WHOARELICENSEDPROFESSIONALCOUNSELORS

1 WHOARELICENSEDPROFESSIONALCOUNSELORS ?Li cen sed pr ofe ss iona l cou ns elor s (or insom e stat es, li ce ns ed cl inicalprof es sion -al coun selors or li ce ns ed mentalhealthcounselors ) pro vi de me ntal healthandsu bs tanc e abu se care to mil lions ofAme cen sed pr ofe ss iona l cou ns elor s(L PCs ) are ma st er s-degreed mentalhea lt h ser vi ce pr ovi ders , trained to workwit h indi vid ua ls , families,and gro upsin tre ati ng men ta l, behavioral,andemot ion al probl ems and disorder Cs ma ke up a la rge pe rce ntageof thework force emp lo yed in com munit ymen tal heal th cen ter s, agencies, andor gani zati on s, and are employedwithinan d co veredby man age d care or gan iza -tionsand he al th pla ns.

2 LPCsalso wor kwit h act ive duty mil it ary per sonnelan dthe ir fam il ies , as we ll as ve ter 120 ,00 0 pr of ess ion alcounselors are li ce ns ed acrossth e coun -try, underli ce ns ure laws enacte d in all 50stat es , th e Dis tri ct of Col umbia,an dPue rto Ri co . LPC educationand tr ain -in g stand ar ds for lic en su re are on parwit h th ose of the othe r two maste r s le ve lmen tal heal th pro vi de rs (clinicalsocialwork ers and mar ri age an d familyth er a-pi st s). Sta te lic en sure req uiremen ts forprof essi onal coun se lor s typically inc lude : poss es sion of a ma ste r s or doctoralde gree in coun se li ng froma nationalor regi onal ly-a cc redi ted institutionof high er ed uca ti on , inclu ding anint ern shi p and cou rs eworkonhu man beha vi or and deve lopm en t,ef fectiv e coun se li ng str ategies,et hi cal pra ct ic e, and oth er cor eknow led ge area s.

3 Complet ion of a min im um of 3,000hou rs of post -ma ster s degre e supe r-vi sed cli ni cal exp er ie nce, pe rfor me dwi th in two yea rs , and pe riodiccom -pleti on of conti nu in g edu cat io ncre di ts/ ho ur s af te r obtainingli ce nsur e; passa ge of the Na ti on al Coun selo rExa mi na ti on (N CE) or a similarsta te- re co gni ze d ex am ; an d adhe re nce to a str ict Co de of Et hic sand re cog niz ed sta ndardsof prac tice,as reg ula te d by the st at e s coun se lo rli ce nsur e boa pr act ice of prof es sio nal co un sel -ing inc lud es , but is no t lim ite d to, thediag nos is and tr eat me nt of me nt al an dem otion al diso rd er s, in clud ing ad dict ivediso rde rs; ps yc ho ed ucat ion al te chn iquesaime d at th e pr ev en tio n of suc h diso r-de rs ; co ns ultat ion to ind ivid uals, co u-ple s, fam ilies , groups, and organ izat ion s.

4 And rese arch int o more eff ec tiv e th er a-peu tic tr eat me nt mod alitie lor s train ing in th e prov isio nof coun selin g and th er apy inc ludestheet iolog y of men tal illne ss an d subs tan ceabusedis or de rs , and the prov isi on ofth e we ll- es tablis he d treatm en ts of cogn i-tive -beh av ior al, int er per so nal, an dpsyc hod ynamic the unse lor s ed ucat ion and tr ainingis orie nte dtow ard th e ad opt ion of a trulyclien t-ce nt ere d, an d not prim arily illnes s-ce nt ere d, approach to the nsed prof es sio nal coun se lo rs andme mbe rs of th e oth er no n- phy sic ianme ntal health profe ssio ns of ps yc ho lo gy,clin ical so cial work, mar riagean d fam ilyth erapy,and psy ch iatr ic nurs ing prov ideth e lar ge majo rit y of men tal healt hse rvic es in the.

5 Ro ughlyone infour Ame ric ans suf fe r from a diagnos-able me ntal diso rd er in a give n year, andaboutone in fiv e Ame ric ans ex perie nc ea mo od dis or de r such as de pre ssio n atsom e poin t in the cour se of th eir lif sear ch for a li ce nsed co unseloron li ne, vis it The Th erapyDirectoryonth ePs ychologyTodaywebsiteathttp://th erapist sychol Yo uca n sea rch by zip co de, area ofspecialty, and/ or other er common waysto find a licensedco uns elor ar e by wor d-o f-m ou th an d byloo king in the ye ll ow pag es (typicallyunder cou nse ling or co uns elors ; ma rriag e and fam ily counseling ;or mental healthservi ce s ).

6 Lookforin div id ua ls wh o ide ntifyth em selvesas a L icens ed Pro fe ssi onal Counselor or L PC . Wh ile so me stateshave a varia -ti on of thi s titl e, the key wor ds to lo okfor ar e lic ense d and cou nselor. Yo ur state s co un se lo r boardwebs iteca n let you kno w the specif ic desig na -ti on in your state . Go unseli ors/Licens ureAndCe find a directoryof state counselor licensureboards,in clu di ng the ir pho ne num ber andin ternetaddr ess. Ma ny state boardwebsit es in clu de se ar ch functionswh ic h letyou verif y the lice nsureof individualpra ct iti million ad ult s ( ) in theUn ite d Stat es had men tal illn ess inth e past ye ar.

7 Of th os e, nearly n (20%)also had a subst an ceuse diso rd er. 11 million ad ult s ( ) had seri -ou s me nt al illne ss (SMI) a diag -no sableme nt al dis or de r th at sub -st antiallyint erf ered wit h or limit edon e or mo re maj or life act iv it ie s in the past ye ar. Le ss than 4 in 10 ad ults wit h men-tal illne ss in th e pas t year rec eiv edmental healt h serv ice s. In 2009, millionpeo ple ( adultsaged 18 or olde r) had atle ast one maj or de pre ssiv e epis od edur in g th e pas t ye ar. In 2009,2 millionyo uth s ( th e po pulation age d 12 to 17)had at le as t on e majo r de pres siveepisode dur ing the pas t ye ar.

8 In 2009,an est im ate d millionadult s ( )age 18 or olde r hadserio us tho ugh ts of suicidein thepast year. millio n adultsmadesuic ide plansin the past ye ar andapproximat ely 1 millio n adult satt em pt ed suic ide in the past ce Abuse an d Ment al He althServ ic es Ad min ist rat io n. (2010).Resultsfromthe2009 National SurveyonDru gUsean d Health:Menta l HealthFi nd ings(Of fic e of Applie d Studies,NSD UHSerie s H- 39, HHSP ublic atio n A 10-4609).Rockv ille , MD .Copyrigh t 201 1 Ame ric an Cou nselin g Associati o