State Licensing Boards Contact Information

• If a therapist is licensed by a board (or has applied to be licensed) and has committed misconduct as defined by the board's rules, you can file a complaint with the board seeking disciplinary action by the board.
• If the therapist used a title which is granted by a licensing board (such as M.D. for medical doctor, "psychologist," "licensed professional counselor," "licensed clinical social worker," and so on) but is not in fact licensed, you can report the therapist to the board for using the title without a license. You can also report the therapist directly to local law enforcement officials for possible civil or criminal prosecution by the district or county attorney.
• Even if the therapist is not licensed and has not used a regulated title, if the therapist performed services which fall under the jurisdiction of one of the boards, you may be able to file a complaint with the board seeking an injunction against practicing without a license. For example, in most states, diagnosing or attempting to treat illnesses are defined as "practicing medicine" and may not be done by a person who is not an M.D.

• confirm whether or not the therapist holds a license granted by that board (example: the Medical Board can confirm whether or not the therapist is an M.D.)
• send you a copy of the laws and rules of that board which regulate its profession and a complaint form for filing a complaint against the therapist
• if the therapist is claiming to have a license which they do not possess (example: a person claims to be a psychologist but in fact is not a licensed psychologist) or is using a regulated title without having the right to do so (example: a person uses the title L.P.C. for Licensed Professional Counselor but in fact is not licensed) the board should generally be able and eager to stop the person from using the title without permission
• if the therapist is unlicensed and does not claim to be licensed but nonetheless performs services which fall under the board's jurisdiction and by law may only be performed by licensed professionals, the board may be able to issue an injunction against unlicensed practice of the profession (example: if a therapist is giving medical diagnoses or attempting to treat diseases, this may fall within the state's definition of "practicing medicine" and be restricted to medical doctors). Note: it may be difficult to convince the board to take action against someone who is neither licensed nor claiming to be licensed, even if that person's actions technically fall in the category of practicing without a license. Bringing such a case is expensive, time consuming, and tedious and entails the risk that the therapist may sue to board, so it's much easier for the board to simply ignore the problem. On the other hand, the regulatory boards are legally required to enforce the laws and rules of their profession, and if they fail to take action to do so, they can be sued. You may find it helpful to tactfully remind them of their "statutory responsibilities."

Tips for filing a complaint with a board:

• GET ADVICE FROM AN ATTORNEY FIRST! In some states, there is no immunity from civil suit for certain kinds of complaints, so a therapist may be able to sue you for libel or defamation of character based on the complaint's contents. Laws vary from state to state, so be careful! Be sure to write your governor and state legislators asking them to introduce legislation providing immunity from civil suit in your state for complaints filed in good faith.
• Before you file a complaint, get a copy of the board's laws and rules and read them. A complaint to the board must be written in terms of the laws and rules regulating that profession. It is not enough to say that "Therapist X engaged in memory recovery therapy" or "Therapist Y's treatment harmed me." You must show how the therapist's conduct violated one or more specific provisions of the laws and rules regulating that profession.
• Begin your complaint by reminding the board of its legal responsibility to regulate its profession and prevent incompetent, unethical, and unlicensed practice of that profession. Cite the legal clause which gives them this responsibility. Doing this is a tactful way of telling the board that you are aware of their legal obligations and implicitly reminds them (without saying so openly) that the board may be sued if it fails to fulfill its obligations.
• Write the complaint in terms of the laws and rules regulating that profession. Give specific examples of how the therapist's actions violated the rules for that profession.
• Provide as much detail and documentation as possible. Include dates, amounts paid, diagnoses made, treatments used, claims made by the therapist, etc.

Here are the phone numbers of the licensing boards we are aware of for U.S. states and territories. If we know of an Internet home page for the board, the board's name is a link to that page.

•  Do you know of a licensing board we should add to this list? Click here to email us.
•  Is information on this list wrong? Is a phone number wrong or out of date? Click here to email us.
•  Do you know of an Internet home page for one of these boards? Click here to email us.
• ? indicates that we don't know whether there is a regulatory board for that specialty in that state; however, such a board may exist and we welcome updates regarding unlisted boards.

If you wish to find an Internet home page of a licensing board for medical doctors (anyone using the title M.D., psychiatrist, or physician) or osteopathic physicians,  http://www.docboard.org/ is a good reference. For nurses, see  http://www.ncsbn.org/, which has an online list of the contact information for nursing licensing boards at  http://www.ncsbn.org/files/boards/boardscontact.asp.

There are some professional organizations at the state level which were not created by legal statutes but which can discipline their members. One example is the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. It is not an official state licensing board (in California, Marriage and Family Therapists are licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences) but you can file a complaint against a member for misconduct and violation of CAMFT's ethical codes and CAMFT may discipline the member. These state level professional organizations are listed in the table below under the appropriate state with a comment that they are a private association and not a state licensing board.

Finally, there are also some national professional organizations which license their members (and may be able to discipline those members for misconduct) but were not created by a legal statute and are not associated with a particular state. These organizations are listed at the end under "Miscellaneous National Organizations."

Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Virgin Islands, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Miscellaneous National Organizations

Alabama

Alaska

American Samoa

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Guam

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

See the web site of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and its Professions and Occupations Index.

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Northern Marianas Islands

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Puerto Rico

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Virgin Islands

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Miscellaneous National Organizations

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