ORS 675.715: Application; fee; qualifications; examinations; licensing; rules.

(1) In order to obtain a license as a professional counselor or a marriage and family therapist, an applicant shall make application on a form and in such a manner as the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists prescribes, accompanied by the nonrefundable fee established pursuant to ORS 675.785. The board shall issue a license as a professional counselor or a marriage and family therapist to each applicant who furnishes satisfactory evidence to the board that the applicant meets the following qualifications: (a) Is not in violation of any of the provisions of ORS 675.715 to 675.835 and the rules adopted by the board. (b) Has received: (A) A graduate degree in counseling in a program approved by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs of the American Counseling Association that includes training in the diagnosis of mental disorders; (B) A graduate degree in marriage and family therapy in a program approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy that includes training in the diagnosis of mental disorders; (C) A graduate degree, under standards explicitly adopted by the board by rule that is determined by the board to be comparable in both content and quality to a degree approved under subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph and that includes training in the diagnosis of mental disorders; or (D) A graduate degree, determined by the board to meet at an acceptable level at least a majority of the board’s adopted degree standards and that includes training in the diagnosis of mental disorders, and has completed additional graduate training obtained in a counselor or marriage and family therapy program at an accredited college or university to meet the remainder of the standards. (c) At the time of application to become a licensed professional counselor or a licensed marriage and family therapist, has a minimum of three years of full-time supervised clinical experience or the equivalent, in accordance with rules adopted by the board. (d) Demonstrates competence as a professional counselor or marriage and family therapist by passing an examination prescribed by the board as follows: (A) The examination for the professional counselor license must include, but need not be limited to, counseling theory, human growth and development, social and cultural foundations, the helping relationship, group dynamics, lifestyle and career development, appraisal of individuals, research and evaluation, professional orientation, ethics and Oregon law. (B) The examination for the marriage and family therapist license must include, but need not be limited to, marriage and family therapy theory, systems theory, appraisal of family relationships, normal individual and family development, research and evaluation, professional conduct, ethics and Oregon law. (2) An application that remains incomplete for one year from the date of the initial submission to the board is considered to have been withdrawn by the applicant. Incomplete applications include, but are not limited to, applications lacking documentation, signatures or the payment of fees required by the board. [1989 c.721 §2; 1993 c.51 §1; 1993 c.546 §109; 1997 c.249 §206; 2001 c.120 §2; 2009 c.549 §14; 2013 c.211 §2]