|
Newsletter
of the Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation
The University of Iowa
Program Web Page:
http://projects.education.uiowa.edu/crsd/rehab/
|
The
Mission of the Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation (GPR) at
the University of Iowa is to prepare qualified rehabilitation
counseling professionals who will assist persons with disabilities
and other individuals who have barriers in meeting their functional
needs in the areas of employment independent living, and personal
or economic development. The Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation
prepare these professionals to provide quality rehabilitation
counseling services within an interdisciplinary and community-based
context, serve as change agents and advocates for their clients,
and sources of specialized knowledge and consultants for professionals,
employers and others in the communities that they serve. |
FROM
THE COORDINATOR'S DESK
Welcome
to the Rehab Review's Fall edition! We are very pleased
with your responses to our new colorful
format that we decide to do it again. Remember, if this is the first
time you received our newsletter, please
fill out the Online Personal Information Form
Our goal with this new
edition is to provide our faculty, students, and readers in
general with some relaxing and enjoyable reading. As the
readers will observe our faculty and students have been very
busy and as a result many accomplishments have been achieved.
BRAVO!
In the Rehab. Review we want to
take this little space to whish all our students, faculty, and
readers
IN THIS ISSUE 
NEWS
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF COUNSELING, REHABILITATION, AND STUDENT
DEVELOPMENT. By Dennis Maki, PhD, CRC, NCC, ACS
Dr. Maki is the president of the
Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE). This year CORE has
undertaken many important actions that he reports here.
The main activities and discussions of this past year are
summarized in the Executive Committee Report. The primary
focus of our 30th Anniversary this year has been
the standards review and will continue through our annual
meeting and into next year. As I have reflected on this
process and this anniversary year I have concluded we have
come along way and yet there is far to go. I would like to
share some specific thoughts.
As
an organization we are dependent to a large extent on
volunteer efforts of the members of the Commission and Council
past, present and future.
Our
profession is comprised of individuals who value
professionalism who believe, as research has shown, that
qualified providers are critical to the delivery of effective
services to consumers
Our
history has demonstrated vision and foresight in the
establishment of the first counseling accreditation program,
which from the start has valued data in its decision making
process.
We
have also continuously valued development of our organization,
the programs we accredit, and the professionals who receive
their pre-service preparation through accredited programs.
Our
tradition and experience as a counseling accrediting body has
led the way for others, specifically CACREP. It is important
for us to look to their experience as well and learn what we
can to better our process and serve the best interests of our
programs and their graduates.
ACA,
NBCC and CACREP have advanced an agenda to enhance and include
counseling as a profession in the health care delivery system.
Rehabilitation counseling organizations including ARCA, NRCA
and the Alliance in partnership with CRCC and CORE have had a
similar agenda. Together and in collaboration the potential
for success of these agendas is far greater than when a
parochial posture has been posited by either camp.
At
this time it is my opinion that the rehabilitation counseling
stakeholders must join in the professionalization process that
now is primarily influenced by the voices of ACA, NBCC and
CACREP. This is very clear especially when counselor licensure
is considered. There are those amongst us who have argued that
to join forces or to find equivalence among such things as
curricular standards in some way jeopardizes the very
existence of our unique profession. There are others, and I
count myself amongst them, that argue that to not seek
equivalence specifically in curricular standards does in fact
jeopardize the viability and existence of our profession now
and in the future.
Like
CACREP and NBCC, CORE and CRCC must be present and recognized
at meetings of ASPA and AASCB where policy and the nature of
the credentials to practice are established. Equivalency of
our curricular standards is a critical and essential step to
our being included in these partnerships and our graduates in
these marketplaces. Every year that the gap between
rehabilitation counseling and the general profession of
counseling grows, it is to the detriment of rehabilitation
counselors and our potential clients. We are an affiliate
member of AASCB, yet we are silent, invisible and unknown to
most members of this group who are responsible for the
implementation of licensure in their respective states. We
could and should be present and educating them on
rehabilitation counseling and our equivalence with the rest of
the counseling field.
Those
who argue that licensure is not important to rehabilitation
counselors, need to consider what it means to be restricted
from practice as now almost all states do have a licensure law
and the exam for most states is drawn from NBCC’s NCE. Some
states have by working collaborately and have accepted the CRCC
exam as equivalent. The conjunctive scoring process currently
underway by CRCC is an excellent example of how we can
demonstrate equivalence in our graduates who are indeed
qualified counselors.
Most
state boards use the CACREP curricular areas to qualify an
applicant for license with CORE graduates needing a curriculum
review to determine equivalence to CACREP. At this time of
Standards Review I urge CORE to align our curricular areas
with CACREP as a review of their standards shows that there is
not a significant difference in areas. It will allow state
licensure boards to see the equivalence in our standards
without needing endless explanations and needless
determinations of non- equivalence. The Joint CORE/CACREP site
visits is an example of collaboration and partnership that
respects our differences yet efficiently determines our common
ground.
CORE
has been a leader in the accreditation movement.
Professionalization and credentialing of the counseling
profession are key to the viability of our profession. We have
the opportunity at this point in time with our Standards
review to declare our equivalence with the rest of the
counseling movement and need not fear that to do so betrays
our history or will undercut our practice. In fact I argue
that to not do so is living in the past on dated logic without
facts to support the current context and environment of our
field. Our best practice continues to be based on research,
such as the most current role and function study. For the
continued viability of our profession, CORE needs to be
proactive and foresighted in the articulation of the new
standards.
I
want to thank all of the members of the Commission and
Council, especially Lance Carluccio and Art Dell Orto who have
performed the enormous task of gathering data and drafting the
Standards Review document. They did this in a profession and
timely manner. In addition I want to acknowledge Don Linkowski
for the responsible job he did in this his first year as our
Executive Director. Finally, Sue Denys in our Administrative
Office performed her duties in an efficient and personable
manner.
I
hope our deliberations will be respectful, productive and
ultimately serve the best interests of our stakeholders.
LEGAL
ISSUES IN REHABILITATION WORKSHOP
 The
Department of Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Student
development, College of Education, in cooperation with
the Center for Law, Health, Policy, and Disability, College of
Law were proud to conduct a one day workshop entitled
"Legal issues in Rehabilitation". This
workshop offered a 5.5 credit hours of continuing education to
over 92 participants representing wide cross section of the
rehabilitation community.
Domestic
violence: Laws and issues for counselors, The Family Medical
Leave and the ADA, Civil Rights claim process, Applicability
of the ADA to the Ticket to Work Program, and the keynote
presentation by Professor Blanck on the Evolving of the ADA
were some of the topics presented in this exciting program.
First of all we want to
express our most meaningful words of thanks to our speakers
Professor Peter
Blanck, Associate Dean Linda McGuire, Professor Len Sandler, James
Schmeling, Miriam Righter, John Lundquist, and Heather Shank for their voluntary collaboration with this project. We
hope to have their same commitment in a future occasion.
Thanks All!
Also, we need to acknowledge our participants for their
support and interest in the program presented.
This would not have been possible without the extensive time
spent by Advisory Board member Rich Webster, a graduate
from our program and attorney with consultation with Julie
Svec another Advisory Board member. Bravo!
For those who for any reason were unable to be part of this
event we want to share some of the information provided in
this exiting program. If you want to access and download some
of the information presented CLICK
HERE!
FOLLOW
UP HISTORY: "FEELS LIKE HOME": THE EXPERIENCE OF
JAMES BETHEA AND PHILLIP LEWIS IN GAMBIA AFRICA
 Through
the College of Public Health James Bethea and Phillip
Lewis were two of thirty-three students from four
different Universities selected to study abroad, and to gain
practical experience in The Republic of The Gambia, West
Africa. James and Phillip examined rehabilitation issues and
the delivery of services to persons with disabilities. This
opportunity was made possible by the Center for International
Rural and Environment Health at The University of Iowa, and
with the assistance of Dr. Shannon P. Marquez, Ph.D.
Dr. Marquez is The Deputy Director for the center, and
was very instrumental in coordinating the internship
placements for each disciplinary area.
The Center allowed students from diverse disciplines to
participant in a research and internship experience abroad,
which was geared toward researching and addressing
environmental concerns in Africa.
The length of the experience was six weeks (May26 to
July 7). “We considered this opportunity to be an experience
of a lifetime personally, spiritually, and professionally”.
Lewis said.
In their personal reflections Bethea and Lewis
have the following observations: Initially, our personal goal was
simply to fulfill a quest as an African-American to visit
Africa, the Motherland. More personally, this international experience was an
occasion to participate and embrace Africa's cultural heritage
in its richness and diversity, in which we had only read or
heard of.  Studying
abroad to Africa was unique and priceless opportunity to make
a spiritual pilgrimage back to the land of our ancestral past.
As an African Americans in the United State (US) we
both felt that a piece of our true racial identity was
somewhat vague and limited in our personal worldview
understanding of our roots and heritage, as we understand it.
We were eager to learn more about the people, land, religion,
and culture. The
history of the slave trade, race relations, and fight for civil
rights of the past has prompt a certain degree of curiosity
for quite some time in search for truth and honesty about this
historical tragedy. Going to Africa provided us with an
opportunity to personally embrace the roots and cultural
heritage, in an effort toward enhancing our understanding of
our racial identity.
As an African-Americans we
feel that there should be an established or better sense of
knowledge and awareness about our cultural heritage. The
experience of being in Africa has helped us to gain a sense of
dignity, pride, and respect for our racial identity despite
the historical tragedy of the slave trade and race relations
that seem to somewhat distorted our self worth and value in
the US. The
experience in Africa has served as a catalyst for cultural
emancipation and spiritual fulfillment, which has help to
bridge the gap between our limited understandings of our place
in America. The experience gained through studying abroad was
an opportunity to physically make a connection back to the
motherland, which has strengthen our worldview and racial
identity, which is important in the areas of multicultural
counseling as noted in Maki and Riggar, (1997).
Academically the practicum experience was both very
discouraging and stimulating form a rehabilitation counselor
perspective. It was discouraging to see that there are so
little resources or legal mandates that are available to
effectively assist, serve, and enhance the quality of life for
those persons with disabilities, as compared to the US. On the
other hand, it was stimulating to examine the delivery of
services, and to see that there was in place a plan in
development, which appeared to be a constant effort to improve
the quality of life for those persons with disabilities.
Lack of knowledge, awareness, resources, and level of
training appeared to hamper the opportunity to provide
effective services for those persons with disabilities, and to
the  people
at large. Considering the present inadequacies and being
mindful of the constraints faced by a weak economy the health
and social welfare agency in Africa appear to have a positive
vision to improve the delivery of services in the future.
The Vision 20/20
is a legislative mandate, which is planed to allocate the
funding and resources to provide effective and affordable
health care for all the people in The Gambia by 2020.
The 20/20 vision is a long term objective by the
government to strengthen the health sector, in which will
include providing effective services for those persons with
disabilities and create jobs for those who deliver services to
those persons with disabilities.
Intermediate objectives for the health sector are to
improve the administration and management of health services,
provide better infrastructure for referral hospitals and
health facilities, which will extend primary health care
services to all communications.
Simultaneously, to build a well-motivated and trained
staff for the array of institutions to ensure effective and
efficient health services for all.
Overall,
this experience and opportunity to study abroad has been
priceless. We
learned so much about our roots and heritage, which was truly
uplifting as the experiences, has enhanced our personal racial
identity and worldview understanding. We encourage other students to take advantage of any
opportunity to study abroad to gain international experience
in their field of study. The experience will be rewarding
personally, academically, professionally, and spiritually.
IOWA
CENTER FOR ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
(ICATER): AN OVERVIEW
Located
in the College of Education, the Iowa Center for Assistive
Technology and Educational Resources (ICATER) offers a place
for the advancement and dissemination of assistive technology.
The emphases of ICATER are training, research, and providing
community resources. The Center provides hands-on training in
assistive technology to educators, counselors, and the
community. The center also engages in research projects to aid
in examining the effectiveness of assistive technology in
education and work.
Who
can benefit from ICATER services? All people interested
can benefit from ICATER services. From students with
disabilities (primarily COE students), instructors, K-12
teachers, families, and the community in general. ICATER will
provide them with the necessary information and training (when
pertinent) to aid the understanding and use of assistive
technologies.
Recently
David Dawson, PhD and Director of ICATER was awarded
with a special grant which provide for new and more
sophisticated equipment for the center. New computers are equipped
with the latest versions of AT programs such as: Zoom Text,
Jaws for Windows, Open Book, Dragon Naturally Speaking, and
many other applications.
 In
her recent visit to the University of Iowa, Mrs. Vilsack was
shown the new equipment and had the opportunity to try
it. (Picture courtesy of Doug Allire, COE ITC)
To read the entire history of Mrs. Vilsack's visit to UI
visit the
Education First newsletter Here.
Also
ICATER is proud to announce their new web site. In this new
site you will find information regarding ICATER services, as
well as information for students, teachers, counseling
professionals, and families. A new feature of this web site is
the inclusion of an AT
Glossary in which you
will find useful definitions, concepts, and their source for
further reference. Visit ICATER at: http://projects.education.uiowa.edu/icater/index.html
The
Rehab Review wants to extend our best wishes and congratulate
David for being the recipient of the Counselor &
Disability Awareness Award.
WELCOME
PICNIC FOR NEW DOCTORAL AND MASTERS STUDENTS IN
REHABILITATION
 As
has become a tradition in our program Rehabilitation faculty and more senior students got together
at Mc Bride Lake to welcome new doctoral and master's students
to the Rehabilitation programs. This cookout allows our new
students to informally share good times and great food before things
get more serious. We wish well for all of our senior and new
students in their semester. Go Hawks!
BIG
III CONSORTIUM UPDATE 
 During
the month of September the rehabilitation education faculty and
doctoral students from Pennsylvania State University,
Michigan State University, and The University of Iowa held
their 6th annual conference designed to enhance professional
development, further professional networking, and to develop
cross-institutional research partnerships. Since its beginning
The Big Three Consortium has achieved many goals and
provided its members with great memories and professional
satisfaction.
This year's meeting will have a special meaning for our Iowa
folks. Well after a quick 14 hours
trip around Michigan the "Hawkeye fans" arrived to the
Kellogg's Biological Station for their 2 days retreat.
This year's program covered many
important topics
for
the
development of these future Rehab. Educators. Some of the
topics discussed were: the access of database information for
rehabilitation res earch,
the role and function of Rehabilitation Counselors, writing
rehabilitation research,
and CORE & CACREP accreditation standards. The group
decided in explore on a new research project directed to the
management of information
in rehabilitation education. We want to acknowledge our
speakers for their commitment and dedication with this group
of students. We hope to see you all next year.
Also,
we are proud to announce the beginning of the Big 3 web page.
This site will provide information regarding Big 3
presentations, conferences, and educational material related
to Rehabilitation Counseling, Education, and Research. Visit
us at: http://www.ed.psu.edu/cned/Big3/
A quick
note: The University of Iowa doctoral students and faculty, members of the Big III
Consortium wanted to have a short note for one of our mentors
in this journey.
WRITING
RESOURCES
 Meet
the new CRSD Writing Consultant, Sarah Prineas. Sarah
has a PhD in English with a minor in Rhetoric, Composition,
and the Teaching of English from the University of Arizona;
she has years of experience in composition instruction and
curriculum design, and she has written and edited a writing
textbook for first-year students. She is new to Iowa
City, having moved here last year with two small children and
her husband, who is a faculty member in the department of
Physics and Astronomy. She also has an appointment as an
adjunct professor of English and teaches an honors seminar on
fantasy and science fiction literature.
If you have a paper or assignment to complete, remember that
writing is a process. The Writing Consultant can help
you with every part of that process: interpreting assignments,
brainstorming ideas, organizing sources, creating outlines,
drafting, revising, and polishing. She can also help you
deal with the conventions demanded by the APA style format.
You may schedule half-hour appointments with the Writing
Consultant as you engage in the process of writing a paper; a
sign-up sheet is posted outside her office in LC N372.
If
you have questions or wish to schedule an appointment, email
Sarah-Prineas@uiowa.edu
Another
resource is the Writing Center web page at http://www.uiowa.edu/~writing
. Both students
and faculty members are encouraged to turn to the Writing
Consultant for assistance with papers, assignments, grants,
syllabi, dissertations, and so on.
ADVISORY
BOARD UPDATE
The
RCE Program Advisory Board is actively involved in such
activities as advising on curriculum, assisting in faculty
recruitment, and strategic planning. The members of this board
are prominent rehabilitation professionals, and RCE Program
faculty and students assist us in maintaining high standards
that allow us to produce quality rehabilitation professionals. Click
here to see the Advisory Board roster.
This semester the meeting took
place during the month of October under almost perfect
attendance. The officers of this years Board are: Eda
Holt, Chair; Julie Svec, Chair-Elect; Lowell Brandt,
Secretary. The Board welcomed new members Julie Fidler-Dixon,
(On with life, Ankeny, IA), Arlyn E. Weineth, (VA, Veterans
Benefit Administration), Michelle McWorther (MA students),
Larry Quigley, (MA student) Ana Harpster and Yarette Perez-Babin
(First year doctoral students). During this meeting some of the topics
discussed were the role of the Advisory Board in the process
of recruitment for a new rehabilitation faculty position.
Also, the Board members took a stand to assist in the fund
raising for our Rehabilitation programs. It has to be noted
that the Advisory Board also assisted in the promotion of the
Legal Issues Workshop. We want to thank our staff and Board
members for their collaboration, commitment, and support.
FEATURED
STUDENT
 This
section is devoted to recognizing the hard work and achievements
of our students. On this occasion we want to recognize someone
who has come a long way and achieved many important and wonderful
goals. Our featured student is Donna Runge.
She
lives in Rock Island, Illinois and has worked for the Iowa
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services for the past
four years. Currently
she one of six Ticket to Work counselors in the State of Iowa
and is
located in the Davenport Area Office.
As a Ticket Counselor, Donna is also a consultant to
the DVRS office in Dubuque, Iowa. Before working at DVRS, Donna spent 14 years in the field of
employment and job training and 8 years as both a full-time
teacher and a substitute teacher.
She earned her B.A. degree in 1974 from Augustana
College in Rock Island, Illinois with a major in the Social
Sciences of Psychology, History, and Government.
In 1980 she received her teaching credentials from the
former Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa.
Donna commented: “I started the graduate program in
rehabilitation counseling in June of 2000 and chose Law and
Disability as my specialty area.
It has been a joy to work with persons with
disabilities for the last four years.
I went into the field because I wanted to give both
hope and encouragement to persons who many times have none.
I have always felt that each individual is given a gift
or a talent. It
is so exciting to help someone with a disability meet his or
her challenge head on and turn it into a gift.
I can tell you that many times my clients give me more
than I could ever give them.
Attending graduated classes in the rehabilitation
counseling area has helped me better serve my clients through
a greater understanding of their disabilities and the
obstacles they face as well as ways to enhance their abilities
rather than focusing on their limitations.
I am truly rewarded when one of my clients is able to
take ownership of their employment plan and finds that they
too can be successful. The
joys of my life are my daughters and their families –
especially my two grandchildren”.
Donna had give presentation at state and national conferences
such as ACA and IRA in which she had shared her experiences
and expertise.
We are very proud of Donna and we hope that her hard work
stimulate other students in pursuing their personal and
professional goals.
UIRCA
NEWS By Susan
Michaelson (Former President)
 Stacia
Wissink was appointed president of the UIRCA. The
organization was restructured and has an officer's committee.
Stacia has many great ideas, a lot of enthusiasm, and the
dedication to making the organization visible on campus and in
the community as well. Some of the new projects of UIRCA
include the update of the organization's website and the
involvement in some community projects. Rehabilitation
students are welcome to be active in UIRCA meeting. The next
one will be on December 9 in Jones Commons. For more
information please contact Stacia at: stacia-wissink@uiowa.edu.
RECENT
ACHIEVEMENTS OF REHABILITATION STUDENTS AND FACULTY
MEMBERS
The purpose of
this section is to acknowledge the hard work of our students
and faculty members regarding their research, publications,
and presentations. Before we mention them let's give them all
a big
First
we want to congratulate Nicole Pizzini, Phillip Lewis, and
James Bethea in their successful comps defense. We are very
proud of you all.
PUBLICATIONS
*
Klein, D., Myhill, W., Hansen, L., Asby, G., Michaelson, S.
D., & Blanck P. (2003). Electronic doors to education:
Study of high school website accessibility in Iowa. Behavioral
Sciences & the Law.
*
John Wadsworth, PhD
and doctoral students Quincy Smiling and Phillip
Lewis have published their article "Responding to
Sudden Cardiac Failure: Ethical and Legal Issues for Rehabilitation
Counselors" in the volume 33 of the Journal of
Applied Rehabilitation Counseling.
*
John Wadsworth, PhD, Tom Upton, PhD
(former UI
student), and Angela Halfman (former CRSD writing
consultant) were accepted to publish their article "
Strategies to Improve the Writing of Graduate Students".
This article will be available on the next issue of the
Rehabilitation Education Journal.
*
Harold B. Engen, PhD and Robert D. Dawson, PhD published
an article entitled "Counseling Simulations: An
Interactive CD-Rom Approach". The article may be found in
the recent edition of the Journal of Technology in Human
Services.
* Cocco,
K.M. and Harper, D.C. (2002). Substance use
in people with mental retardation: A missing link in
understanding community outcomes. Rehabilitation
Counseling Bulletin, 46, 34-41.
*
Cocco, K.M. and Harper, D.C. (2002) Substance
use in individuals with mental retardation: Assessing
potential problem areas. Mental Health Aspects of
Developmental Disabilities, 5(4), pp. 00-06.
*
Wadsworth, J. & Cocco, K. (2002).
Career development and adults with moderate to severe mental
retardation. Careers Across America 2002, pp.
113-116.
*
Cocco, K.M. (2002). The Decision to Report Concerns
Related to Substance Use and Abuse in the Schools: A
Test of the Availability Heuristic. Addictions 2002:
Integrating Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention in the
Community, pp. 2.11. Refereed abstract from the
Addictions 2002 Conference, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
PRESENTATIONS
This
following section will highlight those presentations made by
our students and those activities in which they will be
sharing their projects and research.
*
This Summer doctoral student Christine Malaski co-presented
a workshop in Toronto Canada. The workshop was entitled "Stigma
Busters: Improvisational Theatre to Inform and Educate" .
This workshop was directed towards families and persons with
MR related conditions.
*
Masters students Stacia Wissink and Donna Runge presented
their research project at the Iowa Rehabilitation
Association Conference (IRA). It has to be noted that
Stacia and Donna also presented their project at the ACA
conference this past March in New Orleans.
*
Quincy Smiling and Dr. Wadsworth (picture to the left)
and Noel Estrada-Hernández (picture to
the right)  also
presented their research projects at the IRA conference held
on September 2002. Quincy and Dr. Wadsworth presentation was
entitled "Rehabilitation Counselors Reactions to Medical
emergency: The Effects of Stigma ". Noel's presentation "Vocational
Interests of Students  with
Visual Impairments in Puerto Rico" looked at the
vocational exploration process and vocational interests of
students who have visual limitations.
Third
year doctoral student Nicole Pizzini presented at
THE
GAINS CENTER 2002 National Conference in San Francisco
on Oct. 30.
 She
presented on a panel to discuss "Innovative Initiatives Within
the Iowa Department of Corrections". Her discussion focused on the
development of a psychoeducational group on co-occurring
substance related disorders and mental health disorders for
female offenders, a psychoeducational group on cultural
diversity for at risk groups, and a psychoeducational group on
eating issues/healthy lifestyles for female offenders.
It
has to be noted that Nicole provides substance related disorder trainings for
new Crisis Center Volunteers and worked with the 6th
Judicial District and external evaluators in the
evaluation of the Offender Workforce Development Specialist
Training.
* Dr. David Dawson and doctoral student Noel
Estrada-Hernandez were accepted to present their wok in
Assistive Technology at the NCRE conference this coming
February (2003) in Tucson, Arizona.
PROFESSIONAL
NEWS. By Vilia M. Tarvydas, PhD, CRC, LMHC
 What’s
New in Licensure?
Several
new developments in licensing may affect you or someone you
know. Here are
the basics – for more information contact the Iowa Board of
Behavioral Science Examiners or review its web site.
*** Iowa Mental Health
Counselor Licensure
Ö
The
Licensure board has recommended that the upgrade to LMHC-only
supervision for mental health counseling supervised
experience hours be postponed
until at least 1/06 due to problems in access to LMHCs on
a statewide basis. This change is currently proceeding through the rule-making
processes required by the state.
If this rule is passed, the situation would be
re-assessed at that time.
Some rural counties have virtually no access to LMHC
supervisors, and the state needs to enable a steady supply of
properly prepared LMHCs to serve the state’s residents.
This rule would mean that Supervision may be provided
by professionals who have essentially the same education
experience and training as that necessary for the LMHC
credential. This
generally means that the person holds a graduate-level degree
and/or is licensed in a mental health profession such as
psychology, psychiatry or social work.
These alternate supervisors are approved by the Board
on a case-by-case basis after proper documentation is
submitted. We
will inform you regarding the final outcome of this
recommendation, or you may monitor the Board’s web site.
Ö
The
CRCC examination is now
accepted as
an
alternative examination to meet the Iowa LMHC examination
requirement in addition to the NCE and the NMHCE of NBCC.
Information on how to submit CRC scores will be added
to official Board publications soon.
Ö
To
keep informed of licensure requirements, the Board’s Web
Page can be found at: www.idph.state.ia.us/idph_pl/behavioral_science_index.html
.
Ö
Contrary
to popular misinformation,
LMHCs in the State of Iowa
are
permitted
to both diagnose and
treat mental illnesses (ethically, within their
personal scopes of competent practice). This impression may have been created by erroneous
information on the American Counseling Association’s web
site. This oversight has been brought to their attention and was
corrected recently.
Ö
Licensed
Mental Health Counselors are considered mandatory
reporters for child or dependent abuse and are impacted by
a new continuing education requirement. As of May 1, 2002 the Iowa Department of Public Health (DPH)
must approve the training curricula for selected mandatory
reporter training programs, and LMHCs must complete a DPH-approved
training course in mandatory reporting of abuse.
Please note that this differs from DHS approved
courses. Completion
of approved training is good for a 5 year time span.
However, licenses must be renewed every 2 years and
therefore sometime within 5 years the renewee must document
completion of the required training.
Complete information about the process and a complete
listing of the approved training courses is available at the
Abuse Education website: www.idph.state.ia.us/dir_off/AbuseEducation/default.htm
, or by contacting Mary Anderson at (515) 242-6333.
Ö
A license
is mandatory to practice as a mental health counselor in
the State of Iowa. Mental
health counseling is defined in Chapter 154D of the Iowa Code
as “the provision of counseling services involving
assessment, referral, consultation, and the application of
counseling, human development principles, learning theory,
group dynamics, and the etiology of maladjustment and
dysfunctional behavior to individuals, families, and
groups.” Chapter
154D does not prevent qualified members of other professions
from providing services of a mental health counseling nature
consistent with the accepted standards of their respective
professions, but these persons shall not use a title or
description denoting that they are licensed mental health
counselors. Chapter
154D.4 of the Iowa Code does exempt from licensure students
whose activities are conducted within a course of professional
education in mental health counseling and a person who
practices mental health counseling under supervision as part
of a clinical experience. If you are not a student but think you may be practicing in
an exempt setting, it is your responsibility to verify this
determination by reviewing Chapter 154D.4 of the Iowa Code, or
contact the licensure board to verify this judgment.
We really urge
students to take a look at the IMCHA web site. The URL is
www.imcha.net
CRSD
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