We are excited to be sharing our journey towards licensure so, this podcast will cover our experiences and hopefully will serve as a helpful tool for anyone who is on their road to getting licensed! From the nostalgia to the most horrifying moments along our journey, we are going to dive deep into the details that NOBODY tells you while on your venture.
No matter the route you take, every state has certain requirements for becoming a licensed therapist. This includes a required number of clinical hours (depending upon which state you live in) before sitting through your exam. There are different prerequisites and regulations for each state so be sure to do your research and determine which license and which path is right for you and your career path and timeline.
Clinical supervision is required to reach hours towards licensure, and we have experiences with both agency settings and private practice to share. It’s also possible to build hours at an agency in tandem with a private practice to fully round out your clinical experiences.
Agency Pros and Cons
- Understand agency policies and requirements for documentation and reporting rules
- Administrative protocols are much different in agencies versus a private practice
- Supervisors are always there and ready to help through new processes like doing your first risk assessment
- Hours can be obtained a lot faster than in a private practice
- Varying range of clients
- Easy to burnout quickly since there is so much need and responsibility that comes with it
Private Practice Pros and Cons
- More unaccompanied time where you may not have group setting supervision
- Less varying range of clients since some private practices specialize
- Hours can be a lot lower than in an agency setting
- Focus on learning more about a particular population
- More personal and opportunity to learn about the intricacies of owning a private practice that you don’t learn in school
- Clinicians have more freedom than in those an agency
Self-advocacy during your licensure is HUGE. It’s important you check that your clinical supervisors are licensed and, in a position, to be overseeing your clinical hours. Be aware of who and what license is necessary to supervise you otherwise your clinical hours could be rejected if not.
We are looking forward to further discussions related to our road to licensure and would love to hear from our listeners.
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Resources mentioned
Board of Behavioral Sciences
Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling
https://floridasmentalhealthprofessions.gov
Would you like to be a guest speaker on our show? Please reach out to be considered for an episode.