ACA Blog

Tuesday was the last day of my practicum. I couldn’t believe it was over! Time had flown by and I had spent 400 hours between counseling clients, researching, reading, and discussing cases. Right after I left my site, I met with my individual supervisor at my school to discuss my experience. One of the questions she invited me to reflect on was the high and lows of my practicum. After mentioning a few highs and lows she asked me, “What about the woman who said you were too young to be her counselor?” I had completely suppressed that incident from my memory.

Leadership is something that is often expected of clinical professionals whether or not they are supervisors, directors, owners of private practice or newbies who have just entered the field. Newbies become de facto leaders of their clinical groups, or even viewed as leaders of sorts by their individual clients. Others, as they grow in responsibilities find that they are put in charge of leading whether they want to be or not.

ONE: Continual learning is a requirement in the counseling profession. Summer ‘tis the season of license renewal and continuing education completion, fees for license renewal are due to the board of health professions along with the promise that continuing education requirements have been met. I have been guilty of groaning about paperwork and requirements, but I find the process of continuing education rejuvenating and exciting.

I graduated a few short weeks ago and finished up my clinical hours. Although I miss my clients and my coworkers, my new-found free time has enabled me to pick up a few things I had missed during the past year, like writing in my own blog and reading books. My free time has also allowed me to process the learning experiences of the past year--and holy cow, there were quite a few!

After completing the first year of my doctoral program, I believe I need to make myself a t-shirt that states “I survived my 1st year of my PhD.” But beyond that I have recently come to the realization of how mentorship is all around us. Upon acceptance into my program, I was assigned to a faculty mentor who is also serving as the chair of my dissertation committee. I immensely see the importance of her mentorship in creating my planned program and during the dissertation process. Just think of if you had to embark upon uncharted territory without anyone to confer with. This would be quite the fete; however, quite manageable with one’s mentorship.

One of the largest mistakes would-be interns make in attempting to find internships is very, very easy to avoid. Here’s how.

If you read my last blog, you know that I was preparing myself for a long wait in getting my temporary LPC license. Well, good news! It only took EIGHT days from the day I mailed it until the day I was granted my LPC-I number with the state of Texas! I think that must be a new record or something, right? It actually happened so fast that I didn’t know until days later. I want to share some tips with you so hopefully your license will get to you quickly as well.

When I began my internship for my graduate program, almost two years ago, with a company working within assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, I was excited to immerse myself in counseling older adults. My experiences throughout my internship working with older adults afforded me invaluable opportunities to learn and cultivate my passion for older adults. A great deal of my focus in my own research and writing revolved around the older adult population, and this blog has been driven by my experiences with my older adult clients

After one Army tour in Afghanistan and three years working at the Pentagon and the FBI, I’m finally back in the great state of Texas. Home sweet home! I’m spending time with family and old friends again. Excited to start my life in Dallas. Happy to be only months away from my PhD. I’ve been invited to join the most amazing DFW counselors at the LifeWorks Group. I’m can’t wait to meet my first new client…but I’m stuck waiting on the state licensing board. Oh yeah…that.

A recent email from a would-be-graduate counseling intern: “I am currently completing my counseling graduate coursework at a university in pursuit of licensure. I have been searching for an internship position beginning in the Fall 2013. I have been looking for 6 months now. I interviewed, but did not get an internship from an agency who had only 14 applicants for 10 open positions. Their response to me was that they thought I could obtain something elsewhere due to my extensive background (I already have an M.A. in Human Services and Education) and others could not. I wish they'd tell me the real reason as I thought the interview went very well. I am frustrated, so I was avidly searching for other places to apply and found your site… Since I have plenty of experience, I am baffled as to why I cannot find an internship.”