After finding out that a number of our graduates had been denied for LPC eligibility in the state of Virginia, due to several reasons that we as students were unaware of in the Clinical Psychology program at Radford University, I was forced to transfer. I spent 2 years in the Clinical Psychology program, year-round, obtaining the core education requirements for the LPC. I was forced to change my direction and not graduate from the Clinical Psychology program at Radford University. I transferred to the Counselor Education program 1 month before graduating in order to save my career and salvage a chance to become an LPC. This was a costly decision that led to an extra full year in school and an additional $11,000 - $13,000 in tuition and living costs to add to my debt from graduate school. I worked full-time as a Community Support Professional and then a Short Term Crisis Clinician at New River Valley Community Services during this extra year of schooling that was necessary for me to possibly become license eligible. I recently graduated from Radford University with and M.S. in Counseling and Human Development. This also required me to restart and redo my supervision courses of practicum and internship after I already completed 700 hours of internship in the Clinicial Psychology program.

This has been a severe detriment to many lives in terms of finances, job satisfaction, career opportunities, and unneccessary extra education for fully trained and competent individuals. There are numerous professionals at my workplace that have sought extra education, completed extra education, or have settled for a career that does not require an LPC due to these new regulations. Many of my graduating class, alumni, and recent graduates have looked elsewhere for their residency and moved to different parts of the country where there education and experience would be accepted by licensing boards. Others have changed career paths all together due to the expense of graduate school and not wanting to obtain another degree that would better suit the requirements. The decisions by the board to no longer approve individuals who have completed the requirements necessary for an LPC has significantly impacted my life, my co-workers lives, and the people we serve.