HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 989 FILED ON: 1/13/2009
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 266
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the Year Two Thousand Nine
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An Act regulating psychotherapy..
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 65A of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:—
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, (i) each board of registration under the supervision of the division of professional licensure, (ii) each board of registration under the supervision of the department of public health and (iii), in the case of violations of section 65F, the division of professional licensure may, after a consent agreement between the parties or after an opportunity for an adjudicatory proceeding held pursuant to chapter 30A, assess and collect a civil administrative penalty not to exceed $1,000 for the first violation and a civil administrative penalty not to exceed $2,500 for a second or subsequent violation upon a person who, without holding the required license, certificate, registration or authority, engages in the practice of a trade or profession for which a license, certificate, registration or authority is required.
SECTION 2. Said chapter 112 is hereby amended by inserting after section 65E the following section:—
65F. No person shall represent himself to the public as a psychotherapist or provide services in psychotherapy, unless he (i) is a physician with a certification in psychiatry and a license in good standing with the board of registration in medicine, a psychologist with a license in good standing with the board of registration of psychologists, a licensed independent clinical social worker or a licensed certified social worker with a license in good standing with the board of registration of social workers, a psychiatric nurse mental health clinical specialist with a license in good standing with the board of registration in nursing, a marriage and family therapist licensed under section 165, or a mental health counselor licensed under section 165 with a license in good standing with the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professionals, and (ii) is practicing within the scope and expertise of such license; or (iii) he is a student, intern or person fulfilling the required supervised experience for licensure in the above professions under the qualified supervision of a licensee and is registered with the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professionals, or (iv) he is a psychoanalyst, not otherwise covered under 65F(i) or 65F(ii), who meets the following certification standards, graduated from a psychoanalytic training program at an accredited psychoanalytic institute; has a minimum of 96 credit hours of psychoanalytic study, whether such study takes place within or after completion of the master’s degree or higher, as long as such study includes: a minimum of 60 credit hours of coursework; a minimum of 900 hours of clinical experience, a minimum of 350 of which are individual treatment; a minimum of 200 hours of clinical supervision, a minimum of 100 of which are individual supervision; successful completion of (i) a psychoanalytic research thesis or dissertation and (ii) a final comprehensive case presentation; and a minimum of 300 hours of personal analysis, and registers with the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professionals or (v) is a student fulfilling the required supervised experience of an accredited psychoanalytic institute, and is registered with the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professionals.
SECTION 3. Each student, intern or person fulfilling the required supervised experience for licensure as defined in 65F (iii) shall register with the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professionals and shall provide the following information: name, address, telephone number, educational institution, degrees held and from where they were conferred, name and address of supervisor and employer. Registration of such student, intern or person fulfilling the required supervised experience for licensure as defined in 65F (iii) shall not exceed a five-year period without approval from the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professionals.
Each psychoanalyst as defined in 65F (iv) who has met the certification standards as described under 65F (iv) shall register with the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professionals and shall provide the following information: name, address, telephone number, graduate degrees held and from where they were conferred, name and address of the psychoanalytic institute from which he graduated. Each student as defined in 65F (v) fulfilling the required supervised experience of a psychoanalytic institute shall register with the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professionals and shall provide the following information: name, address, telephone number, name and address of the psychoanalytic institute, and the name and address of supervisor and employer. Registration of such student fulfilling the required supervised experience as defined in 65F (v) shall not exceed a five-year period without approval from the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professionals.