TPC Journal-Vol 9 Issue 3-FULL

252 Counseling licensure portability is in a state of crisis. The collaborative 20/20 initiative made headway in establishing the profession’s objectives toward consistent licensure standards across states; however, inconsistencies and significant barriers persist. The authors conducted a qualitative content analysis to understand the logistics associated with interstate portability of counseling licenses in the Rocky Mountain Region of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming). Results describe participants’ experiences in fulfilling licensure requirements and the barriers encountered because of discrepancies in practice standards. Recommendations for counselors, supervisors, and state licensing boards are described. Keywords : license portability, interstate portability, licensing boards, licensure requirements, qualitative analysis The American Counseling Association (ACA) was originally formed in 1952 in part to develop consistency among practice and ethical standards for the counseling profession (Simmons, 2002). Since then, counselors have gone through various phases of seeking professional unity, complicated by and arising from the joining of four different specialty areas (Kaplan, 2002; McKinney, West, Fye, Bradley, & Storlie, 2018). Historically, there have been different opinions on counselor professional title, scope of practice, and educational requirements (Burns & Cruikshanks, 2018; Gale & Austin, 2003). This disparity has been presented as evidence of a young, fragmented profession searching for a solid professional identity (Calley & Hawley, 2008; Cashwell, Kleist, & Scofield, 2009; McKinney et al., 2018). Counselor professional identity consists of understanding the profession’s historical context, the scope of a counselor’s practice, associated laws and ethics, and pride and engagement in counseling professional organizations (Remley & Herlihy, 2007). Even with attempts within the counseling profession to develop consistent expectations and requirements related to educational standards, national examinations, and state licensing criteria, barriers remain (Kaplan & Kraus, 2018). Licensed professional counselors moving from state to state experience difficulties maintaining their licensed status, resulting in a “licensure portability crisis” (Kaplan & Kraus, 2018, p. 223). There is movement in the counseling profession toward established licensure portability practices as clinicians report significant barriers moving from one state to another (Kaplan & Kraus, 2018). However, as it stands, each state develops its own laws and statutes and is not bound to align with other states or recognize licenses issued in another state. These inconsistent regulations create barriers for licensed professional counselors looking to relocate and raise issues for counselors working near state borders who must be licensed in both states. The Professional Counselor Volume 9, Issue 3, Pages 252–266 http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org © 2019 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates doi:10.15241/ae.9.3.252 Anna Elliott, Lynn Bohecker, Gregory M. Elliott, Bethany Jean Townsend, Veronica Johnson, Anna Lopez, Elizabeth D. Horn, Ken Roach Interstate Licensure Portability: Logistics and Barriers for Professional Counselors 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 .