Having been in the helping profession for over 35 years now, I have seen a huge lack of respect for LPC's, especially from the field of social work. We are already not taken as seriously as LCSW's and are grossly under utilized in some arenas. For example, as far as I know, we are not utilized by Medicare or Tricare/military yet. In a world where there is currently a pressing need for more therapists, we are still not seen as "good enough" compared to LCSW's. I would hate to give them one more reason to think we don't measure up. Our training is essentially the same as theirs at the moment (equal but different with some subjects), it's just laid out differently. The LCSW internship is longer, but our residency is longer. So shortening any of it may put us in question. Sometimes I wish the two disciplines would merge into one, helping is helping, therapy is therapy. The whole Hatfield & McCoy feud thing is getting old.