RMHCI: Don’t Even Think About It!
So, I’m bringing this topic up because it is sooo important for all of us to understand BEFORE we fall victim of being reprimanded! When we finally graduate there are sooo many things that are left “un-taught”. I personally suggest finding someone seasoned, multiple people even, to mentor you and guide you through all of the legalities. Being newbies, we are a target as it is and it would be detrimental to any of us for our novice mistakes to potentially jeopardize our temporary licensure, or even worse our FULL Licensure that we do not have yet!
Do NOT fall victim of this particular mistake! It is easy to do and I will admit, I almost did it myself! When finishing grad school, I turned to other intern’s websites, profiles, biographies etc. to see “how they were doing things”. So, many of our fellow interns are using this acronym RMHCI, to advertise themselves and I thought “hmm… if everyone is doing it then, it MUST be right, right?” WRONG! Way wrong!
Luckily, I found out quickly and stopped using this acronym immediately! I also thought, that LMHC is an acronym so, why can’t we use RMHCI, it must be ok? … NOPE still not the right answer. We MUST always spell out our title, as interns, “Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern”, on all advertisements and explanations of who we are and what we do. The average person does not understand the acronyms of our field, I mean really… we as professionals don’t fully either, we spend so much time trying to differentiate them all that, assuming the general public understands is a highly unlikely possibility. We should take on the challenge of explaining it to the public, with each opportunity they ask. Mental health is an old field in many ways but, in many ways to the public… it’s all very new.
Again, we are still learning and we can’t learn without making mistakes, along the way. However, always steer on the cautious side and when in doubt, email the FL Board for an answer. Below are two very informative articles on the very topic of using RMHCI included with the permission of the author Dr. Catherine L. Waltz.
Eye on Florida Laws and Rules
Professional Identity and Compliance © 2014
By Catherine L. Waltz, PhD, LCSW
Recently during a discussion in a LinkedIn group someone contributed the comments about what folks put behind their names on their cards, e-mail signatures, etc. I wonder about this all the time. Even in the FMHCA Discussion Group on LinkedIn people consistently use an acronym that is not allowable according to Florida law and our Rules. That is, RMHCI.
There is no such acronym allowed by the law and it continues to frustrate me that more seasoned professionals don’t point out those violations to help our new developing professionals to be compliant with the law from the beginning of their ‘internship’. As standard bearers for our profession we shouldn’t leave the modelling of professional behavior to Qualified Supervisors. By the way, many Qualified Supervisors also use the acronym online when referring to Registered Interns. Our rule 64B4-5.005 Minor Violations, Notice of Noncompliance refer to a standard that states “(j) Failure of a registered intern to use the words ‘registered intern” on all promotional materials, including card, brochures, stationery, advertisements and signs, naming the licensee as required by Section491.0149(2)(b) , F.S.” is a “minor violation”. Does the minor nature of the violation allow us and registered interns to ignore the rule? Yes? No?
How about an analogy? Okay, so if we just go a few MPH over the stated speed limit and “everybody else is doing it” are we breaking the law or not? We’re just as likely to get a speeding ticket if we are stopped by a cop. Should we wait until the Board takes action to discipline our Registered Interns before we redirect new clinicians and our licensed peers? I don’t think so. How about spreading the word and improving the profession-wide modelling of professional compliance by engaging your peers in a discussion about this and other violations for which Registered Interns are being disciplined.
| About Author: – Catherine L. Waltz, PhD, is an adjunct professor in the graduate program of the School of Social Work, Barry University. She is a continuing education provider in the state of Florida providing courses on professional ethics, laws and rules, supervision, mental health error prevention and a specialist in domestic violence including all of the courses we need as Registered Interns. See: http://drwaltz.corecommerce.com |
References:
FMHCA News Article
A Follow Up Article: Examples of People Being Reprimanded
Registered Intern’s Professional Identity and Compliance – A new twist! © MAY 13, 2014
Really! There is no legal acronym for registered interns use. I swear it is true.
Last month I wrote about the increasing use of an illegal acronym by registered interns which I had noticed in a group on LinkedIn. Within two days of that article being published in a variety of settings I received a call from a gentleman who was recently disciplined by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapists and Mental Health Counselors (hereafter, Board). He is required to retake the 8-hour Laws and Rules course and pay fines, attorney fees and more. What was his offense? He failed to appropriately identify himself on business cards as a “registered mental health counselor intern” rather he used that acronym I wrote about R.H.M.C.I. (aka RMHCI).
Okay, I wasn’t but I am gonna say it, “I told you so.” He is not the first nor last registered intern who is in the process or going to be disciplined for this violation. I will go on to say that the complaint included additional violations which I discuss at another time.
What distressed me most about this call was the defensiveness and blaming that the individual manifested while we were talking. In my 24 years of practice here in Florida more than 15 of those have involved providing continuing education to a number of Board disciplined individuals. Everyone has a story, an explanation, justification or something to say about how their situation was exaggerated, taken out of context or someone just took things too far. They rarely tell the whole situation (e.g., this fellow had two additional more serious counts in the Administrative Complaint to which he didn’t refer at all). This is so far from the values of integrity and honesty that are at the core of our clinical practices. I get it, it is difficult, painful even, to be honest with ourselves and take responsibility for our actions. But, if we expect our clients to do so with us why can’t we take the high road when our actions are determined to violate a law (or two or three)?
Another person emailed me a couple of days later to say that registered interns that she met at a networking event were distributing business cards without their proper designation spelled out. She said that when she corrected them “they looked at me like I was crazy, they were in denial and disbelief”. She further reported that one of them had “just had their cards made and was going to use them anyway!!!”
Last week at a qualified supervision course I was provided one of the participants reported seeing many registered interns listed on the Psychology Today website with the dreaded acronym proudly emblazoned on their profiles in a direct violation of the law. Okay, she didn’t say that last part. I was being dramatic. But, this next isn’t sarcasm: Colleagues, peers, and supervisors please keep correcting registered interns about this matter and if they won’t desist, report them to the Board…otherwise you will be in violation of the law, too.
(c) 2014 Dr. C. L. Waltz (contact Dr. Waltz for permission to use this material)
References:
Dr. Waltz Article
Search for other Violations and Disciplinary Actions against Registered Interns:
If you are interested in further research or if curiosity has you wondering about possible violations and what others have recently been reprimanded for here is how you would search:
- Department of Health (DOH): Search for Disciplinary Records
If anything, it might just be a good idea to read through a few of the most recent ones and make note of “what NOT to do”. Besides, we’ve worked too hard for too long to make any mistakes that will cost us our full licensure!
Jessica Richards is a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern for the State of Florida. As a graduate of NOVA Southeastern University, she holds a master's degree in Mental Health Counseling. She currently contracts with local community agencies to obtain hours for full LMHC licensure, while working on establishing her private practice, Peace of Mind Counseling. Both located in Orlando, Florida.
