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New York · Through 2026-09-11

N.Y. Education Law § 8401-a: Diagnostic privilege

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Where this section sits in the code
  1. Education Law
  2. Title 8. The Professions
  3. Article 163. Mental Health Practitioners

§ 8401-a. Diagnostic privilege. 1. For issuance of a privilege to

diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans, as defined in

section eighty-four hundred one of this article, the applicant shall

fulfill the following requirements:

(a) Application: File an application with the department;

(b) License: Be licensed and registered as a mental health counselor,

marriage and family therapist, or a psychoanalyst in the state;

(c) Education: Verify the completion of a sixty semester hour master's

degree or higher, or the clock hour equivalent program of study in a

psychoanalytic institute, that includes completion of a core curriculum

which includes at least twelve semester hours or clock hour equivalent

of clinical courses that prepares the applicant to diagnose and develop

assessment-based treatment plans acceptable to the department. A person

who has received a master's or higher degree during which they did not

complete the required hours, may satisfy such requirement by completing

the equivalent post-graduate courses in accordance with the

commissioner's regulations;

(d) Experience: (i) Have completed at least two thousand hours of

supervised, direct client contact that shall include, but not be limited

to, diagnosis, psychotherapy and the development of assessment-based

treatment plans, as defined in section eighty-four hundred one of this

article, satisfactory to the department.

(ii) Subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall not apply to a mental

health counselor, marriage and family therapist, or psychoanalyst who

was licensed prior to June twenty-fourth, two thousand twenty-four, and

who provides attestation, on a form prescribed by the department, from a

supervisor in a facility setting or other supervised setting approved by

the department under supervision in accordance with the commissioner's

regulations, that such licensee has at least three years of experience

engaged in direct client contact that shall include diagnosis,

psychotherapy and the development of assessment-based treatment plans.

Such licensee shall submit an application to the department within three

years of the effective date of this section.

(e) Fee: Pay a fee of one hundred seventy-five dollars for issuance of

a privilege to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans.

2. A mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist or

psychoanalyst who engages in diagnosis and the development of

assessment-based treatment plans without a privilege may be charged with

professional misconduct under section sixty-five hundred nine of this

title.

3. A privilege issued under this section shall be valid for the life

of the holder, unless revoked, annulled, or suspended by the board of

regents. Such a privilege shall be subject to the same oversight and

disciplinary provisions as licenses issued under this title. The holder

of a privilege issued under this section shall register with the

department as a privilege holder in the same manner and subject to the

same provisions as required of a licensee pursuant to section sixty-five

hundred two of this title, provided that, at the time of each

registration, the privilege holder shall certify that he or she

continues to meet the requirements for the privilege set forth in this

section. The fee for such registration shall be one hundred seventy-five

dollars. The registration period for a privilege holder shall be

coterminous with his or her registration under this article.

Collected 2026-09-14T19:32:44Z. Source file · JSON

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