Supervision Revisited

There may still be some misconceptions regarding supervised experience for counselor interns. In this article we will review supervision requirements and the qualifications of a supervisor of counselor interns.

Supervision Requirements:

The LPC Board defines supervision as "assisting the counselor intern in developing expertise in methods of the professional mental health counseling practice and in developing self-appraisal and professional development strategies. An applicant for license must document a minimum or 3,000 hours of post-master’s experience in professional mental health counseling under the clinical supervision of a board-approved supervisor. This supervision must occur over a period of no less than two years and not more than seven years from the original date the supervision was approved. Five hundred hours of supervised experience may be gained for each 30 hours of graduate semester hours earned beyond the master’s degree provided that such hours are clearly related to the field of mental health counseling, are earned from a regionally accredited institution, and are acceptable to the board, provided that in no case the applicant has less than 2,000 hours of board-approved supervised experience within the aforementioned time limits.

The three thousand hours of supervised experience should include a minimum of 1,900 hours (up to 2,900 hours) in direct client contact whether in group or individual counseling. A maximum of 1,000 hours in additional client contact, counseling related activities (ie. Case notes, staffing, case consultation, or testing/assessment of clients) or education at the graduate level in the field of mental health should be accrued by the applicant. A minimum of 100 hours of face-to-face supervision by a board approved supervisor is also needed.

Qualifications of a Supervisor of Counselor Interns:

The supervisor of counselor interns must hold a Louisiana license as a licensed professional counselor and have been practicing mental health counseling in their setting for at least five years. Two of the five years must be post licensing experience. The supervisor must also have completed training in either a graduate-level academic course in counseling supervision or a board approved professional training program in supervision. The graduate-level academic training should include at least 45 clock hours of supervision training and the professional training program must be a minimum of 25 direct clock hours with the trainers and meet presentation standards established by the board.

A supervisor may not be a relative of the counselor intern. The board defines a relative as being a spouse, parent, child, sibling of the whole or half-blood, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, or one who has been related by marriage or has any other dual relationship.

After meeting the requirements for supervision the applicant will identify him/herself as a counselor intern. Registration of supervised experience must be approved by the board prior to the starting date of the supervised experience. The intern will be advised by the board by letter that the proposed supervision arrangement has been approved or that it has been rejected.

For more information on supervision, please consult the board’s website at lpcboard.org. All the necessary forms are listed on the website for applying for supervision. The site also lists supervisors in the state who have been approved by the board to provide supervision.

Inactive LPC 2006

Boyd J. Atterberry

Clayton J. Arceneaux

Joe W. Aguillard

Christopher C. Beamish

Eloise D. Brown

Kathleen S. Bergeron

Leigh A. Bradley

Patrick L. Bowman

Audrey M. Cullen

Catherine E. Cassingham

Caroline R. Clinard

Louise C Coleman

Michelle B. Canas

Pamela J. Chauvin

Frances R. Dardeau

Bridget A. Falcon

Mary L. Freeman

Michael J. Fairchild

Robert E. Flowers Jr.

Donald A. Hains

Mary P. Howard

Elain K. Huntington

Lori W. Heroman

Mary P. Hulse

John Jennette Jr.

Frances A. Kelley

Kathleen K. Lagasse

Arvin D. Morgan

Bonny Maise

Julie A . Mooney

Sonja K. Martin

Silva C. Marcantel

William R. Miller

Donna L. Nelson

Tommy J. Powell

Babara J. Rutland

Sally S. Robinson

Bonnie M. Schindler

Cheri Silverman

Cynthia G. Sutton

Deborah Steele

Joy L. Sumrall

John S. Southern

Josie J. Scott

Lillian M. Spence

Sara H. Sanders

Julian Toups

Luke Tse

Alice J. Voorhies

Daphne Villemarette

Joseph T. Vuong

Charles A. Wood

Jennifer A. Wallace

Lamar V. Wilkinson

Jolie L. Ziomek

Merrill R. Zeringue