When Licensed May Not Mean Licensed

Is Kelly Johnson Licensed by the State of Louisiana?

When you enter the kitchen, there is a certain amount of heat.

When I saw that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s wife Kelly Johnson was a Licensed Pastoral Counselor, I did a double take. I did not recall Louisiana having a law regulating pastoral counselors. The state does regulate the other mental health professions, but the only regulation for pastoral counselors I can find is for pastoral counselors working in a Children’s Respite Care Center. This role is a part of an interdisciplinary team which works under supervision in a CRCC. This is something different than what she describes at her Onward Christian Counseling business. Mrs. Johnson was/is doing is outpatient religious counseling in independent practice.

What brought me to write about it was the fact that she is calling herself a Licensed Pastoral Counselor and there is reason to doubt that she is licensed by the state of Louisiana. When you go to the Louisiana state counseling board and search for her name, nothing comes up. As I mentioned, I can’t find a board governing pastoral counseling in the state. That isn’t unusual, very few states regulate pastoral counselors.

The other reason I don’t think she is licensed is that she is obviously affiliated with the National Christian Counselors Association, a private business affiliated with Richard and Phyllis Arno. This is a competitor to the much larger but equally questionable American Association of Christian Counselors, owned by Tim Clinton. I will give them credit, the Arnos and current leadership of the NCCA do make it clear to their members that the credentials they give are not the same as state licenses. In the NCCA catalog, the difference between the two jurisdictions is made clear:

As a Christian, each individual must decide if he or she wants to provide counsel as an agent of the state or as a servant of the Church (Body of Christ). If you have a Divine call on your life to counsel and minister to the hurting, then a state license may not provide the best option to fulfill God’s calling on your life.

The National Christian Counselors Association licensure is not a state license, not the equivalent of a state licensure, nor a substitute for a state license, rather something distinctly different. Most states have regulatory laws governing the practice of psychology. Many of them also legislate the practice of general counseling. The laws vary from state to state. For example, some states have a counselor category called “Licensed Professional Counselor.” Therefore, the National Christian Counselors Association requires its counselors to clearly identify their license, e.g., “National Christian Counselors Association Licensed Pastoral Counselor” . This helps to ensure that the N.C.C.A. trained counselor is operating within legal and ethical standards, and maintaining the public’s trust and confidence as a pastoral counselor and clergy member.

Notice this sentence: “Therefore, the National Christian Counselors Association requires its counselors to clearly identify their license, e.g., “National Christian Counselors Association Licensed Pastoral Counselor”

Then notice how Kelly Johnson describes her credential on her website (which is now not available on the web — this comes from the Wayback Machine. It is however, being used to describe her in the press).

She doesn’t use the language suggested by the NCCA. This description makes it appear that she is licensed by the state. The other language she uses also gives an appearance of having graduate training in mental health (e.g., clinical member of the NCCA). I don’t know what training she has which is another problem with this website. It is not disclosed. Any mental health or even competent biblical counselor should disclose this to prospective clients.

Bottom line: the press should not report that Kelly Johnson is licensed if indeed she is not and if Mrs. Johnson is representing to the public that she is licensed by the state, she should cease doing so immediately and publicly clear that up.

Rev. Johnson?

There is another interesting thing that I learned reading through the NCCA catalog. According to NCCA guidelines, to be a “licensed” (I wish they wouldn’t use that term. It creates confusion), a person must be a minister. Here are the guidelines:

The N.C.C.A. requires all who are certified or licensed by its Licensing Board of Examiners to:

1. Be credentialed ministers (ordained, licensed or commissioned) whose goal is to evangelize and ease the emotional pain and suffering of humanity. All ministerial credentials are subject to review and may be accepted or rejected upon determination.

2. Provide their service under the authority of a legally organized local church, a national church organization or a 501(c)(3) not-forprofit ministry.

3. Complete specialized training provided by the N.C.C.A.

4. Complete the minimum requirements for continuing education and annual license renewal.

5. Uphold N.C.C.A.’s Code of Ethical Standards

So does that mean Mrs. Johnson was or is a credentialed minister? Was or is she credentialed in the Southern Baptist Convention? Wouldn’t that present the conservative Southern Baptists some heartburn? I don’t know. Maybe she was credentialed and now she isn’t. Clearly, she said she was a clinical member of NCCA and to be a member, the NCCA requires one to be a minister. I’ll let those who care about such things sort that out.

Ministerial status is relevant for another reason. In Louisiana, to be exempt from licensure as a counselor (when one is holding oneself out as a counselor), one must be a credentialed by the state as another professional or a credentialed member of the clergy. From the law:

5. Any priest, rabbi, Christian Science practitioner, or minister of the gospel of any religious denomination, provided they are practicing within the employment of their church or religious affiliated institution and they do not represent themselves as licensed professional counselors or mental health counselors unless they have also been licensed under the provisions of R.S. 37:1107. 

Again, if she isn’t a member of the clergy or in some way licensed by the state, I think this should be made clear.

On the other matter, I wonder if the Johnsons will clarify the credentials issue. It wouldn’t be the first time an evangelical celebrity implied credentials not actually held (here’s looking at you David Barton).

Addendum:

The ethics code of the NCCA spells out how NCCA members are supposed to present themselves to the public. Mrs. Johnson’s website fails on more than one of these points.

Members of this association shall present, promote, or advertise in such a manner that the public can make “informed choices” regarding our pastoral counseling services.

1. This association expects all members to advertise their ministries and services with integrity and clarity. Members must clearly identify their ministry services as Christian professionals in their level of competence.

2. Advertising shall not mislead persons seeking these services as to professional affiliations, qualifications, certifications, educational levels, training, and specific areas of competence.

3. Members may use the following items of information to describe themselves and the services or ministries they provide:

• Your name, clearly and completely • Your academic degrees • The institution from which you received your academic degrees • Certification level or licensure type • Source of licensure, if used, name of organization etc. • N.C.C.A., membership, certification level • Indication of status as minister, ordained pastoral counselor, etc. • Address of office, ministry, church • Telephone number • Office business hours • Review of services offered • Fee information, sliding scale, etc. • Policy regarding third party payments and insurance if used • Additional, relevant information not prohibited by this code of ethical standards.

Johnson’s website did not (she has scrapped it as of a couple of days ago) disclose her degrees, or the fact that her “license” came from the NCCA. She didn’t indicate her ministry ordination status, or anything about fees or insurance. The main problem is that she portrayed herself as a licensed professional who provides marriage and family counseling when in fact she isn’t. It also isn’t clear if she has any training beyond a BA degree.

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