Do you have to be a licensed therapist or psychologist to give advice on a website?

Can a regular person start a website to counsel people with problems without a degree in the field?Do you have to be a licensed therapist or psychologist to give advice on a website?
Absolutely. Just do it, if you can. There are so many people out there that know stuff that we may not. And although there is no actual law against it, you may experience scoff from other people that think what you're doing is wrong. I hope this is what you're asking and that it helps...Do you have to be a licensed therapist or psychologist to give advice on a website?
Er, no. It's happens on Answers a lot. :)





But also, you can find the fine print here on Answers where all advice is specifically disclaimed to NOT be medical or legal advice. Shows like ';Dr. Laura,'; where the advice giver holds no license or degree to be dispensing their advice, usually also have similar disclaimers.





If you hold yourself out to be giving psychological advice, when you've have no standing to do so, there can be three BAD results: You might be sued for your advice, especially if someone can prove that they were acting solely on your bad advice and a reasonable person wouldn't have known better. You may be fined by your state's professional licensing agency, for practicing medicine without a license. We're talking several thousand dollars to start as a fine. And worst of all: What if someone follows your advice and it leads to harm? Then, legal consequences or no, you've got someone in trouble for following your bad advice.





Sooo..... sure you can. The question is, are you going to trust Y!Answers people to give you the right advice on this matter? Me, I'd pay a couple hundred dollars to a lawyer for his opinion on the matter. At least he's licensed to give you advice that is legally correct in your jurisdiction. ;)
I would think you would have to state your credentials or lack of.





I think it would be fraudulent to do so.
In answer to your first question; No, you don't have to be licensed as long as you don't charge for the advice.


In answer to you second question; Yes, a person could start a website to counsel people but, are you sure that your counseling is going to help people or hurt them. Remember the first rule of counseling. ';Do no harm.';
i'm pretty sure you could but you wouldn't be able to call yourself a therapist or a psycholagist. Because that would be false info that could get you in trouble. However if its just a website that clearly states your just a clear minded person looking to give advice to people then that should be fine but it wouldn't really make profit would it? after all people would rather go to someone licensed or just post a question on yahoo answers and receive dozens of responses.
I am not a lawyer and may not be familiar with the laws and licensing in your locality... but... (in Tennessee):





No, you don't have to be a licensed therapist or psychologist to give advice on a website. Yes, a regular person can start a website to counsel people with problems without a degree in the field.





In order to actually collect payments from insurance companies, at least in Tennessee, you normally have to be at least a LCSW.





I can't think of any reason you can't hand out advice on the internet, however. Dear Abby doesn't have any special degree or licensing... :)





I don't know what kind of counseling you're planning, but best of luck!