Georgia House passes bill to speed up licensing of marriage and family therapists

The Georgia House unanimously passed a bill Thursday that would enable some therapists to get licensed more quickly.

Senate Bill 373, sponsored in the House by Republican Rep. Alan Powell of Hartwell, would allow marriage and family therapists coming to Georgia from other states to get licensed here without taking more courses so long as they hold a valid license in another state, are in good standing, satisfy a criminal background check, complete an application and pay required fees. If all of those requirements are met, the license should be issued within 30 days.

It also would remove a requirement that those counselors hold doctoral degrees.

“It has been long since thought that these professionals counselors didn’t need to be a psychiatrist or a sociologist of a doctoral standing to be a normal counselor, professional counselor or associate professional counselor,” Powell said.

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