How to Obtain Licensure to Become a Counselor in Texas

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Are you interested in learning all about Texas counselor licensing?

Beginning the Process

The state of Texas takes licensure process for counselors extremely serious. In fact, the process for Texas counselor licensing begins before the student ever starts an academic pathway for this career. A criminal history background check is required to enroll in most counseling programs in Texas. There are certain felony type charges that may impede progress in these types of education. Depending on certain crimes, students may be ask to wait longer and prove up character before being able to apply for education in counseling venues.

Several things may be done to spur the process. Letters of reference, support from mentors, excellent job history, and good credit history may be used as documentation when applying for acceptance into these educational programs.

This is an excellent process in order to filter individuals who will not be able to sit for the licensure exam because of criminal history issues that are not accepted by the licensure board.

Education for Texas Counselor Licensing

Requirements for a new license applicant are as follows:

Applicant will need to complete a Master’s or Doctorate degree in counseling or a counseling related field. The program must be accredited by one of the approved accreditation companies, such as Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Programs must meet academic requirements of the Texas Board of Professional Counselors and the National Board of Certified Counselors.

Choosing the Program for a Texas Counselor Licensing Job

There are over 80 different accredited counseling programs in Texas. They range from certificate programs to PhD (doctorate) degrees. The most economical route for this type of program is to begin with a junior or community college for basics or Associate’s degree programs and advance later on to Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. This may enable the student to work in the environment of structured counseling for some time before doing more intrinsic work with the licensure process.

The Texas counseling licensing board will define “counseling related” subjects. They may include growth and development, abnormal behaviors, methodology, research, ethics, family issues and cultural sociology. Assessment techniques, typical documentation for assessment, career development, and professional orientation are all helpful studies for the new counselor applicants.

As part of the graduate program, a supervised practicum experience that is primarily counseling in nature must be completed. The practicum should be at least 300 clock-hours with at least 100 clock-hours of direct client contact. Academic credit for the practicum must appear on the applicant’s transcript.

The National Counselor Exam and the Texas Jurisprudence Exam are only the beginning of licensure processing. After these exams are passed, then clinical work experience must be completed and well documented. After receiving a temporary LPC license, a supervised post-graduate internship must be completed. A board approved supervisor must monitor the new licensee for at least 1,500 hours of direct client contact for the internship. A total of 3,000 internship clock hours is required to complete licensure. The time span of this internship should encompass at least 24 months for completion.