How to Earn Counseling Licensure in Texas?

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Texas, as with any other state, may vary with their counseling licensure requirements and one must pass the examinations in order to be licensed and practice within any state depending on the state and national requirements. The first thing is to obtain the college education needed to become a licensed counselor.

A master’s degree in counseling theories, human development, social cultural or family effects on human behavior is required. One must also obtain the knowledge of rules and regulations within the state requirements and one must also pass that examination of knowledge.

Overview of the Texas Counseling Licensure

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the projected growth for counselors is 25% with a median salary of around $40,000 per year.

After obtaining the degree required, there is an internship that must be completed, which requires 3,000 hours of supervised experience with 1,500 hours of direct client contact. There is the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors examination that will need to be passed at the state level of examinations for the state of Texas.

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) also has an examination to take. To ensure the student has the required measured knowledge of rules and regulations, the Texas Jurisprudence Examination is given, and this ensures for licensing purposes that one has the knowledge to operate within the legal parameters for the counselor and their clients’ protection.

Texas Counseling Licensure Tips

There is a lot to take into consideration when deciding to become a counselor. One needs to be compassionate about helping people. Some will have a private practice and offer evening and weekend hours in order to meet the client needs. Analysis skills, observation skills, research skills, business skills and exemplary communication and people skills are just some of the basics required to perform duties that will be performed as a counselor. The hours can be long and there may be some sleepless nights thinking about treatment methods and what you can do to explore further treatment options.

Getting people to let their walls down and learning to communicate about issues that they need help with can be a challenge. There will be those clients who cannot communicate what is bothering them due to not being able to put it into words or just being too afraid to talk about things. People skills are critical to being able to obtain breakthroughs in helping others deal with their issues. Knowing when to refer that client to a specialist is also truly important.

Being able to help people when they have that “ah-ha” moment and seeing them finally feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel and knowing they are finally on the mend is very rewarding.

Some will chose to work with a certain age group or maybe those coming home from deployment or even the elderly. Others may choose to work with education agencies such as guidance counselors and career counseling. There are those who will choose to work with the government as social workers. The possibilities are endless.