Counselor Registration & Licensing

The Washington State Department of Health requires that all individuals in positions providing direct services to clients must have a Washington State license, certification or counselor registration. Confirmation of a current license, certification or registration will be required for employment with Community Psychiatric Clinic.

If you currently hold a Washington State Counselor Registration, you may continue to practice under your unexpired registration until July 1, 2010.  After that date, you will be required to have one of the new Mental Health or Chemical Dependency designations, depending on your position.

If you are not currently licensed, certified or registered in the State of Washington, you must, at minimum, become registered as an Agency-Affiliated Counselor in order to work in the mental health field. 

In order to apply for an Agency-Affiliated Counselor registration in Washington State, you must have an offer of employment from or be employed by an agency or facility identified in WAC 246-810-016 or recognized by the Secretary as an agency or facility that can employ agency affiliated counselors as identified in WAC 246-810-017.  Community Psychiatric Clinic fulfills these requirements.

The application process for a new counselor registration can take up to 6 weeks. In accordance with WAC 246-12-260, you must demonstrate completion of four hours of AIDS education prior to initially obtaining a health care credential, thus we encourage you to begin this process as soon as possible if you are interested in working in the field of mental health.

For more information, click here to leave the CPC web site and go to the Washington State Department of Health web site for more information about the counselor registration requirements. If you have any questions, please contact the Department of Health at 360-236-4700.