appropriateness of instruments when selecting assessments and, when possible, use multiple forms of assessment, data, and/or instruments in forming conclusions” (American Counseling Association, 2014, p. 11). When it comes to the conditions of assessment administrations, LPCs have a responsibility to make them as favorable as possible by ensuring privacy and comfort. Under the legal and contractual obligations, they should also maintain the integrity of test results and assessment outcomes. Counselors have to use relevant assessment techniques and up-to-date professional knowledge for the development and planning of further treatment. When providing forensic evaluations, LPCs are to produce “objective findings that can be substantiated based on information and techniques appropriate to the evaluation, which may include examination of the individual and/or review of records” (American Counseling Association, 2014, p. 12). All of the aforementioned ethical standards of LPC practice are described in the Code of Ethics developed and distributed by the American Counseling Association.
Required Training
To provide appropriate assessment and gain a high level of competence, counselors seek training. Supervised practical and theoretical education can help LPCs to understand various approaches to data assessment, collaboration with policymakers, and cultural limitations of test instruments (Whiston, 2016). Training also allows counselors to receive guidance from accomplished medical professionals. To remain competent, LPCs have to get involved in continuing education courses. Effective assessment includes understanding test characteristics, combining multiple methods/sources of gathering information, as well as learning new frameworks for its interpretation. Licensed counselors are expected to earn a master’s or doctoral degree. However, additional training and supervised experience facilitate new learning and networking opportunities for LPCs. Apart from improving data assessment skills, such courses can provide counselors with an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of building trustful relationships with clients. Training programs often teach diagnostic techniques helping to assess diverse client populations.
References
American Counseling Association (2014). ACA code of ethics. Author. Web.
Michigan Counseling Association (2015). Licensed professional counselor quick fact sheet. Author. Web.
Sanok, J. (2019). What the hell is happening in Michigan? How HB 4325 will improve access to mental health. Practice of the Practice. Web.
Whiston, S. C. (2016). Principles and applications of assessment in counseling (5th ed.). Cengage Learning.