65-5802. Definitions. As used in the professional counselors licensure act:

(a) "Board" means the behavioral sciences regulatory board created by K.S.A. 74-7501 and amendments thereto.

(b) "Practice of professional counseling" means assisting an individual or group for a fee, monetary or otherwise, through counseling, assessment, consultation and referral and includes the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders as authorized under the professional counselors licensure act.

(c) "Professional counseling" means to assist an individual or group to develop understanding of personal strengths and weaknesses, to restructure concepts and feelings, to define goals and to plan actions as these are related to personal, social, educational and career development and adjustment.

(d) "Assessment" means selecting, administering, scoring and interpreting instruments designed to describe an individual's aptitudes, abilities, achievements, interests and personal characteristics.

(e) "Consultation" means the application of principles, methods and techniques of the practice of counseling to assist in solving current or potential problems of individuals or groups in relation to a third party.

(f) "Referral" means the evaluation of information to identify problems and to determine the advisability of referral to other practitioners.

(g) "Licensed professional counselor" means a person who is licensed under this act and who engages in the practice of professional counseling except that on and after January 1, 2002, such person shall engage in the practice of professional counseling only under the direction of a licensed clinical professional counselor, a licensed psychologist, a person licensed to practice medicine and surgery or a person licensed to provide mental health services as an independent practitioner and whose licensure allows for the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

(h) "Licensed clinical professional counselor" means a person who engages in the independent practice of professional counseling including the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders specified in the edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders of the American psychiatric association designated by the board by rules and regulations and who is licensed under this act.

History: L. 1987, ch. 315, § 2; L. 1996, ch. 153, § 2; L. 1999, ch. 117, § 1; July 1, 2000.