One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I used to be a Licensed Professional Counselor. I earned my LPC in 2001, and was quite proud to have achieved something so important to me.

But now, I'm back at (not quite) square one. I allowed my license to lapse in 2007 with the intention of earning a license in Florida when we moved. Strangely enough, I ended up back in Texas, in a bit of a pickle without my license. Unfortunately, it has not been quite so easy to get my license back as I had hoped.

I had to take the National Counselor's Exam. The state exam I took in 2001 is no longer in use, so to qualify for the license, I took the NCE. I studied by butt off for quite a few months, and passed the exam in August 2010. As I looked through the paperwork for the LPC Internship license to apply, I realized that I was missing some classes from my college transcripts. When I previously applied for my LPC, the requirement for college credits was a specific number of graduate hours. Twelve years later, I have to have specific classes, and I'm missing four. One - multicultural counseling - I did take but it is listed on my transcript as "Seminar In Counseling." If the University will verify it was the appropriate class, I shouldn't have to re-take it. Three other classes I know for a fact I DID NOT take.

So I am back in school. Fall semester 2010, I completed the Techniques in Counseling course. This course teaches specific counseling techniques, and we students had to role play being a counselor and a client. I felt confident I could handle the counselor role (I've had a little practice). I used my client role to vent my frustrations as a parent, and felt that the weeks of free counseling was a benefit. This semester, I'm in the Ethics and Professional Orientation course, which is just a semester-long seminar in ethics - a good thing for everyone. Finally, this summer I will have to take a Vocational and Educational Counseling course. So HOPEFULLY by August 2011, I will be able to send in my application for my new LPC Intern license.

Additionally, I earned my LPC under the 2,000 hour internship guideline. As of my investigation last year, I had to make up the difference between my earned internship hours and the new 3,000 hour guideline. New twist, which just came to light this week: The state of Texas is now going to follow the CACREP recommendation of 4,000 hours. So, by the time I send in my LPC Intern application, I'll have another 1,000 hours to earn. Whew!

Good news: I have a job. I like my job. My life is pretty stable, so as long as I just "keep on keepin' on" I'll eventually get there.

I'll follow my Supervisor Molly's advice: "Never, never, never let your license lapse again!"