Licensed professional counselor

Objective : To determine the level of awareness and utilization of the Professional Standards of Practice for Psychologists, Social Workers, and Counselors in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation, 4th Edition ( The Standards ) by members of professional organizations representing psychologists, social workers, and licensed professional counselors (PSWC) working in spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation. Participants : Respondents belonged to members of professional organizations representing PSWC working in SCI rehabilitation, which included ASCIP (76%), APA's Division 22 (37%), ASIA (23%), USA (14%), PVA (12%), AVAPL (11%) and CRCC (3%)...

INTRODUCTION: In 2006, nomenclature referencing atypical sex development (i.e., 'intersex') was updated, and the term disorder of sex development (DSD) was formally introduced. Clinicians, patients, and parents, however, have not universally accepted the new terminology, and some continue to use different nomenclature. This inconsistency in terminology can lead to confusion among clinicians and patients, affect clinician-patient relationships, and interfere with the recommended multidisciplinary model for DSD care...

Health care is increasingly data driven. Concurrently, there are concerns that health professionals lack the time and training to guide patients through the growing medical "data jungle." In the age of big data, ever wider domains of people's lives are "datafied," which renders ever more information-at least in principle-usable for health care purposes. Turning data into meaningful information for clinical practice-and deciding what data or information should not be used for this purpose-requires a significant amount of time, resources, and skill...

At least 2.3 million people in the U.S. have an opioid use disorder, less than 40% of whom receive evidence-based treatment. Buprenorphine used as part of medication-assisted treatment has high potential to address this gap because of its approval for use in non-specialty outpatient settings, effectiveness at promoting abstinence, and cost effectiveness. However, less than 4% of licensed physicians are approved to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, and approximately 47% of counties lack a buprenorphine-waivered physician...

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to describe and compare five helping professions' views and behaviors regarding the integration of clients' religion/spirituality (RS) in clinical practice. METHOD: A cross-sectional design was used to survey 3,500 licensed clinical psychologists, nurses, marriage and family therapists (LMFTs), clinical social workers, and professional counselors across Texas. A total of 550 responded to this online survey, which included the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Practice Assessment Scale and background questions...

Significant changes in national health policy, like the Veterans Choice Act, have created growing opportunities for veterans to receive care outside of the Veterans Administration (VA), yet little is known about the attitudes and practices in PTSD care of community providers, particularly their use of evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs). The authors assessed psychotherapy practices of community providers serving veterans with PTSD in Texas. They surveyed Texas mental health providers regarding their patient population, practice setting, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related screening, assessment, and treatment practices...

This study utilized a phenomenological theory to evaluate the perceptions held by licensed professional counselors regarding pastoral counseling conducted in African American communities in the southeastern United States. The study was designed to build a deeper understanding of how licensed professional counselors conceptualized the African American pastor's role. To evaluate those perceptions, the researcher analyzed data collected from face-to-face interviews. The findings from this qualitative data analysis study revealed that the licensed professional counselor's perceptions of pastoral counseling are jaded by several factors that divide the two professions: lack of training, poor communications, and misconception of the level of professionalism in the church...

The Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Affirmative Counseling Self-Efficacy Inventory - Short Form (LGB-CSI-SF) was developed to facilitate LGB-affirmative counseling training, as well as process and outcome research, by offering a brief psychometrically supported version of the original LGB-CSI measure to researchers and clinicians. Five hundred seventy-five participants (435 licensed mental health professionals and 140 graduate students/trainees) constituted the sample. Confirmatory factor analyses of the 32 items from the original LGB-CSI yielded a new 15-item version of the measure composed of 5 factors (consisting of 3 items each) that assess counselor self-efficacy to perform lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) affirmative counseling behaviors (Application of Knowledge, Advocacy Skills, Self-Awareness, Relationship, and Assessment)...

Many primary care practices are changing the roles played by the members of their health care teams. The purpose of this article is to describe some of these new roles, using the authors' preliminary observations from 25 site visits to high-performing primary care practices across the United States in 2012-2013. These sites visits, to practices using their workforce creatively, were part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded initiative, The Primary Care Team: Learning From Effective Ambulatory Practices...

Cell-free fetal DNA-based noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) could significantly change the paradigm of prenatal testing and screening. Intellectual property (IP) and commercialization promise to be important components of the emerging debate about clinical implementation of these technologies. We have assembled information about types of testing, prices, turnaround times, and reimbursement of recently launched commercial tests in the United States from the trade press, news articles, and scientific, legal, and business publications...

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to provide an ethical framework for clinicians and companies providing noninvasive prenatal testing using cell-free fetal DNA or whole fetal cells. METHOD: In collaboration with a National Institutes of Health-supported research ethics consultation committee together with feedback from an interdisciplinary group of clinicians, members of industry, legal experts, and genetic counselors, we developed a set of best practices for the provision of noninvasive prenatal genetic testing...

Sexual dysfunctions are serious mental health issues that affect an estimated 1 in 3 Americans, yet many people with sexual dysfunctions do not seek treatment. Health services research on variables related to access, barriers, costs, and outcomes of treatment may help improve the quality of care. The current research is a retrospective analysis of administrative data from CIGNA that explores whether the type of profession (i.e., psychologist, social worker, marriage and family therapist, or professional counselor) or therapy modality (i...

This rule is submitted as an interim final rule (IFR) in order to meet the Congressional requirement set forth in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, Section 724, which required the Department of Defense to prescribe regulations by June 20, 2011, to establish the criteria, as had previously been studied in accordance with Section 717 of the NDAA 2008, that would allow licensed or certified mental health counselors to be able to independently provide care to TRICARE beneficiaries and receive payment for those services...

OBJECTIVE: This study compiled national county-level data and examined the geographic distribution of providers in six mental health professions and the correlates of county-level provider supply. METHODS: Data for six groups--advanced practice psychiatric nurses, licensed professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers--were compiled from licensing counts from state boards, certification counts from national credentialing organizations, and membership counts from professional associations...

Florida's Mental Health Act was amended in 2005 and 2006 to include licensed mental health counselors and licensed marriage and family therapists, respectively, to the list of professionals authorized to initiate emergency commitments. The present study evaluates the volume of involuntary emergency commitments by type of initiator for a 5 year period. The results indicate that allowing licensed mental health counselors and licensed marriage and family therapist to initiate emergency commitments has not been related to increased numbers of emergency commitments or a higher proportion of emergency commitments being initiated by mental health professionals...

Staffing ratios for professional personnel functioning in an intensive physical rehabilitation program at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, representing experience with treatment of patients with severe physical disabilities on the one hand and budget pressures and procedures on the other, are as follows:Physician to patients..... 1:33Nursing service per patient per day (including registered nurse, licensed vocational nurse, attendant).....4 hoursPhysical therapy to patients..... 1:7Occupational therapy to patients...

Threats to the physical safety and psychological well-being of mental health professionals present serious problems, according to 1,131 licensed mental health professionals in the state of Georgia. The professionals included clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers. From a total of 6,431 surveys sent out, 1,131 (18%) were returned. The results revealed 2.696 separate accounts of 14,120 acts of physical or psychological assaults committed by 8,292 perpetrators...

Although traditional social model recovery programs appear to be decreasing, some aspects of social model recovery continue to exert a strong influence in broad-based, integrated programs. This article describes a four-week program that integrates licensed therapists, certified counselors, psychiatric consultation, and social model recovery principles into a broad-based treatment approach. The Social Model Philosophy Scale revealed a low overall rating on social model philosophy. However, social model principles that were heavily stressed included practicing 12-step recovery, the importance of getting a 12-step sponsor, staff-client interactions outside a formal office, employing staff who are in recovery, and emphasizing a goal of abstinence...

To assess the extent to which the results reported by Warner and Bradley (1991) can be generalized beyond the population of undergraduate psychology students, 132 adults in the metropolitan Harrisburg area were asked to evaluate the competency and traits of clinical psychologists, licensed professional counselors, and psychiatrists. Results indicated that the general public believed counselors to be more caring than psychologists and psychiatrists. All three professional groups were perceived to be comparable in their ability to treat the least severe disorders...

E-therapy is a term that has been coined to describe the process of interacting with a therapist online in ongoing conversations over time when the client and counselor are in separate or remote locations and utilize electronic means to communicate with each other. It is a relatively new modality of assisting individuals resolve life and relationship issues. E-therapy utilizes the power and convenience of the internet to allow simultaneous (synchronous) and time-delayed (asynchronous) communication between an individual and a professional...