SECTION 86:10-9-2. Knowledge area required

(a)   Each applicant shall possess as a part of the required sixty (60) semester credit hours or ninety (90) quarter credit hours of graduate curriculum, one (1) or more courses of at least three (3) semester credit hours or four (4) quarter credit hours per course in each of the following core counseling areas:

(1)   Human growth and development - at least one (1) course which deals with the process stages of human intellectual, physical, social and emotional development of any of the stages of life from prenatal through old age.

(2)   Abnormal human behavior - at least one (1) course which offers a study of the principles of understanding dysfunction in human behavior or social disorganization.

(3)   Appraisal/assessment techniques - at least two (2) courses which deal with the principles, concepts and procedures of systematic appraisal, assessment, or interpretation of client needs, abilities, and characteristics, which may include the use of both testing and non-testing approaches.

(4)   Counseling theories/methods - at least two (2) courses which survey the major theories and/or techniques of counseling.

(5)   Professional orientation/ethics - at least one (1) course which deals primarily with the objectives of professional counseling organizations, codes of ethics, legal aspects of practice, standards of preparation and the role of persons providing direct counseling services.

(6)   Research - at least one (1) course in the methods of social science or mental health research which includes the study of statistics or a thesis project in an area relevant to the practice of counseling.

(7)   Practicum/internship - at least one (1) course of an organized practicum with at least three hundred (300) clock hours in counseling with planned experiences providing classroom and field experience with clients under the supervision of college or university approved counseling professionals.

(8)   Knowledge areas - at least five (5) courses of at least three (3) semester credit hours or four (4) quarter credit hours each from the knowledge areas listed below.

(A)   Group counseling - course that provides both theoretical and experiential understandings of group purpose, development, dynamics, theories, methods, skills, and other group approaches in a culturally diverse society, including issues of group counseling leadership, stages, skills, methods, and ethics issues.

(B)   Life style and career development - course that provides an understanding of career development and related life factors, as well as an overview of career development theories, program planning, educational planning, assessment techniques, and applied career counseling processes, including those applicable to specific populations in a global economy.

(C)   Social and cultural foundations - course that provides an understanding of the cultural context of relationships, issues, and trends in a culturally diverse society, including an overview of social and cultural theories, strategies, and roles to be applied by the pluralistic counselor to establish an environment for optimal client wellness and successful counseling outcomes.

(D)   Personality theories - course that examines contemporary and alternative personality theories that provide the student with models to conceptualize client presentation and that help the student select appropriate counseling interventions, including an examination of models of counseling that are consistent with current professional research and practice in the field of counseling.

(E)   Crisis intervention - course that provides an overview of crisis and disaster intervention strategies for the professional counselor that addresses areas including, but not limited to, crises of suicide, homicide, disability due to a mental illness, domestic violence, school violence, post-traumatic stress disorder, and vicarious trauma.

(F)   Marriage/family counseling - course that provides an overview of the knowledge, skills, and practices necessary to address a wide variety of issues in the context of relationships and families, including historical, theoretical, and developmental issues in systems counseling, in addition to examining the basic skills of marriage, couple, and family counseling.

(G)   Addictions counseling - course that provides an overview of assessment and treatment methods available for clients and their family members struggling with substance-related disorders or behavioral/process addiction issues.

(H)   Rehabilitation counseling - course that provides an overview of the history, philosophy, and legal basis of rehabilitation programs, the roles of the rehabilitation counselor, and the process of rehabilitation, including the organizational structure of public and private rehabilitation systems, societal trends in rehabilitation, and professional issues related to the role of the rehabilitation counselor.

(I)   Gerontology - course that provides a conceptual system for understanding the phenomenon of aging and the counselor's role in working with an aging client population, including practical counseling skills necessary for meeting the demands of coping with aging in a culturally diverse society.

(J)   Human sexuality - course that focuses on sexual development and educational issues as applied to the field of professional counseling with emphases placed upon becoming comfortable with one's own sexuality, assisting parents with providing sexual education to their children, providing education with regard to sexual matters, and diagnosing and treating sexual dysfunction.

(K)   Counseling with children/adolescents - course that provides instruction in the theories and techniques used in counseling children and adolescents, including instruction on the conceptualization of childhood and adolescent problems with an emphasis on age- and developmentally-appropriate interventions.

(L)   Clinical supervision - course that serves as a didactic and experiential learning experience for counselors who wish to assume the role of clinical supervisor, including the assimilation and application of major theoretical/conceptual models and approaches to clinical supervision in a variety of settings.

(M)   Psychopharmacology - course that provides an overview of commonly prescribed psychotropic medications for psychiatric disorders to assist the counselor in understanding his or her role in working with medical professionals in the concurrent treatment of mental health issues using an interdisciplinary approach.

(N)   Consultation - course that provides the knowledge and skills necessary for the delivery of counselor consultation, including basic models of consultation, the content and procedural process for implementing consultation, and characteristics of an effective consultant-consultee relationship.

(O)   Physical and Emotional Health - course that deals with the overlap of physiological and psychological health models, examining the neural and hormonal bases of learning, memory, motivation, emotions, mental disorders, and other behaviors.

(P)   Grief counseling - course that addresses the mental health, social, and cultural manifestations of grief counseling, including, interventions and the coverage of characteristics of grief throughout the life cycle.

(Q)   Specialty areas when established.

(b)   Remaining courses. The remaining courses needed to meet the sixty (60) semester or ninety (90) quarter graduate-hour requirement shall be in any of the knowledge areas listed in 86:10-9-2(a) and may be in increments of one (1), two (2) or three (3) graduate semester hour courses or one (1), two (2), three (3) or four (4) graduate quarter hour courses.

[Source: Added at 32 Ok Reg 139, eff 4-23-14 (emergency); Added at 32 Ok Reg 1547, eff 9-11-15]