Two Baton Rouge therapists are suing an occupational regulatory board and seeking to overturn a state law that bars practitioners from using terms such as “psychology” and “psychological” unless they are licensed psychologists.
The owners of the P. Wellness Institute – professional counselor Julie Alleman and licensed social worker Juliet Catrett – are plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit filed Oct. 22 in the Middle District of Louisiana. Their legal complaint accuses the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists of violating their First Amendment rights by enforcing a state law that disallows non-psychologists from using the word “psychological” and similar terms when describing their services to potential clients.
After a board representative told Alleman and Catrett in January that a charge had been filed alleging the pair were violating state law, they changed the name of their company, which had been called Psychological Wellness Institute.
“Alleman and Catrett would like to change the name of their company back to Psychological Wellness Institute,” the lawsuit states. “They believe it accurately describes the services they provide. … Alleman and Catrett would like to explain to their clients, when appropriate, that, although they are not licensed psychologists, they have studied psychological principles, methods and procedures, and apply them in their treatment to help clients modify their behavior and improve their lives.”
Unless the East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney, Hillar C. Moore III, is enjoined from enforcing the law in question, he will charge the plaintiffs with a misdemeanor if they change their company’s name back to Psychological Wellness Institute, according to the complaint.
Alleman and Catrett are represented by attorneys with the Washington-based Center for Individual Rights and the Pelican Institute for Public Policy in New Orleans. James Baehr, special counsel for the Pelican Institute, said the litigation attempts to overturn a law whose provisions are excessive.
“It's about unnecessary occupational regulations that are putting up barriers to employment for Louisianans, and it's also a First Amendment challenge about the particular use of the 'psychological' term," Baehr told the Louisiana Record.
The law also bars non-psychologists from using “psychological principles,” making the statute extremely broad, he said.
“All sorts of people use psychological principles, from pastors to Alcoholics Anonymous to different groups that aren't licensed psychologists,” Baehr said, indicating that the plaintiffs are trained and licensed and should be able to freely offer their services to the public.
The Pelican Institute’s description of the lawsuit said current legal restrictions prevent trained counselors from discussing psychological principles even when those principles are vital to treating disorders such as trauma and anxiety.
“Our business is built on trust and communication, but the law makes it a crime for us to use the ordinary words people expect to hear from their counselors,” the Pelican Institute quotes one of the plaintiffs as saying. “That makes it much harder to communicate openly with the people who come to us for help.”
The lawsuit seeks a judgment that the named defendants have violated the plaintiffs’ First and 14th Amendment rights and asks the court to enjoin the defendants from taking action against Alleman and Catrett for using any forms of the word “psychology.”
The state board did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.