Pennsylvania Senate Bill SB1292

Pennsylvania 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 4/16/26
• Refer: 4/16/26

Caption

"licensed associate art therapist" and related titles; and further providing for penalties, for license renewal, records and fees and for unlawful practice.

Summary

SB1292 amends Pennsylvania’s Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors Act to add a new regulated profession: professional art therapy. The bill creates two new license categories, licensed professional art therapist and licensed associate art therapist, and defines art therapy, art therapy services, supervision, qualified supervisors, and related terms. It also updates the act’s legislative intent and licensing provisions so that art therapists are treated alongside social workers, marriage and family therapists, and professional counselors under the same state board. The bill establishes detailed qualification standards for licensure, including age, moral character, education, supervised clinical experience, examination requirements, and criminal history review. It authorizes licensed professional art therapists to practice independently and to diagnose and treat mental disorders within the scope of the profession, while associate art therapists must practice under supervision. SB1292 also sets rules for reciprocity, endorsement of out-of-state licenses, reinstatement, renewal, continuing education, and title protection, and it creates penalties for unauthorized practice or misuse of protected titles such as "licensed professional art therapist" and "L.P.A.T."

Impact

SB1292 would expand the State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, Professional Counselors and Professional Art Therapists to include art therapy, increase board membership, and require the board to promulgate regulations and forms to implement the new licensing framework. It would amend multiple sections of the existing licensing law to add art therapists to provisions governing licensure, discipline, renewal, records, reciprocity, endorsement, and unlawful practice. The bill would also create a protected title regime for art therapists and make it unlawful to independently practice art therapy or hold oneself out as an art therapist without the appropriate Pennsylvania license, subject to specified exemptions and transition provisions.

Sentiment

The bill appears generally supportive of professional recognition and regulation of art therapy, with no recorded committee transcript or vote history indicating opposition or debate in the provided materials. Its structure suggests an effort to formalize an emerging mental health profession and align Pennsylvania with licensing standards used in other states. Because no votes or hearing remarks are included, the available record does not show measured legislative sentiment beyond the bill’s affirmative, expansion-oriented design.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are likely to be the scope of practice granted to licensed professional art therapists, especially the authority to diagnose and treat mental disorders, and the creation of a new protected title that restricts who may use the terms art therapist or licensed professional art therapist. Other possible issues include the supervision requirements for associate licensees, the education and experience thresholds, and the addition of two art therapist seats to the state board. The bill also contains transition and grandfathering provisions for existing practitioners and Commonwealth employees, which may be important to stakeholders concerned about access, workforce pathways, and regulatory burden.