I am a graduate of Radford University's Clinical Psychology M.S. Program.  I have never applied for supervision for LPC in Virginia, but know many people who have.  Currently, I work for a public mental health agency, and have been employed full-time by this agency for approaching five years.  However, perhaps due to my inability to become licensed, I often feel as if my presence and abilities are constantly in question.  Also, I have been clearly reminded that I am expendable.  There is an enormous lack of available resources, including counselors, for the population that I serve and burnout is rampant.  These problems won't be fixed just by allowing clinical students to become license- eligible, but if they are competent, they can help.  If someone has already experienced immense personal hardship while attempting to acquire a LPC (such as the expense of a second master's program, having to relocate to another state to become licensed, repeated rejections from the board for what feel like arbitrary reasons) will they even want to continue in this field? Or even worse, will they stay in the field with a jaded perspective on human nature, causing potential harm to their clients and even harder work for those that follow in their path?  

As others have said, there are many others who would speak here, but I suspect they are not, out of fear of the consequences, exhaustion, or not knowing this forum exists.   I've tried to incorporate the thoughts of those I have spoken to who are experiencing hardship because of these decisions.  Thank you for reading and considering my viewpoint.