154D.4 Exemptions.

823 words·~4 min read·/ia/chapter-154d-behavioral-science/154d-4

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

1. This chapter and chapter 147 do not prevent qualified members of other professions, including but not limited to nurses, psychologists, social workers, physicians, physician assistants, attorneys at law, or members of the clergy, from providing or advertising that they provide services of a marital and family therapy or mental health counseling nature consistent with the accepted standards of their respective professions, but these persons shall not use a title or description denoting that they are licensed marital and family therapists or licensed mental health counselors.

2. The licensure requirements of this chapter and chapter 147 do not apply to the following:

a. Students whose activities are conducted within a course of professional education in marital and family therapy or mental health counseling.

b. A person who practices marital and family therapy or mental health counseling under the supervision of a person licensed under this chapter as part of a clinical experience as described in section 154D.2, subsection 1, paragraph “b”.

c. The provision of children, family, or mental health services through the department of health and human services or juvenile court, or agencies contracting with the department of health and human services or juvenile court, by persons who do not represent themselves to be either a marital and family therapist or a mental health counselor.

3. This chapter and chapter 147 do not prevent or restrict the practice of applied behavior analysis by any of the following:

a. Persons licensed to practice other professions under this subtitle, provided that applied behavior analysis is within the scope of practice of the person’s profession, the services provided are within the boundaries of the person’s education, training, and competence, and the person does not represent that the person is a licensed behavior analyst or licensed assistant behavior analyst unless also licensed as one.

b. Family members of recipients of applied behavior analysis services implementing applied behavior analysis treatment plans with the recipients under the extended authority and direction of a licensed behavior analyst or a licensed assistant behavior analyst. Such persons shall not represent themselves as behavior analysts or assistant behavior analysts.

c. Paraprofessional technicians who deliver applied behavior analysis services under the extended authority and direction of a licensed behavior analyst or licensed assistant behavior analyst. Such persons shall not represent themselves as behavior analysts or assistant behavior analysts and shall use titles that indicate their nonprofessional status, including but not limited to “assistant behavior analyst technician”, “behavior technician”, “tutor”, or “line therapist”.

d. Behavior analysts who practice with nonhumans, including but not limited to applied animal behaviorists and animal trainers. Such individuals may use the title “behavior analyst” but shall not represent themselves as licensed behavior analysts or licensed assistant behavior analysts unless they are licensed as such.

e. Professionals who provide general applied behavior analysis services to organizations, so long as those services are for the benefit of the organizations and do not involve direct services to individuals. Such professionals may use the title “behavior analyst” but shall not represent themselves as licensed behavior analysts or licensed assistant behavior analysts unless they are licensed as such.

f. Students whose applied behavior analysis activities are conducted within a defined program of study, course, practicum, internship, or postdoctoral fellowship, provided that the applied behavior analysis activities are directly supervised by a behavior analyst licensed in this state, an instructor in a course sequence approved by a certifying entity, or another qualified faculty member of the student’s program. Such students shall not present themselves as behavior analysts or assistant behavior analysts and shall use titles that clearly indicate their status, such as “student”, “intern”, or “trainee”.

g. Unlicensed persons pursuing supervised experience in applied behavior analysis consistent with the experience requirements of a certifying entity, provided such experience is supervised in accordance with the requirements of the certifying entity.

§154D.4, BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE 2

h. Individuals who teach applied behavior analysis or conduct behavior-analytic research, provided that such teaching or research does not involve the direct delivery of applied behavior analysis services. Such individuals may use the title “behavior analyst” but shall not represent themselves as licensed behavior analysts or licensed assistant behavior analysts unless they are licensed as such.

i. Behavior analysts licensed in another jurisdiction or certified by a certifying entity to practice independently and who work in this state no more than two thousand eighty hours within a calendar year.

j. Persons employed by a school, school district, or area education agency performing the duties of their positions. Such persons shall not represent themselves as licensed behavior analysts or licensed assistant behavior analysts unless they are licensed as such, and shall not offer applied behavior analysis services to any persons or entities other than their school employer or accept remuneration for providing applied behavior analysis services other than the remuneration they receive from their school employer. 14; 2019 Acts, ch 59, §52; 2021 Acts, ch 182, §59, 62; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §272