Sec. 503.003. DEFINITION: PRACTICE OF PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING. (a) In this chapter, "practice of professional counseling" means the application of mental health, psychotherapeutic, and human development principles to:

(1) facilitate human development and adjustment throughout life;

(2) prevent, assess, evaluate, and treat mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders and associated distresses that interfere with mental health;

(3) conduct assessments and evaluations to establish treatment goals and objectives; and

(4) plan, implement, and evaluate treatment plans using counseling treatment interventions that include:

(A) counseling;

(B) assessment;

(C) consulting; and

(D) referral.

(b) In this section:

(1) "Assessment" means the selection, administration, scoring, and interpretation of an instrument designed to assess an individual's aptitudes, attitudes, abilities, achievements, interests, personal characteristics, disabilities, and mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, and the use of methods and techniques for understanding human behavior that may include the evaluation, assessment, and treatment by counseling methods, techniques, and procedures for mental and emotional disorders, alcoholism and substance abuse, and conduct disorders. The term does not include the use of standardized projective techniques or permit the diagnosis of a physical condition or disorder.

(2) "Consulting" means applying scientific principles and procedures in counseling and human development to assist in understanding and solving current or potential problems that the person seeking consultation may have with regard to another person, including an individual, group, or organization.

(3) "Counseling" means assisting a client through a therapeutic relationship, using a combination of mental health and human development principles, methods, and techniques, including the use of psychotherapy, to achieve the mental, emotional, physical, social, moral, educational, spiritual, or career-related development and adjustment of the client throughout the client's life.

(4) "Counseling treatment intervention" means the application of cognitive, affective, behavioral, psychodynamic, and systemic counseling strategies, including strategies for developmental, wellness, and psychological dysfunction that reflect a pluralistic society. The term does not permit or include the diagnosis or treatment of a physical condition or disorder. The term includes:

(A) an intervention specifically implemented in the context of a professional counseling relationship;

(B) individual, group, or family counseling or psychotherapy;

(C) the assessment, evaluation, and treatment of a person with a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder;

(D) guidance and consulting to facilitate normal growth and development, including educational and career development;

(E) the use of functional assessment and counseling for a person requesting assistance in adjustment to a disability or handicapping condition;

(F) research; and

(G) referrals.

(5) "Referral" means:

(A) evaluating and identifying the needs of a person being counseled to determine the advisability of referral to another specialist;

(B) informing the person of that judgment; and

(C) communicating to the person to whom the referral is made as requested by the person being counseled or as appropriate.

(c) The use of specific methods, techniques, or modalities within the practice of professional counseling is limited to professional counselors appropriately trained in the use of those methods, techniques, or modalities.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.