Action | Changes resulting from periodic review |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 4/1/2022 |
As the current President of Northern Virginia Licensed Professioal Counselors (NVLPC), the Virginia Chapter of the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA), I would like to represent two categories who may be impacted by this regulation change – the Licensed Professioal Counselor (LPC) and the military spouse. Being licensed as a professional counselor is very important to me. I am a military spouse and understand the trials of being military connected and trying to continue to work in this field. While I have not personally had to move to Virginia and get licensed afterwards, I have supervised military persons who wanted reciprocity in Virginia, and military connected families who have relocated here with a license from another jurisdiction, wanting to be licensed here in Virginia. It is my belief that any board-certified discipline be held to rigorous requirements for endorsement. I strongly oppose this regulation of a 10-year wait time for endorsement. I agree with the posts that have come before mine that highlight the need for providers not going away. If we impose unnecessary restrictions, I believe we hurt this profession. I have held my license for over 15-years and am a Clinical Supervisor for the LPC and the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT). If I were newly licensed, or a military spouse new to this area, and read these guidelines, I would be heart sick to discover that I may have to wait a max of 10-years before I could have endorsement in Virginia. In addition, I am strongly in favor of the counseling compact which would allow for reciprocity across state lines and support the rigor demanded for this credential. I believe if we are going to support the LPC and create an equitable platform for endorsement we need to support organizations such as AMHCA who advocate for the counseling compact.