Licensed Psycho-Educational Specialist
This page allows commentary from the LPES board member. It
may not offer official policy of SCASP or the governing board
of which the LPES is under, but opinions and discussion from
the board member. Issues Concerning Licensed Psycho-Educational Specialists
by David L. Evans
Licensed Psycho-Educational Specialists (LPES) are the only mental health professionals licensed under the South Carolina Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation who are not permitted to equitably represent their qualifications and affiliations to the public in advertising. Even the title Psycho-Educational Specialist is a compromise in terminology unique to the state of South Carolina. In order to be licensed as an LPES, an individual must have a degree and/or certification in school psychology at the specialist (Masters plus 30 or EdS) level. The people who comprise this group have been established as school psychologists in the South Carolina Department of Education certification structure (School Psychologist II, and III) for over thirty years and have also practiced under that title within the public schools nationwide. They are prohibited by South Carolina statute from using titles and certifications, earned in their professional preparation that include the words ‘school psychology,’ or ‘school psychologist,’ or memberships in organizations including those words (Chapter 40, Title 75 of the 1976 Code as amended: 40-75-520, 40-75-570). Certification by the South Carolina Department of Education as School Psychologist Level II (specialist) and III (doctoral), membership in professional organizations such as the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) and it’s affiliate the South Carolina Association of School Psychologists (SCASP), status as a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP), a nationally recognized credential, or even degree titles that include the words school psychology or psychologist such as Winthrop University’s Specialist in School Psychology (SSP) and the Citadel’s Educational Specialist in School Psychology (EdS) are all qualifications which are currently barred from advertisement by LPESs. In short, specialist level school psychologists, who are respected as, practice as school psychologists in the public schools, cannot use this title in the private sector.
The present status came about because of objections raised during the development of the current law by the Board of Examiners in Psychology and the South Carolina Psychological Association (SCPA), an affiliate of the American Psychological Association (APA). The title ‘Psycho-Educational Specialist’ was a compromise formulated to appease this group. They hold that only individuals with a PhD degree should be allowed to use the terms ‘school psychologist’ or ‘school psychology.’ The APA does not permit full professional membership to anyone who does not have a PhD degree and therefore represents only a small percentage of the school psychologists currently practicing in South Carolina and the United States.
Conversely, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), an organization representing over 21,000 school psychologists nationwide, advocates the entry level for the independent practice of school psychology, regardless of the practice setting, as the specialist level. Alex Thomas, a practicing school psychologist for 18 years, now Chairman of the Educational Psychology Department and Director of the School Psychology Program at Miami University (Ohio), and president of NASP for two non-consecutive terms, wrote of the differences between doctoral level and specialist level training in the following quote from the School Psychology Review (Vol. 29, No. 4 pp. 538-39, 2000, italics added):
level of training for professional practice has been an ongoing issue between the organizations. Other than a focus upon research related to dissertation completion and perhaps one or two seminars, there are not many differences between the curriculum of the NASP-approved specialist-level training program and of a NASP-and/or APA-accredited doctoral school psychologist training program.
There are two instantly recognizable problems with the prohibition of accurate advertising and identification by this group: The first amendment to the Constitution of The United States protects the rights of all Americans to freedom of speech. This clause in the South Carolina Code of Laws prevents LPESs from advertising their major qualifications in the practice of their profession thereby unlawfully limiting their ability to properly inform the public of their accurate identity and capabilities. This restriction is also in restraint of trade because the commonsense intent of these prohibitions is to protect the doctoral level psychologists licensed by the Board of Examiners in Psychology from the threat of competition from the LPES even though only a few of this board’s licensees, approximately 35, are sufficiently qualified to provide the same services. This fact is established by Section 40-75-600, which leads to the conclusion that the LPES may not receive third party payment of any kind.
The solution is for the legislature of South Carolina to bring to an end the discriminatory and unconstitutional restraints placed on Licensed Psycho-Educational Specialists by amending the statute in such a way as to remove the limitations on the advertising of their expertise, qualifications and memberships and to modify the title to Licensed Specialist in School Psychology (LSSP). This is an accurate representation of who and what they are. The truth is not a violation of the law.