Georgia Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage Therapists FAQ
FAQ Sections
Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
Please reference Board Policy # VIII on the site Policy Statements | Georgia Secretary of State
Board Rule 135-9-.01 provides specific continuing education requirements for licensees. Licensees selected for random renewal audits will be provided with instructions for submitting documentation of continuing education.
The Board does not approve individual continuing education providers. Please review Board Rule 135-9-.01 for information regarding approved continuing education providers.
Please allow the administrative staff up to 20 business days following a scheduled meeting before contacting the board about your application or for other board business. This time frame allows the staff to process the multitude of board actions and decisions.
Yes. The Board does offer inactive status (Board Rule 135-6-06) to licensees. A license may remain inactive for no more than 5 years. Requests for Inactive Status must be made to the Board in writing. Please download the Request for Inactive Status Form. A person who holds an inactive license may apply to reactivate their license by submitting an application to reactivate license, the required fee and documentation of required continuing education. Associate level licenses (APC/AMFT) are not eligible for Inactive status - Rule 135-6-.06(1).
All address changes must be reported to the Board within 30 days after the change (Board Rule 135-6-.02.) When making address changes please remember to update your email address. Changes may be submitted in GOALS. You may also update your address and e-mail online yourself in GOALS. See the option in the drop-down menu of the second tab titled "License Information".
Please submit your request by email to [email protected] ; by fax to 866-888-7127 or by mail to 237 Coliseum Drive, Macon, Georgia 31217. Please be sure to include your name, license number, your new name, and a copy of the legal documentation granting the name change (i.e. marriage license, divorce decree…).
- Log into your GOALS portal to print a copy of your pocket card.
- If you would like to order a pocket card you may submit your written request to 237 Coliseum Drive, Macon, Georgia 31217. Please include a check or money order payable to the Professional Licensing Boards in the amount of $25.00. Be sure to include your license number with your request.
O.C.G.A. 43-10A-11(c) for APC licensure and O.C.G.A. 43-10A-13(c) for AMFT licensure, and Board rules 135-5-.01(c)(2) APC and 135-5-.05(3)(b) AMFT provide for an associate level license to only be valid for a 5 year period. Associate level licenses that lapse for failure to renew may be reinstated one time only, and the remainder of the 5 years will be allowed to the licensee. Associate level licenses may not be placed in inactive status.
Associate level licenses currently must be renewed every 2 years on or before September 30th of every even numbered year. However, 5 years after the date of initial issuance of an APC or AMFT license is the final expiration date of the license. At that time, the administrative staff must manually expire the license, however, the license will still be administratively expired at the end of the 5 year period regardless of the online status and date.
Please visit the Counseling Board Rules page.
Please visit the Board's Policy Statements page.
TeleMental-Health Rule Guidelines and FAQs
The following are several questions identified by the Georgia Composite Board and are posted here for a general idea of how this new rule affects licensees. The rule was developed to address the growing use of services and supervision provided by non-traditional means and is only a guide for licensees to go by and for the Board to address complaint related issues with licensees. This new rule will obviously evolve and change over time, and the following FAQ's are general and not to be considered all-inclusive:
The rule was not meant to provide a hardship for clinicians, instead help provide a guideline for best practice. You should obtain the required hours as soon as possible to avoid possible disciplinary action against the license.
Scheduling or cancelling appointments would not be considered TeleMental Health counseling. However, providing clinical services via technology would be considered TeleMental Health counseling.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes. Also, be aware that you need to consider the requirements of the state in which the client resides.
The TeleMental Health counseling rule describes what should be included in the training. Generally, look for TeleMental Health video-based counseling, technology assisted counseling, distance counseling, or similar wording in the title of the training.
No.
Yes, if it is face-to-face. Remember that the 5 ethics hours required for licensure renewal needs to be completed in person and not online. You can take any amount of ethics hours training online, but you can't count those toward your licensure renewal.
Yes, but remember that only 10 out of your 35 CEU's for licensure renewal can be from online sources. You can always earn more, but you cannot count more than 10 online CEU's toward your license renewal.
No.
The board does not approve CEU training, the professional licensure organizations approve CEU training. Check your professional licensure organizations for CEU training offered on TeleMental Health.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
The requirements for LAPC supervision being face-to-face is currently under consideration of possible revision by the board. Please check back on the website for updates.
Yes, and the supervisor and supervisee should receive the CEU's training in TeleMental Health counseling
Counseling Compact FAQ
The Counseling Compact is an interstate compact, or a contract among states, allowing professional counselors licensed and residing in a compact member state to practice in other compact member states without need for multiple licenses.