Benchmark Professional Identity and Credential Paper Assignment
Abstract
As an aspiring mental health counselor, I am beginning to understand the responsibility of having
and being true to a professional identity as well as what it means in the counseling field.
Developing a professional identity requires thoughtfulness, intentionality, personal growth,
ethical behavior, core values, and much more. There are many different components and
challenges to the development of a professional identity that each mental health professional
faces and requirements differ depending on what state they work in. The truth is that it takes
more than a graduate program to prepare counseling professionals and rather a lot of additional
in-depth research on the credentialing process within the state they live in. In this paper
assignment, I aim to articulate current trends in the professional counseling field as well as
identify and develop my own professional development plan. To help, I will use two articles,
“Chi Sigma Iota Chapter Faculty Advisors’ Experiences of Professional Counselor Identity” as
well as “Advocating for Educational Standards in Counselor Licensure Laws”.
Keywords: Professional identity, identity, counselor, development
Benchmark Professional Identity and Credential Paper Assignment
Summary
The Importance of Professional Identity
To fully understand counseling, it’s important to know the history and foundation of the
field because it has evolved and developed and will continue to do so as time goes by. From the
assigned reading in our class’s textbook, we got a good summary of the counseling field as well
as some patterns and trends within the field. There have been so many contributions to the field
of counseling from admirable professionals, so the standards bar is set high for new
professionals, but this is great because new counselors have so much background and
information to build on. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational
Programs (CACREP) has brought benefits to the field by allowing it to be considered an
evolving profession which has led to advancement in the past years (Lawson et al., 2017).
Having a professional identity is recommended in many different fields and jobs,
however it is imperative that mental health counselors establish their professional identity once
and before they enter the field. By having this professional identity established as a counselor
helps generate a sense of belonging, allegiance, and competency (Dong et al., 2017). Although
the term “counselor” can be thrown around a lot, there are many different credentials,
certifications and licensures that distinguish one counselor from another. For example, if a
counselor is a licensed mental health counselor, the letters after their name would be LMHC.
There are many more like this one for different credentials and specializations and all can be
useful when it comes to appealing to clients. The textbook tells us that understanding our
professional identity within our field sets us up for success and advancement within the
profession (Simmons et al, 2019). A counselor should explore their personal identity before
Benchmark Professional Identity and Credential Paper Assignment
trying to successfully form a professional identity that will work for them. Although counselors
continue to evolve and adapt to their values
and beliefs as they proceed through life, they must be aware of their personal identity and their
values and beliefs and know how to separate it from their professional identity which must
remain firm.
The Necessary Components for Professional Identity
The necessary components that make up one’s professional identity are made up of
different systems and are not established at once but with time. Counselors must not forget ever
that their core morals and values make them who they are at heart (Simmons et al, 2019). This
reiterates the fact that a counselor’s personal identity will be integrated into their professional
identity. Establishing a personal and professional identity is just one of the steps that an aspiring
counselor must pursue. There are quite a lot of steps to becoming licensed counseling
professionals, which is the goal for most counseling students. Some of the steps include getting a
master’s degree in a CACREP accredited program, doing practicums and internships which
allows students to shadow and learn from already licensed counselors and doctorate-level
professionals, accumulating the necessary number of supervision hours, and taking the
NCMHCE exam. Taking all these steps to obtain specializations, certifications or licensures is
what will set you apart from other counseling professionals (McKinney et al., 2018).
The Challenges to Professional Identity
Having a professional identity comes with challenges because no person is like the other,
and therefore nobody can “teach” someone about what their professional identity is. There are
Benchmark Professional Identity and Credential Paper Assignment
varying requirements for credentials and licensures depending on what state you live in. Some
states you can become a licensed therapist within one year of graduating with your masters, other
states will require 2-4 years of post-grad supervision hours before one can apply for their license.
Another challenge that counselors can face, especially newer ones, is experience. A person
looking for a therapist may choose someone who has years of experience and different
specialties over a therapist who has just graduated or has a few years of experience. In this case,
there is nothing that the young counselor can do but continue building rapport and time in the
profession.
Professional Identity Development Plan
I first saw a counselor at the age of 10, shortly after my parents’ divorce. I
remember feeling hopeful after a few sessions with my counselor and was so grateful to have
that as a support to the troubles that I was having in my home. I felt protected, heard, important.
Throughout my teen years I searched for other counseling professionals, and it was a breath of
fresh air each time. Now in my adult years, I still search for a counselor whenever I feel like I
may need one and will continue to do so throughout my life as someone who has had persistent
depression and anxiety. Although I know that it was never my counselor’s job, I felt as though
each one “saved” me each time that I went. I remember looking to my counselors with such
respect and admiration and was so inspired by the career from a young age. I like to think of
counselors as silent doctors, although they won’t give you medicine or a cure right away, the
cure will come session after session. I don’t know what specialization or group of people that I
want to work with yet, I believe I will know with experience, but I have a strong pull towards
Benchmark Professional Identity and Credential Paper Assignment
working with women and relationships. I am in my first year of graduate school, and once I
graduate with a Masters in Mental Health Counseling, I plan on working 2-4 years to obtain
3000 supervised hours to obtain a licensure in my home state. I am not sure where the career will
lead me, but I am optimistic and inspired by the future. One of
my recent favorite Bibles verses lately is “to everything there is a season, and a time to every
purpose under the heaven” (New American Standard Bible, 1971/1995, Ecclesiastes 3:1). This is
my fifth year of college and I still have at least 4 more years before becoming a licensed mental
health counselor. While this seems like a lot to me right now, I know that I must lean on God’s
perfect timing, and not want to rush into anything that I am not ready for yet. I trust that God will
guide me and prepare me in these upcoming years.
Summary and Reactions to Turnitin Report
Upon submitting my draft paper, I learned that my paper had a 30% similarity report.
Upon clicking on the flagged contents, I realized that most of it was the titles and subheadings
that was being flagged. Also, part of some quotations from the textbooks were flagged. Key
words such as personal identity, professional identity, etc., were also flagged. While I was a bit
concerned at first, I realized that other LU students had similar assignments and shared similar
keywords, titles, thoughts, etc. There was not much I found that I could change in terms of the
flagged work. While Turnitin is a great tool to determine plagiarizing, I don’t think it’s all fair to
get a bad report when many students are turning in the same assignments on the same topics.
Benchmark Professional Identity and Credential Paper Assignment
State and website: New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice | NH Office of
Professional Licensure and Certification
What are the academic training
requirements:
(include the number of hours in
program; specific course
content/titles, and number of hours
in practicum/internship)
A graduate degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
of at least 60 semester credits
Degree program must be CACREP
700 practicum and internship hours
What are requirements for post-
master’s supervised clinical
experience:
(i.e., number of client contact hours,
or MFT, number of relational hours);
number of total hours; number of
supervision hours; specific
requirements of supervisor)
3000 hours of supervised clinical experience over at least 2
years
At least 1 hour per week face-to-face supervision, total of
100 hours
What examination(s) are required: NBCC’s NCMHCE exam
What is licensure title:
(e.g., LPC, LCPC, LMHC, LMFT, etc. –
please write out the full title as well
as initials):
LMHC – Licensed Mental health Counselor
Is license tiered and if so, what are
titles and requirements (e.g., LPC,
LPC-S):
No
Identify two counseling
organizations you wish to join.
NHMHCA – New Hampshire Mental Health Counselors
Association
National Alliance on Mental Illness of New Hampshire
Benchmark Professional Identity and Credential Paper Assignment
References
Lawson, G., Trepal, H. C., Lee, R. W., & Kress, V. (2017). Advocating for educational standards
in counselor licensure laws. Counselor Education and Supervision, 56(3), 162–176.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ceas.12070
Dong, S., Campbell, A., & Vance, S. (2017). Examining the facilitating role of mindfulness on
professional identity development among counselors-in-training: A qualitative approach. The
Professional Counselor, 7(4), 305–317. https://doi.org/10.15241/sd.7.4.305
New American Standard Bible. (1995). New American Standard Bible.
https://nasb.literalword.com/ (Original work published 1971)
Rob McKinney, Erin West, Marissa Fye, Robert Bradley & Cassandra A. Storlie (2018) Chi
Sigma Iota Chapter Faculty Advisors’ Experiences of Professional Counselor Identity,
Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy, 5:1, 56-70, DOI:
10.1080/2326716X.2017.1422995
Simmons, R., Lilley, S., & Kuhnley, A. (2020). Introduction to counseling: Integration of faith,
professional identity, and clinical practice. KENDALL HUNT.
