I am writing as a supervisor and manager with New River Valley Community Services. I oversee 10-12 Master's-level clinicians in providing services for clients in crisis. In the past we have hired many very solid, very qualified clinicians coming out of Psychologoy Masters programs that have gone on to obtain their LPC without problem. We continued to hire quality candidates from both Psychology and Counseling programs under the presumption that, as has always been the case, they would be equally eligible for LPC, only to discover after hire that these fine clinicians were not eligible for LPC. This has caused us quite a crisis in 2 major ways. First, it has made these employees ineligible for key positions that they are abundantly qualified for (and that we truly needed and expected them to be able to fill). Second, it has compelled them to seek admission to other LPC-eligible graduate programs, meaning they will not be able to obtain licensure for several years, at a time when the positions they want and are uniquely qualified for have no other qualified candidates, positions that we need and planned to be filled in a matter of months.  

I understand that there are legitimate reasons to try to separate the fields of Counseling and Psychology. However, these candidates have literally completed the same coursework and are truly qualified by education to perform the duties of a Counselor--they vary from those graduating from CACREP programs in name only; it appears, to me, to be simply a matter of semantics and not substance. Further, even if the decision remains in years to come to exclude those coming from Psychology programs, it seems a terrible waste and a significant loss to the field to come to that decision so suddenly as to preclude an entire generation of solid clinicians from obtaining licensure. Rather, it seems much more reasonable to open a window of time for transition, as has been done with other changes in licensure requirements. This would allow those who obtained their degree and employment in good faith that they could obtain the LPC credential (based on longstanding history with the board) to obtain licensure, while also alerting all potential graduate students that after a certain year the LPC board will exclude Psychology-accredited programs.

Respectfully,

Reece Nielson, Ph.D., LPC, LMFT