                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

EXEMPTION FROM REQUIREMENTS OF LICENSURE (§ 54.1-3501)

The requirements for licensure in this chapter shall not be applicable to:

1. Persons who render services that are like or similar to those falling within
the scope of the classifications or categories in this chapter, including
persons acting as members of substance abuse self-help groups, so long as the
recipients or beneficiaries of such services are not subject to any charge or
fee, or any financial requirement, actual or implied, and the person rendering
such service is not held out, by himself or otherwise, as a person licensed
under this chapter.

2. The activities or services of a student pursuing a course of study in
counseling, substance abuse treatment or marriage and family therapy in an
institution accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board or under
the supervision of a person licensed or certified under this chapter, if such
activities or services constitute a part of the student&#8217;s course of study
and are adequately supervised.

3. The activities, including marriage and family therapy, counseling, or
substance abuse treatment, of rabbis, priests, ministers or clergymen of any
religious denomination or sect when such activities are within the scope of the
performance of their regular or specialized ministerial duties, and no separate
charge is made or when such activities are performed, whether with or without
charge, for or under auspices or sponsorship, individually or in conjunction
with others, of an established and legally cognizable church, denomination or
sect, and the person rendering service remains accountable to its established
authority.

4. Persons employed as salaried employees or volunteers of the federal
government, the Commonwealth, a locality, or of any agency established or
funded, in whole or part, by any such governmental entity or of a private,
nonprofit organization or agency sponsored or funded, in whole or part, by a
community-based citizen group or organization. Any person who renders
psychological services, as defined in Chapter 36 (&#xA7; 54.1-3600 et seq.) of
this title, shall be subject to the requirements of that chapter. Any person
who, in addition to the above-enumerated employment, engages in an independent
private practice shall not be exempt from the requirements for licensure.

5. Persons regularly employed by private business firms as personnel managers,
deputies or assistants so long as their counseling activities relate only to
employees of their employer and in respect to their employment.

6. Persons regulated by this Board as professional counselors or persons
regulated by another board within the Department of Health Professions who
provide, within the scope of their practice, marriage and family therapy,
counseling or substance abuse treatment to individuals or groups.

7. Any practitioner of a profession regulated by the Board who is licensed in
another state, the District of Columbia, or a United States territory or
possession and who is in good standing with the applicable regulatory agency in
that state, the District of Columbia, or that United States territory or
possession who provides behavioral health services, as defined in &#xA7;
37.2-100, to a patient located in the Commonwealth when (i) such practice is for
the purpose of providing continuity of care through the use of telemedicine
services as defined in &#xA7; 38.2-3418.16 and (ii) the practitioner has
previously established a practitioner-patient relationship with the patient. A
practitioner who provides behavioral health services to a patient located in the
Commonwealth through use of telemedicine services pursuant to this subdivision
may provide such services for a period of no more than one year from the date on
which the practitioner began providing such services to such patient.

HISTORY: 1976, c. 608, § 54-944; 1986, c. 581; 1988, c. 765; 1995, c. 820;
1997, c. 901; 2022, c. 275.