I graduated from Radford University with a Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology in May of 2009. My application to be licensed as a professional counselor did not meet board requirements. Here is the exact quote from the letter I received:

 “Your application to proceed with licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor did not meet the requirements set forth in regulation 18VAC115-20-49, specifically because:

o   “1)There was insufficient emphasis on counselor preparation in the academic curriculum and program description.

o   2)  there was a clear intent to prepare students to become clinical psychologists rather than counselors”.

I was unable to be licensed in Virginia and moved to Georgia, where my application was accepted by the licensing board there. I'm concerned that the Virginia licensing board did not provide any criteria which explicity distinquish between clinical psychologists and counselors. That's the reason they rejected my application, but I don't see a clear distinction between the two. My graduate program was in a department of psychology, but I'm going to be able to be a Licensed Professional Counselor in Georgia. The licensing board in Georgia recognizes my degree in Clinical Psychology as meeting the requirements to practice as a counselor in the state of Georgia. Any philosophical distinction between the two professions that may exist has not prevented me from pursuing counseling licensure in Georgia.

I'm concerned that several people who opposed the petition commented on the vastly different coursework between counseling and psychology. I don't know whether this is true in general. But I do know that on the Course Outline Form (Form LPC 2-CO), each applicant must document the Course Code, Course Title, Semester Hours, and College or University where the courses were completed as well as how how they have covered each of the 13 Content Areas designated by the board. All applicants are required to complete the same number of supervised practicum and/or internship hours. Thus, to say that graduates from psychology programs who are applying for the LPC in Virginia lack group counseling, career counseling, marriage and family therapy, substance abuse counseling and ethics is factually incorrect. Graduates from counseling programs and psychology programs are require to meet the same course and clinical requirements, as documented on Form LPC 2-CO. Any graduate who did not have these content area courses as part of his/her graduate training would have to take the courses after graduating and before submitting an application for LPC. All LPCs must have covered all 13 required content areas in their coursework no matter what program they graduated from.

I'm troubled by the position posted by one individual (and copied by others who also opposed the petition) that this is an ethical issue. Specifically, the comment, "In view of these differences the Board of Counseling cannot ethically sanction those trained in the discipline of Professional Psychology to practice as Professional Counselors, just as the Board of Psychology cannot ethically sanction those trained in the discipline of Professional Counseling to practice as Professional Psychologists." If it really were unethical for the Board of Counseling to sanction those trained in the disciple of Professional Psychology to practice as Professional Counselors, why would the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) even contain the words "and related educational programs" in its title? By definition, the title of CACREP specifically acknowledges that Counseling programs are not the only type of programs that are eligible for accreditation by CACREP. What are these other types of programs? The data seems to point to Psychology programs as one such type. There are a variety of CACREP accredited programs around the country, and at least one in Virginia (at James Madison University), which are housed in the Department of Psychology. Why would CACREP accredit a program in a psychology department if it were unethical to do so? Why would JMU have a counseling program in the department of psychology if it were unethical to do so? Do some consider the Georgia Board of Counseling as being unethical by allowing me to become licensed as a counselor in the state of Georgia? What about in previous years (prior to 2009) when the Virginia Counseling Board allowed graduates from psychology programs to be LPCs in the state of Virginia - was the Virginia Board acting unethically then? If this petition is denied, will the Virginia board notify all LCPs who previously graduated from psychology programs that it has behaved unethically by allowing those graduates to be licensed? I think the answer is no to these questions. It doesn't seem that opposition to this petition can be based on ethical grounds.

It's very concerning to me as well that individuals have opposed the petition by saying that it would be "dangerous to public welfare" or that the licensing board would somehow fail "to protect the public" by allowing graduates from psychology programs to practice as LPCs. Many of these individuals argued that there are clear philosophical differences between the two. Even if that's true, it doesn't necessarily mean that one is competent and the other is not. I think the point of the petition is to argue that applicants should be judged on the basis of their coursework and their work with clients as documented by supervisors (both of which are measurable) and not on some intangible "identity" or "philosophy" which cannot be measured. To me, whether a practitioner considers herself/himself a counselor or something else, is immaterial. What matters is how their work is performed with clients.

In conclusion, I'm writing in support of Dr. Chase's petition because the lack of clarity in the Virginia licensing guidelines impacted me negatively, as well as other graduates. I would support the board taking a careful look at how such problems can be avoided in the future. I wouldn't want other people trained in Virginia to have to move to another state in order to get their LCP, as I did. I'm asking the board to do everything it its power to ensure the guidelines are objective and free from ambiguity that has led to the currect problems.

Respectfully,

Deborah Perez-Lopez