As a long-term marriage and family therapist in the state of Maryland I strongly object to the proposed legislation that would restrict licensure for professional counselors in Virginia to only persons who had graduated from Virginia programs. This would severely limit the availability of experienced and qualified professionals to Virginia citizens. Furthermore, there are parts of Virginia that are geographically close to Maryland or D.C. and not allowing professionals from those areas to proactice by being licensed in Virginia would mean that individuals and families in the DC area would be unable to choose among various skilled and trained professionals. There are many specialties within our profession and people need to be able to obtain services tailored to their particular needs. The more in depth the pool of providers are, the more choice and appropriate services can be obtained by the consumer. This legislation does not serve the community; it only serves the university or training programs in Virginia. This is an economic, self-serving piece of legislation, not an effort to serve the citizens of Virginia!