Qualified Mental Health Professional
State-licensed mental health practitioner.
How the laws define this
Both provisions establish that a qualified mental health professional must be legally authorized or licensed to deliver mental health services under Tennessee law. The shared core anchors this status to professional standards governed by state statutory authority, particularly Tennessee Title 33. However, the descriptions diverge in their scope and functional context. One statutory context frames the designation around general legal and ethical authorization established across Tennessee Code Annotated Titles 33, 47, and 63, specifically applying these credentials to prevent artificial intelligence from falsely claiming them. In contrast, the definition grounded directly in Tennessee Title 33 details an explicit list of state-licensed professions required to meet the definition. These enumerated roles include psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, marital and family therapists, professional counselors, and psychiatric nurses holding specific master's degrees. Consequently, the provisions diverge between a broad standard designed to protect against deceptive AI credentialing and a specific list of licensed practitioner categories.
Synthesised from the 2 statutory definitions below. Each one is quoted in full, with its source.
Definitions (2)
Refers to individuals legally and ethically authorized to provide mental health care, whose standards are established in Tennessee Code Annotated Titles 33, 47, and 63. The bill prevents AI from falsely claiming these credentials.
As defined by Tennessee Title 33, these are individuals licensed in the state for their profession, including psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, marital and family therapists, professional counselors, and psychiatric nurses with specific master's degrees.