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Senate bill to limit unlicensed mental-health practice moves out of House committee after stakeholder talks
Summary
SB 48 passed the committee with broad support from licensed mental-health groups and with concerns from life-coach advocates; the bill narrows the definition of mental-health therapy and targets unlicensed providers who diagnose or offer treatments designed to treat interpersonal dysfunction.
The House Business, Labor and Commerce Standing Committee recommended SB 48 (Behavioral Health Amendments) favorably after OPLER and bill sponsors described the measure as a narrow set of guardrails to prevent unlicensed or formerly licensed practitioners from offering mental-health treatment under the label of "life coaching."
Senator McHale (sponsor) said the bill comes from an OPLER occupational review and is "really basic" in purpose: to define the practice of mental-health therapy and prohibit unlicensed persons from providing treatments aimed at diagnosing or treating interpersonal dysfunction or emotional disorders. "When you look at the practice of mental health therapy, you'll see that definition is in line 147," he said, and argued the bill is tailored to limit harmful misrepresentations while preserving legitimate coaching and other nontherapeutic services.
Multiple licensed mental-health organizations supported the bill. Jessica Black of the Utah Mental Health Counselors Association urged the panel to back the guardrails, and Sarah Straub of the Utah Association for Marriage and Family Therapy said the association was "in strong support" of the bill. They cited instances where individuals who lost licensure later presented themselves as coaches and marketed clinical services they were no longer authorized to provide.
Life-coach advocates and coaches who testified expressed support for the bill's intent to protect consumers but asked for narrower language and a safe-harbor that would exempt bona fide coaching that does not diagnose or treat mental-health disorders. Amanda Louder, representing a group of life coaches, asked the committee to delay a vote so sponsors and coaches could draft wording that preserves coaching services while targeting bad actors. Several coaches requested a disclosure requirement that a coach is not a licensed mental-health professional.
Division of Professional Licensing director Mark Steinagold and OPLER director Jeff Shumway told the committee they had worked with the sponsor and DOPL and felt the bill's narrower language focuses on "modes of treatment designed to treat interpersonal dysfunction" rather than broad, everyday coaching services. Steinagold said DOPL believed the language was enforceable.
Committee members voted to recommend SB 48 favorably; sponsor and supporters said they intended to continue stakeholder engagement on definitional wording to avoid unintended consequences for legitimate coaching practices.
