Section 24-6-3-1 - General ProvisionsA. Levels of Credentialing Within the Mental Health Therapist Certification and Licensure Program, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health (DMH) offers three levels of credentialing for persons providing direct services to individuals with mental illness/emotional disturbances or supervising the direct provision of such services. These levels are:
(1) Provisionally Certified Mental Health Therapist (PCMHT) - (See Chapter 3, Section 2, pp. 8-10);(2) Certified Mental Health Therapist (CMHT) - (See Chapter 3, Section 3, pp. 10-11); and(3) Licensed Clinical Mental Health Therapist (LCMHT) - (See Chapter 3, Section 4, pp. 11-12).B. Provisional Certification Beginning July 1, 1999, all individuals submitting applications for the Mental Health Therapist program will be expected to apply for provisional certification (PCMHT) and to meet all current requirements of the Mental Health Therapist program. After successful completion of all requirements, individuals may then apply to upgrade their credentials to either full certification (CMHT) or licensure (LCMHT).
C. Employment in the State Mental Health System The professional certification/licensure issued by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health is designed primarily for those individuals who are not already professionally certified/licensed and who are employed within the state mental health system. The state mental health system is comprised of the following programs which are governed by the Mississippi Board of Mental Health:
(1) Programs which receive funding from the Mississippi Department of Mental Health;(2) Programs which are certified /licensed by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health;(3) Programs which are administered by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health; or,(4) Programs that provide services to persons with mental illness/emotional disturbances which are designated by the Mississippi Legislature to require certification/licensure.D. Programmatic Licensure with the Mississippi Department of Health Persons employed by programs primarily providing services to individuals with mental illness/emotional disturbance which are licensed by the Mississippi Department of Health in addition to Department of Mental Health programmatic certification may be issued professional certification/licensure, if requested.E. Other Professional Credentials (1) Individuals who hold professional certification or licensure in another discipline are not required to hold DMH professional certification/licensure as a requisite for employment in programs as described in Chapter 3, Section 1, C., p. 7.(2) DMH professional certification/licensure does not exempt an individual from any other professional licensure required by state law.(3) Lack of DMH professional certification/ licensure does not impede the activities or services of an individual professionally licensed under state law.(4) A professionally certified/licensed individual who is exempt from DMH professional certification/licensure but chooses to obtain DMH professional certification/licensure is subject to the same rules and regulations as other provisional certificants, certificants and licensees.(5) Revocation for cause of any professional certification/licensure may result in disciplinary action and/ or revocation by the DMH.F. Voluntary Mississippi Department of Mental Health professional certification/licensure shall not be required and shall be on a voluntary basis.
24 Miss. Code. R. § 6-3-1