Can you be a counselor without a license

He had degrees from the most elite universities in the country and training at Harvard. I saw him for years and he really did help me stay out of the hospital and he was a great encouragement in my life.

However, he eventually screwed me up really badly by crossing boundaries! I had no idea. He had the best credentials that anyone could possibly obtain. He was a great doctor for years and then something snapped! It was awful for me. So, you just never know. As an observer of this type of situation, while a licensed clinical psychologist, or LSW may enter into private practice, I do not think that is appropriate for life coaches and other similar counselors.

Most appropriate for them would be to work under the auspices of an organization, ie could be a church, a community organization, could perhaps even be hired by a licensed clinical psychologist practice, etc. But I think it is inappropriate for a life coach to hang up a shingle and work from home, etc. I would not seek out such myself for counseling. Being a shoulder to lean on and an ear to hear do not require degrees nor insurance. Thank you Leah! I enjoyed your feedback on this article.

No one said you have to go, that is an excuse. Take responsibility for your actions. The girls Laura and Leah never spoke un-kind, but it is appalling when one reads the so-called professionals call these women disrespectful, ignorant, wrong, and even dumb. Your commitment has nothing to do with arresting and prosecuting a person out of contempt. It is no-one fault for your choices. Either way, at least admit to yourself that no one is perfect.

Psychology is not flawless. If not perfect then it is more harm to try and shut down all other practices. People are not stupid. They choose who they want to help them based on what their needs are.

If they choose you great, if not, have you no shame? Hallelujah — yes, Amanda — thank you! Seek education and degrees first because of what you will learn, and only secondarily because of licensing doors that get opened. People with degrees and licenses will always be at a professional and economic advantage. Be humble and be kind, people. I work in primary care. The world needs all the help we can get.

Big deal, tho, if I am so inflexible that I discount others who clearly have the passion to help others. And even get paid for it!

Personally I prefer to not bill insurance. Just a fact. Over the last 10 to 15 years there has been a movement in the mental health fields to uplift and validate this profession. We have worked exceptionally hard to obtain our education and the many thousands of hours that go into licensing.

Consider that we have something to protect, and this is why some of us may come off sounding threatened. Each one of us is valid and everyone of us can help others licensed or not. If a life coach can help a person get through major obstacles and over blocks in their lives by setting goals and doing worksheets, well that is one less miserable in the world.

That is a beautiful thing. Honestly if you are a good psychotherapist, then you should have no worries about what someone else is doing. This also reminds me of when NP could take an extra class and become PMHNP with the ability to write medication and now can practice on their own without a supervising physician.

What makes a good clinician is the outcome of their hard work. The patients progress and results are what matters. Not your degree. This is interesting. Maybe you feel insecure in your practice and ability to help others, so you feel threatened by someone you think has less clinical and educational experience?

This is a public forum and none of you are acting like professional mental health workers. A lot of have the same education and probaly more than you. I license is just another way at be allowed to practice like when you register your business with the secretary of state. It is in purpose to fund the state to practice.

Like when you open up a bar and grill you have to get a license to sell liquor. If you get the right protection of disclaimer. You are just as. As a therapist, you should also believe having a support system is a necessity. Additionally, you should realize the need for people in some mental health capacity. No person is exempt from being depressed or anxious in their life. We must support and lift up all those who choose to dedicate themselves to the psychic care of others. We must honor both the empirical study and practice of psychology as it has evolved since the mid 19th century, as well as shamanic and folk traditions which have evolved over countless millennia.

Do you support them name calling? Did they learn to express themselves from the I while earning their therapy degree? I use myself because I agree with and practice as Lori does. Did they forget? Why did they forget?

Is it because they are emotional about what was shared? If so, why are they emotional? I work among clinicians. The best way for me to help clinicians understand what I do is to practice with them what I do.

As exhibited as above. Learning happens everywhere. Nor does it mean a person without your kind of license is causing it. After Apples came Androids.

After Fords came Volkswagens. After Psychologists came Clinical Social Workers. After Clinical Social Workers came Peers. After Peers came people who just want to connect and feel empowered with People who can skillfully facilitate this. Why do you feel the need to control what I do? Are you worried about my causing harm to others? What do we have in common? Are people like me important enough to ask and find out? I think you are so …. We now have a new crop, EFT practitioners. They purport to treat ptsd, chemical dependency, anxiety, depression, and other dsm diagnoses emphasizing trauma.

They are taught to practice without degrees. There are many licensed professionals who openly support non-professionals to practice with acute and chronic clientele. I am in a training seminar as i write this with a psychiatrist, who is known for reporting practitioners for his perception of them violating scope of practice, and he is supporting this activity.

Licensure and education rules and statutes are terribly enforced nationwide. While i believe this is a useful tool and approach, i am deeply concerned about non-trained non-professionals doing this.

I dont practice law or medicine without a license…. And I thank you for that! I understand that Life Coaches start with what can we do moving forward, but the past always comes back until it is addressed and treated. Just a note to those people…. Experience sometimes come from direct or indirect encounters with mental health issues. I have garnered 1k children hours, then was in an accident and was planning on moving back to NY.

Does anyone else know if these hours can be transferred from state to state? Also, I have also studied, ferociously, another 12k hours, in scientific research, while recovering from my injury, so, I would not jump to conclusions so quickly about people practicing under faster licenses. My therapist said that the Ph. D program, was just fancier letters herself. Every person is unique and there are tons of crap therapists who have completed the full enchilada.

I am interested in helping women over come injuries, as that is what I have survived, so, it would be very niche and I only know of one therapist doing this, and she costs a fortune and is lousy and has done nothing to raise awareness about these man-made diseases that put women in the ground.

I looked into life coaching and could not stand the way they spoke, etc I am one of the few students who passed the neuropsych test Ph. D eval course in my cohort. I watched the life coach video and it was so remedial, that I could not take it.

Any advice? Sounds more bitter than professional, maybe a self check on your own thoughts and answering before you are quick to throw an insult may help. I did attend school for many years and realized my own experiences have helped people find what they need. Maybe you have the education but simply learned nothing. Seems that the degree herd is triggered.

This commonly involves pursuing a set number of continuing education credits every couple of years. With this complete, you can then take the exam administered by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards. LMFTs must also renew their license every few years based on the rules of their state. This typically requires completing a determined number of continuing education credits for each renewal period.

Some states offer license reciprocity through endorsement. If you hold a valid counselor or therapist license in another state, you can submit proof of your education and supervised hours and then take the state-specific exam.

There are roles in which you can apply a counseling or therapy degree without a license, however to work independently, a license will be necessary. There are many roles within the field of social work and these can be tailored to address a variety of specialties such as public health, family counseling, substance abuse, criminal justice, and much more. There are also various levels within social work, but to practice independently, you must become a licensed clinical social worker LCSW.

The program you choose should be accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Many states also require continuing education in areas such as law, ethics, and domestic violence. The test consists of scored multiple-choice questions and 20 non-scored pre-test questions. In general, a passing grade is between 93 and points.

To earn your license, you must also pass your state-specific jurisprudence test. Use the map above to learn about any other requirements laid out by your state. Different levels go by different names in different states but are often referred to by titles such as social work assistant or associate, baccalaureate social worker, master social worker, and advanced social worker.

Not all jobs in the field of psychology require a license. In fact, according to the American Psychological Association APA , students of psychology frequently misunderstand when a license is needed and therefore mistakenly assume they need to acquire a license in order to be qualified for the jobs they desire. These are just a few examples:. In other words, you do not need to be licensed as a psychologist to work in the academic furtherance of psychology as an academic discipline.

This is not true, however, for school psychologists, who work with students about their personal psychological problems. Positions in Government Agencie s: There are various federal, state and county institutions that hire employees with degrees in psychology who are not necessarily licensed to practice.

To be clear, these are not counseling positions, which would require a license to practice. The position may require another degree such as nursing to perform certain tasks i. The summer following graduation, he applied for a job at a youthful offender facility. He quickly learned that he did not need to go back to school to do that which he loved;.