TPC Digest-Vol 9 Issue 3-FULL

13 TPC Digest 13 | TPC Digest Interstate Licensure Portability Logistics and Barriers for Professional Counselors Anna Elliott, Lynn Bohecker, Gregory M. Elliott, Bethany Jean Townsend, Veronica Johnson, Anna Lopez, Elizabeth D. Horn, Ken Roach T he counseling profession has put considerable effort toward establishing itself as a clearly defined and unified mental health field. Since the American Counseling Association’s (ACA) original formation in 1952, counselors have sought consensus regarding the definition and scope of counseling, as well as sought to delineate themselves from other mental health professionals. This conflict translates into issues licensed counselors experience when obtaining a license in a new state. State licensing boards are not required to align standards with other states; therefore, licensed counselors experience a wide spectrum of barriers when attempting to acquire an additional counseling license. Key leadership groups related to counseling licensure have developed the Joint Statement on a National Licensure Endorsement Process to stress the importance of consistent licensure guidelines across states, as well as to outline specific protocols that state boards could adopt to achieve greater licensure requirement consistency. State boards are not obligated to adapt their requirements to align with other states, and most have not, so significant conflicts persist as licensed counselors attempt to obtain additional licenses when relocating to a new state. While there have been calls within the counseling literature for greater licensure consistency, little research has explicitly examined the experiences counselors undergo when seeking a license in a new state. This study aimed to describe the experience of counselors who obtained a counseling license within the Rocky Mountain region of the country. The call for participants asked for licensed counselors who possessed a counseling license before attempting to obtain an additional license in the Rocky Mountain states (Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, and Colorado). Researchers conducted a qualitative content analysis, interviewing 12 participants and two licensed counselors from each state, seeking to understand the logistics associated with interstate licensure portability. Results describe participants’ experiences in fulfilling licensure requirements and the barriers they encountered related to lack of clarity from the boards and discrepancies in board standards. All participants described varying degrees of frustration as they navigated obtaining a new counseling license. It is notable that the call for participants did not ask for counselors who had negative experiences with licensure; however, all participants characterized their licensure process as such. Participants described different standards across states, as well as significant struggles to identify licensure requirements when they sought instruction from state board websites and calling the boards directly. Participants also offered perspective to counselors, supervisors, and state board members on measures that could help alleviate components of this conflict. The counseling profession is in a state of crisis with regard to counseling licensure. Future research should include qualitative examinations of other regions’ challenges to licensure portability as well as larger quantitative surveys of licensure issues across the country. Beyond providing a description of the problem, it is even more imperative that we move toward a unified, tangible solution. The Joint Statement offers an outline for how states can move toward greater consistency in licensure requirements. Strong advocacy and changes in legislation are needed in order to address this systemic issue. Anna Elliott is an assistant professor at Montana State University. Lynn Bohecker is an associate professor at Liberty University. Gregory M. Elliott is an assistant professor at Colorado Christian University. Bethany Jean Townsend is an assistant professor at Northwest Nazarene University. Veronica Johnson is an associate professor at the University of Montana. Anna Lopez is an assistant professor at New Mexico State University. Elizabeth D. Horn is a professor at Idaho State University. Ken Roach is a clinic director at the University of Phoenix—Utah. Correspondence can be addressed to Anna Elliott, PO Box 173540, Bozeman, MT 59718, anna.elliott@montana.edu.