Guidance on qualifications for

fertility counselors: a

committee opinion

Practice Committee and the Mental Health Professional Group of the American Society for Reproductive

Medicine

This guidance document was developed by the Mental Health Professional Group (MHPG) in partnership with the Practice Committee of

the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) to help determine the qualifications and training of mental health profes-

sionals working in reproductive medicine. This document replaces the document titled ‘‘ ASRM Qualification Guidelines for Infertility,’’

last published in March 2015 and originally developed in 1995. (Fertil Steril

Mental health professionals play an

important role in reproductiv e medi-

cine due to the complex psycho social

issues fac ed by fertility patients. As

technological advances in fertility

treatment and the use of fertility ser -

vices in diverse populations have

increased, there are growi ng needs

for the skills and services of trained

lizing assisted repro ductive technol-

ogy to build a family or pres erve

fertility. Third-party fertility coun-

seling also includes the utilization of

psycholog ical assessments to deter-

mine candidacy. The current docu-

ment is an update of the 2015

revision of t he 1995 American Society

for Reproduc tive Medicine (ASRM)

Qualification Guidelines for Infertility

tients appropriately to, the following

services:

disorders

infertility staff education and

consultatio n

Mental health professionals working in

reproductive medicine should have the

following minimum qualifications and

psychiatric nursing, counseling, or

marriage and family therapy. This

translates to a specific minimum

educational qualification that can be

explicitly stated to include one of

the following master’s level or higher

degrees: Ph.D., PsyD, M.D., DO, DNP,

MSW, MSN, MFT, MA, and MS in

clinical psychology, psychology, psy-

chiatry, counseling, marriage and

intervention, psychotherapeutic inter-

vention, and individual, marital, and

group therapy.

The ASRM (2017) guidance documents recommend that

Competency in psychological assessment requires highly

specialized training that includes didactic instruction, super-

vised experience, and ongoing education to provide ethical

practice (2, 3). The Standards for Educational and Psychologi-

testing and are published jointly by the American Psycholog-

by multiple mental health disciplines (2–6). Individuals

within any mental health discipline (eg, social work,

counseling, marriage and family therapy, and psychiatry)

may have received the basic educational, clinical, and

supervision training for competent and ethical testing (2, 5).

Publishers and developers of psychological tests also

provide statements regarding the basic qualification levels

required for the purchas e of psychological testing. Test pub-

lis hers such as PAR, Inc., and Pearson do not provide state-

ments regarding the basic qualification levels requ ired for

psychological test publisher’s and developer’s refe renced

qualificatio n gui delines to ensure they meet stated

requirements.

Mental health professionals who did not receive relevant

training in the administration and interpretation of psycho-

logical tests, but who would like to utilize such tests in their

practices, are encouraged to seek out relevant graduate-

level courses or training from an appropriate licensing or cer-

tification agency. Information on such courses and training

can be obtained from published guidance documents and

mental health professionals in this field, and access to Prac-

tice and Ethics Committee Documents and other important

publications.

Several guidance documents exist for qualifications and

training for mental health professionals working in reproduc-

tive medicine in other countries, including

of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) (13)

Counseling Association (BICA) (16)

(16)

mental health professionals to work side by side with medical,

nursing, embryology, and andrology personnel to provide

care to fertility patients.

direction of the Practice Committee of the ASRM as a service

needs of the individual patient, available resources, and insti-

tutional or clinical practice limitations. The Practice Commit-

tee and the Board of Directors of the ASRM have approved

this report. This document was reviewed by ASRM members,

and their input was considered in the preparation of the final

document. The following members of the ASRM Practice

Committee participated in the development of this document:

Alan Penzias, M.D., Ricardo Azziz, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., Kris-

tin Bendikson, M.D., Marcelle Cedars, M.D., Tommaso Fal-

cone, M.D., Karl Hansen, M.D., Ph.D., Micah Hill, D.O.,

Committee acknowledges the special contribution of the

MHPG Qualifications Task Force, including Piave Lake,

Ph.D., Claudia Pascale, Ph.D., Angela K Lawson, Ph.D., and

Mary P Riddle, Ph.D., in the preparation of this document.

All Committee members disclosed commercial and financial

relationships with manufacturers or distributors of goods or

services used to treat patients. Members of the Committee

who were found to have conflicts of interest based on the re-

lationships disclosed did not participate in the discussion or

development of this document.

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Este documento guía fue desarrollado por el Grupo Profesional de Salud Mental (MHPG) en asociaci

Sociedad Americana de Medicina Reproductiva para ayudar a determinar las cualificaciones y entrenamiento de los profesionales de

salud mental que trabajan en medicina reproductiva. Este documento reemplaza el documento titulado ‘‘ Guías de Calificaci