Not Crossing the Line - Why LPC-As Struggle for Licensure

The path to full licensure is filled with perils both big and small and LPC-As are at risk at being left behind. Full licensure isn’t just an upgrade or something else that you have to update on your email; it’s a sign that you’ve officially made it as a therapist. You’ve met the standards for supervision, you’ve passed the 3,000 hours, and you can now do the most daunting task for a counselor: bill insurance under your own licensure.

But more and more therapist aren’t making it to the finish line. Some are stuck in perpetual LPC-A land while others abandon ship completely. Why is that? The answer, like most things in life, is never one single issue, but multiple issues that create a daunting barrier.

The cost of licensure

It’s more likely than not that you will have to pay for supervision. This isn’t without merit as a supervisor is giving up (at minimum) an hour of their time to aid, guide, and educate you on the ins and outs of counseling, but the charge of a weekly session, four times a month, can create a serious financial concern especially during these financially straining times.

Lack of Supervision

Supervision is a requirement for LPC-As and they cannot move forward in their careers. There is no way around this process. While supervision should be an area of support for LPC-As, the reality is that finding a qualified, dedicated, and supervisor within your area can be limited, especially if one lives within a rural area with a lack of direct access to qualified supervisors and this is if everything goes smoothly. For most LPC-As, they will be under supervision for a minimum of two years and that is if everything goes fine and no hiccups occur like your supervisor loses their license, your supervisor retires, your supervisor refuses to sign the weekly hours collected paperwork, you and your supervisor aren’t a good fit, etc. Two years is a long time for something to go wrong and when your career depends on the stability of the supervisor/supervisee relationship.

Low Wages

Everyone needs to be paid fairly for their labor. This is non-negotiable. However, for newly minted LPC-As, many can expect to make between 45k to 55k as they start out their professional career. The rising costs of everyday items, to paying back student loans, and the overwhelming caseload that awaits LPC-As can be a crushing blow and can make one reconsider the concept of entering into the counseling field.

Martyrdom Mentality

Too often senior counselors will state to their younger colleagues, “We’re in it for the outcome, not the income”. It is a fine way to demoralize and diminish the hard work that counselors at every level do on a regular basis. This field is built on the backs of the tired, the stressed, and the severely underpaid social workers, therapists, case managers, who attempt to fix systemic issues prevalent in our society while trying to catch people before they fall through the cracks. This career is often a thankless job and good news doesn’t come by as often as it should.

Stress

On any given day, a therapist’s caseload might consist of a three crisis calls, making a CPS report, intakes, diving deep into generational trauma, meetings, and trainings, and, of course, documentation to keep notes in line. The life of a therapist can be stressful as you attempt to reign in the chaos that it human nature being impacted by severe mental health issues. There is a reason why burnout is a major factor in therapists leaving the field in droves. There is only so much trauma and pain that one can take before they need a break. That break often results in stepping back from client facing work, pivoting careers, or reducing the number of clients that one faces.

At the end of the day…

LPC-As face more trials and tribulations than they should in completing their licensure requirements. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone within the field to see the number of LPC-As dwindle within the oncoming years, or begin as we already are, to see a severity in the bottleneck effect of LPC-As to LPCs.