Supervision Required of Professionals

by Dr. Sara Sue Schaeffer

            Providing supervision to LLPC’s and LLMFT’s working to meet requirements for full licensure has been professionally rewarding and fun. Getting to know and work with the next generation of professionals and leaders in our profession has been a real privilege, and the learning has been a two-way street. The focus of this column will be to share some of those learnings with the membership of MCA.

          There seem to be some misunderstandings about what the licensure law requires concerning supervision. Some new professionals have become licensed as Limited Licensed Professional Counselors (LLPC’s) and begun to practice with the idea that they will seek supervision as soon as they are ready to begin working on requirements for full licensure. These well-intentioned LLPC’s had no idea they were in violation of the law! Section 333.18109 of the Public Health Code instructs us,” A limited license issued under this section shall require that the individual confine his or her practice to a program of counseling experience under the supervision of a licensed professional counselor.” Thus, a LLPC must always practice under supervision, and the supervisor must be a LPC. The law currently does not specify any further requirements for LPCs providing supervision.

          It is the General Rules promulgated by the Board of Counseling that further clarify requirements for supervision. The Rules currently state that a LLPC with a master’s degree must acquire at least 3,000 hours of supervision over not less than a 2-year period, and at least 100 of these hours must be in the “immediate physical presence of the supervisor.” If a LLPC has at least 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours beyond the master’s degree, then 1,500 hours of supervision are required over not less that a 1-year period with 50 hours required face-to face with the supervisor.

          The Rules indicate that the supervised experience should include practice which “involved an opportunity to work with a broad range of the population and which was conducted in an organized education, business, health, private practice, or human services setting.”

          Section 333.18113 of the Public Health Code requires that a licensee “furnish a professional disclosure statement to a prospective client before engaging in counseling services.” The Rules require that the professional disclosure statement of a LLPC “Identify the licensed professional counselor under whose supervision the limited licensed counselor’s practice shall be confined.”