Therapist Supply Chain
Reclaiming Competency in the Mental Health Profession
Let’s talk about reclaiming competency. Twenty-five years ago all 50 states did away with oral exams required to display competency prior to licensure as a mental health counselor. 60% of examinees failed those oral exams. That’s more a statement about how well their academic institutions prepared them for their career than anything having to do…
Read MoreClinical Integrity: A Call to Reinstate Oral Exams
In 2003, the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) discontinued the oral examination requirement for licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT). This decision, followed by the eventual elimination of the Written Clinical Vignette Exam in 2016, was justified as part of an effort to streamline licensure and align California with national testing standards.…
Read MoreFixing Our Accrediting Institutions
Fixing our accrediting institutions will not be easy but it must be done. One of the key segments in need of repair in The New Counselor Supply Chain is the one dealing with Accrediting Institutions and for the most part they are broken. Their function is to determine which universities are the cream of the…
Read MoreNew Therapist Supply Chain
The New Therapist Supply Chain is a diagram of the birth-to-practice pipeline that supplies our profession with new counselors. It is “the system” through which our new therapists are generated, and it is broken. We use the diagram as a visual aid to analyze the various steps and pitfalls in counselor development. It’s a…
Read MoreDealing With Political Confrontations During the Holidays
Dealing with political confrontations during the holidays is a perennial issue for a lot of folks. Cousin Eddie inevitably shouts, “Well, how about that election?” I cannot think of a bigger elephant in the room during your next family Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner than recent political events. If it was a local election regarding a…
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