 Congratulations on your recent graduation! Earning your Masters degree is no easy task. You have worked hard to get where you are and I bet you have goals of working with certain populations or within certain clinical settings. Earning your credential as a Licensed Professional Counselor / Mental Health Service Provider (LPC/MHSP) is key to opening these doors of opportunity for you as a clinician.
Earning the LPC/MHSP credential means that you will be licensed for a full scope of practice: assessment, diagnosis and treatment of clients. This full scope of practice will be necessary if you have a desire to become a clinical supervisor or clinical director within an organization or work independently in a private practice setting. I know at this point you likely just want to take a break and work for a little while and then, if you feel like it, maybe start working on earning your license. If there was one piece of advice I could share with you at this moment it would be: START NOW. Here's the thing... if you are already working in a clinical setting that would qualify for hours toward your license... why not just get started in this process and allow those hours to count?! The full process of licensure for LPC/MHSP has to take a minimum of two years and no more than four years to complete. The licensure process begins when you are in active individual supervision with an approved supervisor. As new people start with me, I have them sign a supervision contract that serves to verify the "start date" and we go from there. From that day on, you can start counting hours. I typically see supervisees once per week, depending on how many face-to-face hours they are getting at work. If someone is working part-time in a clinical setting or otherwise not getting many face-to-face counseling hours with clients, I will meet with them every other week until their hours increase. My supervisees know they have access to me anytime and we develop great working relationships with each other. The main thing I want you to take away from all of this: The moment you start active individual supervision is the moment you can start your licensure process. Putting this off can make a difference for you professionally. The sooner you earn your license as a LCP/MHSP, the sooner you can have more doors opened to you as a clinician and work toward meeting your career goals. The licensure process can feel a bit overwhelming but it doesn't have to be. If you are ready to learn more about the details of the process, I encourage you to join our first group supervision session of 2018 on Tuesday, January 23rd. Even if you are in individual supervision with someone else, you can still attend group supervision and it will count toward your licensure supervision hours. Up to 50 hours of your total supervision hours can be in the form of a group. I am an approved supervisor and will be tracking attendance in groups, as well as providing you with a receipt to keep for your records. The daytime meeting will be held from 12-1pm or you can choose the evening option from 6:30-7:30pm. We will be going over all of the details that will help you feel confident in starting this process. You will also be leaving with a handout to reference as needed that highlights what you need to know to make sure you are meeting requirements successfully. Don't wait to get started. You have come too far to postpone earning your license. I have been where you are and know the energy it takes to get this process started. I also know what it feels like to look back on that time in my life and feel thankful for those who encouraged me to keep going. Without their guidance and encouragement I don't know that I would be in the position I'm in today. You can do this! I will help you sort through the confusing bits and pieces and you will feel confident as you move toward accomplishing this professional milestone. If you would like to join us on Tuesday the 23rd, at either the daytime or evening group session, please contact me to reserve your seat! If you are ready to go ahead and get started with individual supervision we can do that, too! Contact me anytime for upcoming availability and we will get you started. I look forward to helping guide you through this process! Happy New Year! Jodi (865) 384-2172 www.jodiclarkecounseling.com
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