(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), all applicants shall have an active associate registration with the board in order to gain postdegree hours of supervised experience.

(b) (1) Preregistered postdegree hours of experience shall be credited toward licensure if all of the following apply:

(A) The registration applicant applies for the associate registration and the board receives the application within 90 days of the granting of the qualifying master’s degree or doctoral degree.

(B) For applicants completing graduate study on or after January 1, 2020, the experience is obtained at a workplace that, prior to the registration applicant gaining supervised experience hours, requires completed Live Scan fingerprinting. The applicant shall provide the board with a copy of that completed State of California “Request for Live Scan Service” form with their application for licensure.

(C) The board subsequently grants the associate registration.

(2) The applicant shall not be employed or volunteer in a private practice until they have been issued an associate registration by the board.

(c) Supervised experience that is obtained for the purposes of qualifying for licensure shall be related to the practice of professional clinical counseling and comply with the following:

(1) A minimum of 3,000 postdegree hours performed over a period of not less than two years (104 weeks).

(2) Not more than 40 hours in any seven consecutive days.

(3) Not less than 1,750 hours of direct clinical counseling with individuals, groups, couples, or families using a variety of psychotherapeutic techniques and recognized counseling interventions.

(4) Not less than 150 hours of clinical experience in a hospital or community mental health setting, as defined in Section 4999.12.

(5) A maximum of 1,250 hours of nonclinical practice, consisting of direct supervisor contact, administering and evaluating psychological tests, writing clinical reports, writing progress or process notes, client centered advocacy, and workshops, seminars, training sessions, or conferences directly related to professional clinical counseling that have been approved by the applicant’s supervisor.

(6) A maximum of 1,200 hours gained under the supervision of a licensed educational psychologist providing educationally related mental health services that are consistent with the scope of practice of an educational psychologist, as specified in Section 4989.14.

(d) An individual who submits an application for licensure between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2020, may alternatively qualify under the experience requirements of this section that were in place on January 1, 2015.

(e) Experience hours shall not have been gained more than six years prior to the date the application for licensure was received by the board.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 321, Sec. 10. (AB 1651) Effective January 1, 2020.)