This bill creates a new Title 18 chapter to license and regulate mental health counselors and establishes a Washington state board of licensed mental health counselors. The board will have nine governor-appointed members (seven licensed counselors and two public members), three-year staggered terms, rulemaking authority on education, supervised experience, examinations (including acceptance of national exams), continuing competency, ethics, supervision standards, and discipline under the Uniform Disciplinary Act (chapter 18.130 RCW). The secretary of health retains temporary regulatory authority until the board is constituted (no later than three years from the effective date), sets fees, issues or denies licenses, conducts administrative hearings on minimum-qualification denials, may hire staff/consultants, and, with the board, has immunity for official acts. The bill establishes an associate license pathway with supervision rules, a 120-day provisional supervised practice window after application receipt, required client disclosure at first contact, renewal continuing education requirements including ethics hours beginning with the second renewal, and allows the board to obtain written consent to access otherwise privileged client information during investigations. The act also amends multiple existing statutes to integrate the new licensure chapter into the state regulatory framework. It reenacts and revises the scope of the Uniform Disciplinary Act and lists the new board among disciplining authorities, amends substance use disorder certification criteria and creates a 60‑hour co‑occurring disorder specialist enhancement with supervised experience, limits that enhancement’s scope and employment settings, and authorizes department rulemaking and fees. It establishes a psilocybin therapy pilot at the University of Washington for certain adult populations, modifies rules on professional corporations and limited liability partnerships to permit licensed professionals to organize and own interests in professional entities, and requires specified health and behavioral health professions to complete periodic suicide assessment, treatment, and management training according to model standards to be adopted by the department. The bill changes confidentiality and privilege rules by expanding protections for sexual assault and domestic violence advocates and creating peer‑support privileges for certain first responder-related communications, and it revises RCW 13.40.162 governing juvenile sex‑offender dispositions by specifying eligibility procedures, exams and treatment plan requirements, court considerations, probation conditions (including school-attendance restrictions and notification timelines), required quarterly treatment reporting, and revocation penalties up to execution of disposition or up to 30 days’ confinement. Important provisions and precise statutory language are missing from the extracted text: the exact new chapter number for the mental health counselor statute is not shown, several sections are truncated, and details such as specific fee amounts, complete rule text, and some supervisory and experience formulas are not included in the provided material. Sections 1–16 are set to take effect July 1, 2026; Sections 17–43 take effect June 30, 2027 or later contingent on the board adopting rules and assuming regulatory authority.

If enacted, the law creates a new independent Washington board of licensed mental health counselors that will take over licensing, discipline, rulemaking, exam approval, supervision standards, continuing education, and related duties now handled by the Department of Health. Existing and prospective mental health counselors, prelicensure associates, approved supervisors, the Department of Health, and the governor (who appoints the board) are most affected: license applicants must meet new associate and licensure processes (associates must work under approved supervision, disclose their status to clients, and may practice under direct supervision for up to 120 days after application), supervisors must meet board approval and standards, and the department will continue temporary regulatory authority until the board is fully constituted and has adopted rules. The act also creates timelines for board appointments and rulemaking tied to mid‑2026 and a contingent later transfer of full authority, expands who may organize professional entities and participate in new credential enhancements (co‑occurring disorder specialist), and authorizes a psilocybin therapy pilot at the University of Washington that names permit holders who will be eligible to facilitate services. In practical terms this likely shifts administrative work, costs, and some fee-setting from the Department of Health to a new board and will impose new compliance, training, and possible insurance or continuing‑education costs on counselors and associates once the board adopts rules; regional service areas are directed to reimburse time for supervising people working toward supervision requirements when a fully integrated managed care system is adopted. The Department must staff the program, continue oversight until the board acts, and provide annual fiscal reporting; the University of Washington pilot requires appropriations. Important implementation details that will determine specific costs and obligations—exact fee amounts, the content and administration of the required examination, precise continuing education hour requirements, and the board’s final supervision and liability‑insurance rules—are not specified in the provided text.