Journal-News.com

You can't call yourself a counselor in Ohio unless you have the appropriate license to do so. The title is reserved for marriage counselors, mental health counselors, school counselors, social workers and so on.

It's not to be used for insurance agents and funeral home staffers who arrange pre-need funeral plans and call themselves "family service counselors" or "pre-arrangement counselors."

"Our board does not like that, and our statute protects the title of 'professional counselor' and 'professional clinical counselor' and/or any other title or description incorporating 'counselor,'" said James Rough, executive director of the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & Marriage and Family Therapist Board.

So last month, after hearing about the practice in the funeral industry, Rough sent a letter to the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors to be sent with other information to the state's 1,200 funeral homes telling funeral directors to stop using the title for their staffers unless authorized to do so.

Failure to abide by the law is a fourth degree misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to 30 days in jail, a $250 fine for individuals and a $1,000 fine for organizations.