TPC-Journal-V3-Issue3

156 The Professional Counselor \Volume 3, Issue 3 Perceived Competence Most respondents (96%) reported working directly with clients, with 98% reporting moderately high to high competence in providing services. Sixty-one percent of respondents indicated that they work with insurance companies, with 43% reporting moderately high to high competence in working with these companies. The perceived competence of respondents with understanding legislation, standards and insurance billing codes was 51% reporting moderately high to high levels of competence. With 40% of respondents reporting work as a counseling supervisor, 68% reported moderately high to high levels of competence. Discussion The data gathered in this survey are informative for the state professional counseling association. A more thorough understanding of one core question of the study—the nature of the work of the state’s mental health counselors—can be drawn from the information gathered from respondents. The majority of respondents (95%) indicated high satisfaction with counseling work and reported their work setting as independent or private practice (65%). The data are consistent with a recent national survey of counselors in which private solo practice is the predominantly reported current work setting (Normandy-Dolberg, 2010). In addition to a clearer picture of the nature of counseling work for LMHCs in the state, the responses in several areas of this survey can be considered to inform the professional association. Specifically, the responses of the state’s LMHCs on sources of support, perceived areas of competence, and services valued from a professional association can be incorporated into a future focus for the association. For example, in light of the prevalence of employment in private practice in which professional isolation is a potential drawback, it is interesting to note the sources of support reported as most beneficial to counselors’ successful practice. Respondents indicated peer support from coworkers (67%) and support external from work settings (54%) as important to their work. This suggests a role for membership in a professional association as a source of supportive relationships, which can ameliorate the potential solitary nature of private practice . Additionally, responses regarding services valued from a professional association and perceived competence in areas of mental health counselors’ work can be used to suggest priorities for the association to use as a focus. Respondents noted professional development and education, information sharing, advocacy, and promoting visibility and name recognition as the most valuable services of a professional association. These results are consistent with a recent national survey of mental health counselors who also expressed the need for professional associations to advocate for professional visibility and name recognition (Normandy-Dolberg, 2010). Priorities revealed in the survey indicate unmet needs of the state’s professional counselors. There is a disparity when we consider the respondents who reported high competence in understanding legislation, standards and codes (53%), and competence with insurance companies (43%), as opposed to higher levels of reported competence in direct service to clients (98%) and supervisory activities (67%). This apparent gap in levels of reported competence, when viewed in conjunction with the stated preferences for services valued from a professional association, suggests a possible role for the professional association in bridging this gap. Limitations The design of this exploratory study was an online survey distributed to all of the licensed mental health counselors in one state in an attempt to understand counselor characteristics. The small number of responses may not reflect a representative sample of the counselors in the state and precludes any within group analyses of the results (i.e., differences in responses based on years since licensure and place of employment). Additionally,