PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND CREDENTIALS 1
Professional Identity and Credentials of Counselors
Marcia Pinnock-Reid
Clinical Mental Health Counseling , Liberty University
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND CREDENTIALS 2
Abstract
Establishing one's professional identity is a crucial and important step in building a career. A
basis of educational requirements, affiliations or belongings, and qualifications can set apart a
counselor identity from one that just refers to themselves as a counselor, according to current
trends in the development of a professional counselor identity. This essay seeks to clarify the
fundamental elements, difficulties, and significance of professional identities in general. This
essay will make an effort to convey the significance of forging a professional identity within the
counseling profession through a review of professional identity and current trends within the
field, theories of chapter faculty advisors from Chi Sigma Iota, and a professional opinion from
Dr. Sheperis. A professional identity strategy will also be covered in order to address personal
objectives, drivers, and strategies for assuming this identity. Members of this profession are
extremely optimistic that a more comprehensive definition of what it means to be a counselor
will emerge as the field of counseling develops.
Keywords: professional development , identity, professional identity, counselor
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND CREDENTIALS 3
Professional Identity and Credentials
The Values of Your Professional Identity
Any profession has found that developing a professional identity is an essential
component. Due to the many definitions and perceptions of what a true "counselor" is, it is
crucial to build a professional identity when working in counseling. Whether or not a person
creates this identity for themselves can distinguish them from the associations, specialties, and
associations within that profession as well as their education and credentials. Our identities set
us apart from others and play a significant role in ensuring our collective uniqueness. The
clinical mental health specialist Dr. Donna Sheperis, who has over 25 years of clinical
experience, claims in an audio podcast created by Mike Shook that "an appreciation within our
profession in the counseling community is created by the alphabet soup at the end of our names"
(Shook & Sheperis, 2019). The honesty, commitment, and effort needed to earn our licenses,
certifications, and memberships—what distinguishes one counselor from another by
credentials—are explained by this very alphabet soup. The chance to reach clients and assist
others can potentially be limitless if a counselor effectively markets themselves through their
professional identity and the "alphabet soup" after their name (Shook & Sheperis, 2019).
Because it fosters recognition and a sense of belonging that further connects our personal selves
with our professional selves, having this strong foundation of how we identify ourselves is also
an important part of positioning ourselves for advancement and success within our profession
(Simmons et al., 2019). It was also demonstrated in a Chi Sigma Iota study of Chapter Faculty
Advisors that satisfaction from holding this position inside the organization encouraged a high
sense of self in their professional counselor identity. According to McKinney et al. (2018), a
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND CREDENTIALS 4
A significant body of work in this field can produce a strong sense of pride in one's work
and inspire confidence for meaningful counseling and contact with clients and peers.
The Elements Essential to Your Career Identity
There are several elements that must be included when creating a professional identity in
order for it to be complete and useful to not just the individual but also to colleagues and clients.
First and foremost, it's important to integrate your personal identity with your professional
identity because it's important to remember your inner self and the fundamental ideals and
values that define you (Simmons et al., 2019). Education, memberships, licenses, and
qualifications would be another important factor. These elements of professional identity specify
your educational background (CACREP requirements must frequently be satisfied), any
certifications or licenses you hold that distinguish you from other members of the profession,
and the specific counseling role you fill (McKinney et al., 2018). As well as "moving from a
consumer in the profession of counseling to becoming a producer" (Simmons et al., 2019),
having this skill enables individuals to define counseling on a wider spectrum than the average
person. In order to establish one's professional identity as a counselor, one must be able to
understand and respect mental health. It would be very difficult to include the need for
counseling into daily life without a foundation of common knowledge and appreciation for the
wealth of mental health. Only if emphasizing mental health is at the core of every professional's
identity can the counseling profession move toward a comprehensive definition of itself.
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND CREDENTIALS 5
Professional Identity and Its Perils
Due to the vast array of variations within the counseling profession, difficulties are frequently
encountered when constructing this professional identity. The possibility of a counseling license to be
transferred from one state to another has long been a contentious issue in terms of licensing
requirements and credentials (Shook & Sheperis, 2019). The different counseling specialties make it
excessively more difficult to set the acronym to put at the end of one's name, even once you get over the
licensure's portability problem. Unfortunately, this has a domino effect because the arrangement of those
letters frequently makes sense only to individuals who are already employed in the field (Shook &
Sheperis, 2019). Over the past few years, the phrase "board certified" has grown in popularity as a way
to attract clients, giving licenses and certificates that demand extensive training and experience
competition. In light of this, a client may pick one therapist or counselor over another only on the basis
that their name includes "board certified," regardless of their training and credentials. The lack of a
"singular education training standard" and the young age of the profession make it difficult to define
what it means to be a "counselor," which are other obstacles to developing a professional identity in
counseling. More and more people are identifying themselves as counselors without really engaging in
therapeutic practice as a result of this newness and rising popularity. Overall, developing a professional
identity in counseling is difficult, and the next generation must be very deliberate in defining what a
counselor is to better inform the general public (Simmons et al., 2019).
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND CREDENTIALS 6
Creating a Stronger Professional Image
Being a successful counselor involves both professional achievement and strong personal
goals. In my own professional experience, I was motivated to pursue a career in counseling by a
desire to assist others, as well as by personal satisfaction, a sense of being appreciated, and the
desire to explore alternatives to conventional counseling. Because of the significant effects that
our food intake may have on both our mind and body, I also feel highly motivated to work as a
counselor and to spread the word about the connection between nutrition and mental health. I
intend to volunteer in the community at non-profit organizations that promote physical health in
adolescents to encourage mental health, nutrition, and exercise to go hand in hand in order to
develop my identity as a counselor and combine my personal approaches. In addition, I will
market myself as a licensed, board-certified psychotherapist who also has qualifications in
nutrition, exercise therapy, and, ideally, a license as a nutrition coach. In order to protect myself,
always handle myself properly, and preserve client confidentiality, I will target the children
especially and become highly well informed and aware of codes of conducts and regulations
when working with juveniles. I am aware that developing this professional identity may provide
a variety of difficulties, but I think the main one will be dealing with my own emotional effects.
I'll implement a tight self-care routine that I strictly adhere to in order to counteract this, making
sure to look after my mind and body as well as my spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being.
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND CREDENTIALS 7
State Credential Plan
State and website:
State: North Carolina Website: https://www.ncblpc.org/licensure/applying
What are the
academic training
requirements:
(include the number
of hours in
program;
specific course
content/titles, and
number of hours in
practicum/internship)
Master's degree credit of 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours.
Graduate Coursework in Counseling for the 9 areas of study, 3
semester hours or 5 quarter hours.
Counseling Practicum and Internship: Helping Relationships in
Counseling
Group Counseling Theories and Process Professional Orientation to
Counseling Human Growth and Development Theories in Counseling
Social and Cultural Foundations in Counseling
Career guidance and lifestyle improvement
Counseling Assessment, Research, and Program Evaluation
At least one practicum course worth three semester hours or five
quarter hours; at least one internship course worth three semester hours
or five quarter hours.
180 hours of direct counseling experience,
17 hours of graduate counseling supervision
300 hours of supervised graduate counseling experience are the
minimum requirements.
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)
Requirements for supervision
2000 hours of direct counseling
3000 hours of supervised professional practice; 40 hours per week at most;
100 hours of clinical supervision (75 percent of hours of supervised clinical
of which must be individual performance
1 hour of clinical supervision must be provided for every 40 hours of
professional practice).
Requirements for Supervisors
3 semester-hour graduate credits from a university with regional
accreditation, or 45 hours of continuing education from a recognized
provider Verification of counseling experience from a professional
perspective Active and unrestricted LCMHC license from NCBLCMHC
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND CREDENTIALS 8
What examination(s)
are required:
North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health
Counselors' Jurisprudence Examination
National Counselor Examination, or national exam (NCE), NCMHCE or
State and website:
State: North Carolina Website https://www.ncblpc.org/licensure/applying
National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Examination, or Certified
Rehabilitation Counselor Examination) also known as CRC
Criminal History/Background Check
What is licensure
title: (e.g., LPC,
LCPC,
LMHC, LMFT, etc. –
please write out the
full title as well as
initials):
LCMHCA known as a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate
LCMHC known as a Licensed Professional Counselor
LCMHCS known as a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor
Is license tiered and if
so, what are titles and
requirements (e.g.,
LPC, LPC-S):
LCMHCA (Licensed Professional Counselor Associate)
Additional supervised professional practice, the LCMHC jurisprudence
test, and final supervision reports are necessary for conversion from
LCMHCA to LCMHC.
Clinical supervision education, professional counseling experience, an
active and unrestricted LCMHC license from NCBLCMHC, and
additional continuing education credentials specifically for clinical
supervision are requirements for the LCMHC to LCMHCS transition.
What is the scope of
practice (i.e., what can
and cannot be done by
a licensed
professional):
LCMHCA: practice counseling under supervision and is not permitted to
work until a signed contract for such supervision is on file with the board
office. The license number usually begins with the letter “A”.
LCMHC: work independently and without restriction while holding a
license as a licensed professional counselor; the license number does not
begin with a letter.
LCMHCS: practice independently with an unrestricted license and have
been given board approval to supervise clinical activities for LCMHCA.
The license number usually starts with the letter “S”.
Identify two
counseling
organizations you wish
to join.
Chi Sigma Iota also known as “CSI”
AMHCA which is the acronym for American Mental Health Counselors
Association
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND CREDENTIALS 9
Overview and Responses to the Turnitin Report
The early findings from the online plagiarism detection program Turnitin suggested a 32
percent resemblance to other submitted works. Any titles, charts, or questions that were twice
asked by my professor were identified as similar since this tool uses any similarly formed
phrases or grammar from previously published works. My findings showed similarities to
Liberty University sources, with the majority of the highlighted work being less than 1%. The
question my professor required to be included in the chart that should be copied and pasted in
the "state credential plan" section of the paper had a six percent similarity rate, which was the
highest percentage of similarity. Additionally, there was a report with a highlighted similarity
score of less than 1% from Grand Canyon University and EDMC that also made reference to the
input credential plan and featured questions from the professor that could not be deleted.
In response to the Turnitin report, I feel that the overall percentage as well as the
material that was highlighted and the flag generated by the report can be seriously deceptive. If I
were a professor grading papers and discovered a student's paper had a 32 percent resemblance, I
would immediately suspect information theft. On the other hand, Turnitin does a better job of
emphasizing each similar result so that the student and/or the course teacher can review the
material that has been flagged. The fact that there was an additional tool to hide particular
identical submitted works that were unlikely to be plagiarized, such as headers, footers, and data
copied directly from the professor's request, really impressed me. Overall, my report was
accurate and thorough in pointing out facts that would need to be changed as well as similarities
in non-plagiarized content to guarantee that my own paper was written honestly.
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND CREDENTIALS 10
References
CONCEPT: Continuing and Professional Studies & Palo Alto University. (2019, August 6). Challenging the
NCC/LPC/LMHC Acronym Soup with Donna Sheperis. What On Earth Shall We Call Ourselves? Retrieved
July 6, 2023, from https://thethoughtfulcounselor.com/?%20p=227330.
Lilley, S. C., Knight, A. M., & Simmons, R. T. (2019). Introduction to Counseling: Integration of Faith, Professional
Identity, and Clinical Practice (R. T. Simmons, S. C. Lilley, & A. Kuhnley, Eds.; 1st ed., Vol. 1). Kendall
Hunt Publishing Company.
https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/introduction-counseling-integration-faith-professional-identity-and-clinic
al-practice
McKinney, R., West, E., Fye, M., Bradley, R., & Storlie, C. A. (2018, January 2). Chi Sigma Iota Chapter Faculty
Advisors’ Experiences of Professional Counselor Identity. Semantic Scholar. Retrieved July 6, 2023, from
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Chi-Sigma-Iota-Chapter-Faculty-Advisors%E2%80%99-of-McKinne
y-West/2125f1afa79f16b74c38f1abe945d76005959a58
