TILT – Therapeutic Innovations in Light of Technology
Jason S. Z ack
Try This at Home!
Let's take New York, for example. Googling "New York State Board of Psychology" took me right to the state's Psychology page: http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/psych/ The first link on the left hand side, "Laws Rules & Regulations," took me right to what I needed: Laws, Rules & Regulations Education Law
Title VIII - links to all Articles
Article 153 - Psychology Rules of the Board of Regents Part 29 - Unprofessional Conduct Commissioner's Regulations In discussing legal issues related to online counseling, I inevitably suggest that counselors who decide to work with clients located outside the counselor's jurisdiction should make themselves familiar with the mental health counseling laws and regulations of the jurisdiction where their client is located. My sense is that most counselors probably ignore this suggestion, because they don't know where to start, short of hiring a lawyer. Although that would certainly be the ideal course of action, there is much that online counselors can do to inform themselves for no cost at all. In this month's column, my goal is to walk through that process for a hypothetical professional working with a client in a given state and show you that it's not so difficult to quickly review the basic mental health laws and regulations of a jurisdiction. Your first step should be to check the website of the agency responsible for regulating your profession in that state, e.g., a psychologist should check the state board of psychology, a social worker the social work board, etc. The agency will usually have a page with links to the relevant laws and regulations for that state. They may also have ethical guidelines and statements.
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Part 52.10 - Registration of Curricula Part 72 - Psychology If I follow the link to Title VIII of NY's Education Law - The Professions, I can take a look at the general provisions (Article 130) that apply to all licensed professionals in NY. This is typically where I would find procedures and penalties pertaining to violations of this portion of the code. You'll see, for example, that unlicensed practice is a Class E felony (# 6512) and also can result in civil penalties. This title goes on to discuss enforcement procedures. After reviewing the general provisions applicable to all licensed professions in NY, I can turn to the section specifically applicable to psychologists--Article 153. Article 153 (which begins by confirming that the general provisions in Article 130 apply) defines the practice of psychology, establishes the state board, sets forth licensure requirements, allows for limited