What MMHCA Has Achieved for Michigan LPCs | MMHCA
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Counselors seated together in a Michigan committee room during a legislative hearing

The record

What this board has actually done.

MMHCA published a full accounting of its work in January 2025, covering everything since the board took office in November 2023.

Accomplishments report · published January 3, 2025 · covering November 2023 onward

Original PDF

Transparency in figures

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Innovation and growth

Rebuilding the association itself.

Since November 2023 the board has worked on two fronts at once: the policy fight outward, and the machinery of the association itself.

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Key healthcare legislative actions

Where the association put its weight.

Six areas of work, as reported in the January 2025 accounting.

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Protecting LPCs from insurance takebacks

Clawbacks, and the money counselors lose to them.

MMHCA named insurance clawbacks its top priority for 2025. The association works with Acuitas, its lobbying firm, and joined forces with the National Association of Social Workers – Michigan on the issue.

A clawback is a payer reclaiming money already paid for care already delivered, often months later. For a solo practice it is the difference between a viable month and an unviable one, and a counselor rarely has the leverage to contest one alone.

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Connecting LPCs across Michigan

Building connections, enhancing growth.

Workshops, consultation groups, regional events, and a professional community that exists before you need it.

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Workshop topics covered

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Commitment to accountability

The governing documents.

The board worked with the association’s attorney and its members to revise the 2012 bylaws, bringing them into line with current practice and standards. Both versions are published, so members can see exactly what changed.

Recording and publishing every board meeting is a policy choice, not a courtesy. It is how a volunteer board stays answerable to the people paying dues.

Elections

Board elections are held every year under the current bylaws. Odd-numbered years elect the President and two members at large; even-numbered years elect the Secretary, Treasurer and two members at large. Terms run two years from July 1, and the outgoing President serves one further voting year as Past-President.

Any member in good standing may stand for office; student and associate members are not eligible for board seats. The next scheduled election, in 2027, fills the President seat and two member-at-large seats. How to put a name forward.

2019: the campaign that wrote the law

Ten thousand counselors stopped a rule change.

In 2019 LARA moved to rewrite the LPC scope of practice without the Board of Counseling’s approval, reclassifying diagnosis and testing into an educational category. Had the rule taken effect that November, Michigan counselors would have lost the authority to diagnose. MMHCA mobilized the profession and got a statute passed first.

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How it unfolded

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MMHCA timeline infographic titled How MMHCA Made It Happen, tracing House Bill 4325 from its introduction in March 2019 by Representative Aaron Miller through the October 2019 LARA hearing to the Governor's signature on October 29, 2019
The campaign timeline as MMHCA published it in 2019.

Not one vote against

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HB 4325 passed both chambers with the support of 100% of legislators voting, and was signed on October 29, 2019 as Public Act 96 of 2019.

Account of the campaign published by MMHCA’s then Executive Director in December 2019. An earlier version of the bill had passed the Legislature in 2018 but was blocked on the final day of that year’s lame-duck session.

The longer record

What that law does, and what came after.

Four things worth knowing about the statute MMHCA wrote, the rules built on it, and the federal fight that followed.

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A supervisor and a limited licensed counselor talking through a case together in a warmly lit office
Supervision of a limited licensed counselor. Since April 2023 every one of these hours may be conducted virtually, provided the technology allows real-time interaction by sight and sound.

Rule citations are to the Michigan Administrative Code as filed and effective April 26, 2023. Verify against the current rule set with LARA before relying on any of it for a licensure or supervision decision.

Press and sources

The original sources.

The primary records, held by the State of Michigan and the national association.

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A note on the original report. The January 2025 PDF lists the board as it stood then. Membership has changed since, and the current roster is published on the board page. Where the two differ, the board page is authoritative.

Join us

This is what dues pay for.

The lobbyist, the research, the guides and the consultation groups. Everything on this page was funded by counselors who decided the profession needed a voice in Lansing.