Board narrows advertising rule — will not require middle names in clinician listings

The California Board of Behavioral Sciences on Aug. 22 approved modified advertising regulations that remove a proposed requirement to include a clinician’s middle name or suffix in advertisements.

What changed Staff proposed earlier that advertisements include the licensee’s full legal name (first, middle and last) and license number. Associations — notably the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) — objected, saying adding middle names would be impractical (signs, social media, long names) and would create an administrative burden and a flood of minor enforcement inquiries if strictly required.

Board action and rationale Staff recommended removing the middle‑name requirement while keeping the requirement that advertisements contain the licensee’s name as filed with the board, license type and license number — the board’s unique verification mechanism. Regulations counsel reminded the board that the board’s authority to regulate advertising is limited to preventing public confusion about licensure status, and that requiring a middle name may not materially improve public verification because the license number already provides a unique identifier. The board approved staff’s recommended responses to public comment and directed staff to proceed with modified text for the 15‑day comment period.

Public comment CAMFT and other association speakers supported removing the middle‑name requirement and urged the board to communicate clearly about the rule changes to reduce confusion.

Ending If the 15‑day modified‑text comment period produces no adverse comments, staff is authorized to finalize the amendments and adopt the revised advertising rule.