State Laws and Counselor Certification Licensure Process in the State of Texas

Becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) has important components to consider. Careful research about Colorado’s requirements to attain licensure is needed to learn more about these requirements. Once you have researched your state’s statutes and regulations, requirements of education, practicum and internship, and staying in good standing as a counselor, you are ready to consider a career as a professional counselor. A LPC is a futuristic goal that can be achieved once important components are considered.

According to Porter, Gildon, & Zgliczynski (2000), people claiming to be counselors is a serious problem in the state of California because no formal standards are set for appropriate licensure except for that of a marriage counselor. This lack of standards and credentials causes many problems for those seeking advice and assistance with a particular problem. More importantly, the public is not protected even if they take a case to court and the “counselor” is found guilty. What is to be taken away? He can continue to practice because he does not have a certificate to begin with. Lreh

B. The counseling profession itself is a little more than a hundred years old. A license can be gained in almost every state for the profession. In order to unify the profession as a whole though there are still steps that need to be

As the standards of the counseling profession are continuously being shaped, I desire to play a role in the educating

Mrs. Freeman currently holds a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Geography and a Masters in Counseling from A&M University. She also has an English as a Second Language Certification from B University. The cost of tuition from A&M was approximate $10,000. Then the approximate cost of tuition from B was $4,000. With the help of family members and loans Mrs. Freeman was able to pay for books and tuition for both of the Universities. Participation in continuing education is often required for the renewal of a license or certification. In states without licensure or certification laws, professional counselors are certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). The law requires counselors to hold certification from the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) or The Texas Education Agency (TEA). Mrs. Freeman would also like to add, “The cost of a education does not compare to the benefits of one!” And “ A higher education can provide options to various opportunities” (R. Freeman, personal communication, June 15,2009)

Counseling is a tool that is widely used by many people. Merriam Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary defines counseling as advice and support that is given to people to help them deal with problems, and make important decisions. This paper examines the career of a Licensed Professional Counselor, the education requirements, certification and licensure levels or requirements, salary, and the future of this profession.

First, the identification of a licensed chemical dependency counselor would suffice at the moment. A licensed chemical dependency counselor are counselors that specialize in identifying and treating addictive behaviors that are maladaptive, altered from cognitive imbalance, and from physiological discrepancies, or frequent intoxication to achieve homeostasis or functionality to some extent. In other words, licensed chemical dependency counselors establish and implement treatments to help people cure their addictions from substances which they are chemically dependent on. Second, the nature of chemical dependency is to be acknowledged. The nature of chemical dependency is not very well understood by human population. Many people see addictions as diseases, immoral behaviors or sins, as maladaptive behaviors, and some may view such substance dependence as out of control behaviors as well. However, chemical or substance dependency is a mental issue. The mind tells the body that it needs a certain substance to function, it is a craving that is difficult for the body to ignore, and the body cannot function until such a need is met. The change in behaviors, mood and conscious motivates the mind further to continue finding ways to meet this need. Therefore, there is not only an addiction, but a chemical dependency issue as well. It is strong and difficult to defeat. It is strong enough that it may cause some people to conduct criminal activities or infringe upon the rights and

The article “Duty to Warn and Protect: Not in Texas” cites the 1999 Texas Supreme court decision in the case Thapar v. Zezulka; which stated that counselors do not have a duty to warn and protect because it breaks client/counselor confidentiality (Barbee, Combs, Ekleberry, & Villalobos, 2007). As a result of the 1999 ruling the

Counselors have a responsibility to monitor their effectiveness, in order to do this they need someone who is trained to assist them in understanding what is effective. Counselors have to seek supervision when appropriate and in order to do so a program needs to be in place that has supervisors readily available. The absence of clinical supervision may lead to counselors-in-training to lack the necessary skills to be a successful and productive counselor. Counselors need to develop a comprehensive understanding of the setting, population, needs, contexts and tasks of a counselor. As explained by Milne and Oliver (2000), Clinical supervision is central to initial professional training and to continuing professional development. It is necessary for counselors-in-training to refine their skills and get assistance in applying theories to any issues they may encounter with their clients. In addition to the everyday assistance necessary, a supervisor needs to present/model ethical behavior and counseling practices. In any profession the need for improvement is prominent and therefore any assistance and feedback given is appreciated and necessary. Expectations are increasing and therefore supervision is expected. Evidence shows that supervision results in school counselors’ increased effectiveness and accountability, improved professional development, and improved job performance, confidence, and comfort

Up to two to three years of work experience, internships and professional counselor outlook is a must. Internships are said to be the most important part on the path to becoming any sort of counselor. During these internships students are required to participate in assigned community group sessions, private-tutor individual sessions, present and organize group lessons, participate in student achievement activities and excel in mock/exit level interviews. By doing all this you will hopefully gain confidence in real a real life setting with a mentor constantly guiding you to the point that you no longer need them. Moreover it gives you a real life perspective of whether this career is for you or not while opening your eyes to your own abilities. And lastly after partaking in about two to three years under supervision, this gets you ready for the licensing exam (The National Counselor Examination or the “NCE”) which is a 200 question application based test that includes the entire curriculum and is timed for 4 hours exactly. The curriculum will test as following counseling issues, processes, assessments and diagnostics, professional development and consultation, professional practice, human growth and development, relationship work, group work, social and cultural diversity, research and evaluation, and ethics.

Required coursework for certification includes 60 hours of providing supervised counseling of direct services to individuals and groups outside of the candidate's official internship/field experience working with individuals and groups (60 clock hours) (State certification requirements, 2012, American School Counselor).

Across the United States, there are different licensing procedures and protocol for each state in regards to Licensed Professional Counseling. Pennsylvania’s state licensure requirements were obtained through the Department of Services website under the State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors.

The discrimination model of supervision developed by Bernard & Goodyear, (1998) has three primary focus areas in training novice counselors these include use of intervention, what the supervisee is doing in the session that is observable, conceptualization or how the session work is being conducted and the level of understanding the supervisee has regarding client themes and application of specific counseling session interventions, and personalization, the supervisors own approach or method. This model embeds three essential supervisory roles, teacher, counselor and consultant in providing effective supervision. The teacher's primary

Although professional standards were promoted throughout the 20th century in a wide range of settings (Centore & Milacci, 2008), it has only within the last quarter century or so that the counseling profession established a formal entity called the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) in 1981 for this purpose (Adams, 2006). A year later, the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates (NBCC) was established in 1982 to provide accreditation standards for counselor education as well as a method of assessing educational knowledge (Adams, 2006). In this regard, Juhnke (2009) reports that, "The NBCC was established through the American Counseling Association (ACA) in 1982. The reason for NBCC's original existence

Counseling supervision, the ethical and legal issues, and the multiple relationships that result is a dynamic topic that presents numerous complex issues. The important functions of the supervisory relationship are to teach counseling through a hands-on process, assess, inform, implement, and evaluate the application of theories, ethical and competent practices to prepare the supervisee for their future profession in the counseling field. However, while supervisors play multiple roles in the supervision process, there are situations and times when the boundaries between therapy and supervision are not always clear. During the supervisory relationship it is vital and of the upmost importance that the supervisor model’s ethical behavior and implements the ethical standards of the counseling profession.