The title "psychologist" is legally regulated in all 50 states. Having a degree in clinical psychology, even if true, is not a guarantee of licensure. When someone claims ignorance of the law, usurps the title, it causes trouble for them and for those with legitimate credentials to overcome obstacles. Everyone with any credentials of any kind has an ethical duty to correct any misstatement of his/her credentials upon first hearing it. Those who passively sit by and let others "assume" they know the issue (as in lawyers and judges)risk sanctions and jail time as is illustrated in the article below.
Cathleen A. Mann, PhD
________________________________________________________________________
Witness in custody case charged with lying about credentials
Ben Finley, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: Saturday, February 7, 2015, 1:08 AM
[media.philly.com]

Going by her resumé, Sue Cornbluth knows child abuse.
She has a doctorate in psychology and claims to be a "nationally recognized
mental health expert." She teaches at Temple University and has appeared on
television to discuss traumas such as the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
But Cornbluth lacks a state license. And now she is accused of perjury for
allegedly lying about it.
The felony charge, filed last week in Bucks County, states that Cornbluth claimed to have a license when she served as an expert witness in a 2013 custody battle.
Hired by the grandparents of a 5-year-old girl, Cornbluth testified that the girl's father had likely molested the girl - an assertion investigators and the judge dismissed.
Expert witnesses are often picked apart in court for their lack of bona fides, but criminal charges for lying about them are rare, said Matt Weintraub, Bucks
County's chief of prosecutions.
"If somebody just puffed up their qualifications, we wouldn't prosecute them," he said.
But Cornbluth lied about having a license, Weintraub said, "and she was willing
to do so at the expense of an innocent party."
Cornbluth, 41, of Ambler, is fighting the charge, which carries a possible prison term.
"Is there some confusion? Yes," her attorney Laurence Narcisi said. "But she has a doctorate in clinical psychology. We firmly believe she is not guilty, and it will be proven at trial."
Her testimony in the 2013 custody case has already led to an admonishment
against Cornbluth from Pennsylvania's Department of State. In December, it
fined her $6,000 and ordered her to stop saying she is a psychologist and
practicing as one in the commonwealth.

Under state guidelines, a licensed psychologist must have a psychology
doctorate and two years of supervised experience, and pass an exam
administered by the state board. Every other year, the professional must renew
his or her license and take continuing education courses.
Cornbluth's work as an expert witness was criticized by the judge who oversaw
the custody case, Diane Gibbons, a former Bucks County district attorney.
"The procedures she utilized in conducting her evaluation raised serious
questions as to the reliability of the information she obtained," Gibbons wrote in a ruling that returned the girl to her parents' custody.
Gibbons noted that Cornbluth lacked training in interviewing children suspected
of abuse. She also pointed out that when Cornbluth suspected abuse, she failed
to notify the proper authorities until a detective told her to.
In a brief interview this week, Cornbluth declined to speak at length about the
case. She said she had spent most of her time in recent years teaching at
Temple, not practicing psychology. She also wrote a book last year on self esteem in adopted children.
Since earning her doctorate from Chestnut Hill College, she has taught two
psychology classes as an adjunct professor at Temple's Ambler campus. A
university spokesman said Temple was reviewing the allegations.
Cornbluth said the custody case was the first time she had testified in court since the 1990s, when she worked for a Philadelphia nonprofit that serves foster children.
"I chose to do it this time because I wanted to protect the child, who I believed was getting hurt," she said.
She added: "Anybody who knows me in this town knows who I am and respects
me. It's a very complicated case, and there are factors you're unaware of."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2015 01:40AM by C.A. Mann, PhD.

So are you saying that if someone is a "Life Coach" or an "Executive Coach" with a certificate from the internet, that they cannot claim to be a licensed clinical therapist?

Or a marriage and family counselor?

I'm not sure what you mean by "certificate," but it does not sound like a license to me. Only licensed professionals are allowed to call themselves licensed anything. Anything other than a true, state-issued, license is fraud. My experience with life coaches is that they sometimes inflate their credentials, or they claim to be "retired" from counseling or some other mental health profession. There is no "retired" provision for licenses. Either you have a current license or you don't. Also, there are no states in which obtaining the necessary full education to become licensed is allowed to be conducted on line or via the internet. You can get a degree this way, but one of the fundamental aspects of licensing in the mental health disciplines is face-to- face supervision both before the degree and afterward.

If someone is telling you that they received a certificate on the internet, I would ask to see it. Additionally, all licensed mental health professionals are required by law to disclose their credentials to you in writing. They are required by law to disclose the duration of counseling (if known), the methods used in counseling, and, in most states, information as to whether they have been the subject of a legal, ethical, or licensing Board action in which their license has been suspended, given up voluntarily, or dismissed. Failure to disclose is, in itself, an ethical violation. Ignorance of the law by the practitioner is not a defense. Unfortunately, I run into this kind of problem a lot more than I'd like to.

However, many states allow persons to perform counseling without a license at all. But, they are not allowed to advertise or put themselves out as a licensed counselor, or a psychologist, etc. unless they are. One of the unfortunate things about working with unlicensed people is that there is nothing to take from them if they harm clients. The only recourse the state has is to order them to cease and desist. The only exception would be if the unlicensed practitioner commits a crime such as fraud, physical injury, assault, sexual contact or other felonies. This are actionable by the prosecutor's office, not the state licensing authority.

Many people lie about their credentials. You should always ask to see anything they claim to have, and if they're telling you they're licensed and they're not, you should look up the licensing board in your state where you can file a grievance online.

Cathleen A. Mann, PhD

Also, the term "therapist" or "marriage and family counselor" have no legal meaning. Anyone can call themselves a therapist. That is one reason I despise the word, and never use it, because it is designed to fool people into thinking someone is more qualified than they are.

Coaching is a "discipline" in which there is poor regulation. These individuals often try to pass themselves off as bona fide professionals, but anyone can call themselves a "life coach." Buyer beware. Often life coaches, etc. contact me about making referrals to them or "working" with them. My answer is always "no."

Cathleen A. Mann, PhD

Thank you Cathleen.

I'm really glad I came across your post. I was actually contemplating about signing up for a life-coaching course on line, but was not sure about it. I wasn't very clear, first of all, about the line between a life coach and a professional counselor. Also, the person offering the course at one of the most popular online schools did not seem very professional either, so I decided to do more research about life coaching in general, what it really means. I didn't think I'd come across anything about it in this forum though. Thanks.

Thank you I found that very helpful too. My cousin just paid a bunch of money to be come a certified life-coach. She sent an invitation to our entire family on facebook, it was seminar about "Letting love and happiness flow through you."

I'm an open minded person and didn't want to discourage my cousin if it made her happy. I went and looked through the website and videos but it just seemed like a bunch of stuff that someone made up and turned into a course. Anyways, the founder makes her money by charging people if they want to become coaches as well. My cousin signed up to be a teacher and now her job is to try and sign up others to become teachers etc... Kind of like a pyramid thing, so it doesn't seem too legit to me.

Thank you Cathleen for adding clarity to a very important question for me: "who should I trust if I need?"