Mental Health Professionals Technical Changes

The act adds mental health professional to the list of individuals and entities that are not held liable for dispensing an opiate antagonist in accordance with the law and updates the definition of "mental health professional" by clarifying that the term includes unlicensed psychotherapists.

In the legislative declaration of the mental health practice act, the act adds clinical social worker candidates and addiction counselor candidates to the list of mental health licensee candidates who are subject to disciplinary actions and injunctions by their respective regulatory boards.

For the purposes of the practices acts regulating mental health providers, the act updates the definition of "registrant" to include marriage and family therapist candidates and addiction counselor candidates. The act also adds unlicensed psychotherapists to the list of mental health professionals who cannot administer or prescribe drugs or practice medicine.

Current law prohibits a person who practices religious ministry from publicly claiming to be any of certain licensed, certified, or registered mental health professional unless the person possesses the proper credentials. The act adds certified addiction specialists and certified addiction technicians to the list of such mental health professionals.

Obsolete language is deleted from the social worker practice act, the marriage and family therapist practice act, the licensed professional counselor practice act, and the addiction counselor practice act concerning the initial appointment of members to their respective regulatory boards.

The act replaces the term "psychotherapists" with the term "mental health professionals" in the definition of "marriage and family therapy practice".

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)