Chapter 3: Education, Credentialing, and Professional Development
Chapter Overview
The authors discuss professional credentialing in clinical mental health counseling. The authors discuss
professional development through academic preparation, credentialing, licensure, and continuing
education past attaining licensure.
Key Words
Reciprocity – An agreement by a state to approve a license based on another state having already granted
licensure.
Practice Acts – Restrict the practice of counseling only to those who are licensed.
Title Acts -Restrict the use of the title to those who are licensed while allowing others who may be
unlicensed to use the title “counselor” and engage in the practice of counseling.
Validity – the test measure what it is designed or intended to measure.
Reliability – the test consistently measures what is intended over repeated trials.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The exam that most closely resembles the National Counselor Exam (NCE) is the
a) Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE)
b) National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Exam (NCMHCE)
c) Certified Rehabilitation Counselor Exam (CRCE)
d) Exam of Clinical Counselor Practice (ECCP)
2. Which of the following are benefits of networking?
a) Connecting with potential employers
b) Developing opportunities for research and scholarship
c) Opportunities for continuing education
d) All of the above
3. CACREP
a) Provides certification for counselors on a national level
b) Regulates licensure in states and jurisdictions
c) Ensures that the highest standards of training counselors are met
d) None of the above
4. Which of the following most closely aligns with the concept of certification?
a) Certification always precedes licensure
b) Certification is the legal permission to practice in a state or jurisdiction
c) Certification is to receive a credential from a professional organization
d) Certification is a necessary pre-requisite for graduation
5. Which is not a core CACREP content area?
a) Diagnosis
b) Group
c) Career
d) Helping Relationships
6. Continuing education
a) Is defined as doctoral level study after earning a master’s degree
b) Is a requirement of most licensure boards
c) Is a prerequisite to the NCC credential
d) None of the above
7. Graduate students have the opportunity to apply for certification while still in graduate school
because
a) most graduate programs offer the Counselor Preparation Counselor Exam (CPCE)
b) the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) makes provision for an alternate route
for licensure
c) CACREP accreditation is in place
d) certification is used by many programs as a prerequisite for the graduate degree
8. Which of the following is not a division of the American Counseling Association (ACA)?
a) Association for Creativity in Counseling (ACC)
b) The Association for Humanistic Counseling (AHC)
c) Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES)
d) All of the above are ACA divisions
9. Which of the following are likely to influence the decision to specialize in a particular area of
counseling?
a) Empirically based interventions
b) Graduate school requirements
c) Theoretical orientation
d) Field experience
10. According to the authors, which of the following sequences is accurate?
a) Graduation with a baccalaureate degree, graduation from the master’s degree, field
experience, licensure
b) Graduation with a baccalaureate degree, complete post-degree clinical hours, obtain
certifications, licensure
c) Complete practicum and internship, complete master’s program, obtain certifications,
licensure
d) Complete master’s degree, licensure, certification, continuing education
11. When professionals engage in continuing education activities, which is most important to
consider?
a) NBCC approval of the continuing education activity
b) That the continuing education activity be accredited
c) The cost, length and location of the continuing education activity
d) None of the above are considerations for continuing education
12. Which of the following is not an organized group within the American Counseling Association
(ACA)?
a) Ethics Appeal Panel
b) Graduate Student and Mentor Task Force
c) New Orleans Community Project Task Force
d) All the above are organized groups within ACA
13. Which of the following is accurate regarding committees and task forces within the American
Counseling Association (ACA)?
a) COUNSGRADS is a task force that addresses issues related to new graduates in counseling
b) Crisis and Response, Cyberspace and Technology, and the Ethics Appeal Panel are all
established ACA committees
c) Organization as a task force typically takes place before a working team is developed into an
ACA division
d) None of the above are accurate
14. Which of the following is not a CACREP program area?
a) Crisis and Trauma Counseling
b) Clinical Mental Health Counseling
c) School Counseling
d) Addictions Counseling
15. Which of the following is accurate regarding the professional identity of counseling?
a) The terminal degree for a counselor is a doctoral degree while a master’s level counselor can
obtain a provisional license
b) Counseling is developmental in nature and comes from a “wellness” perspective
c) Counseling views pathology as predominant in addressing client problems
d) None of the above are accurate
Activity
1. An important part of working as a mental health counselor is learning and practicing interview skills.
Interviewing is part of the counseling process and helps you obtain valuable information in working
effectively with clients and others in a professional capacity. This activity will help you practice
intervening skills and also help you obtain information from someone who has worked in the field as a
mental health counselor.
Directions: Interview a licensed mental health counselor and ask the following questions:
• What influenced you to become a mental health counselor?
• How long have you been a practicing counselor?
• What have you learned since graduating from your program about being a mental health
counselor? What advice would you give someone beginning graduate study in the field of mental
health counseling?
• What was your experience like in working toward and obtaining licensure and/or certifications?
What advice would you give someone about that process?
• What role have professional associations played in helping you become successful in your
profession? What advice would you give someone about becoming involved and active in
professional organizations?
• What are some ways you stay current in your professional discipline? (these may be activities
related to licensure and certification continuing education requirements)
Write a brief report of your findings along with how this experience has impacted your approach to your
graduate education and post-graduation activities. Develop a tentative plan and a timeline for yourself
regarding steps you need to take, or the actions you will need to perform in the following areas:
• Client Populations
• Involvement in Professional Organizations
• Licensure and Certification
Share your report and plan with your faculty member and/or faculty advisor for feedback.
2. Students break into small groups of 4-6 students and list out in bullet form all the activities a graduate
student would need to perform in order to a successful professional mental health counselor.
Each group will rank order their list as to the most important to the least important activities and publish
their list in on the board, or PowerPoint slide. The instructor will then note which items were consistent
across groups and which items were ranked differently from group to group. Each group will then choose
a representative to make a persuasive argument for why a particular activity would be rated higher in
importance.
After all groups have been represented, the instructor will process with the group what the experience was
like and what they learned about these professional activities and what actions they will likely take as a
result.
3. Each student will engage in an internet search about specialty certifications that may be of interest to a
developing professional mental health counselor. The following pieces of information should guide this
research:
• What is the certification and what will it allow a counselor to do?
• What organization sponsors the certification?
• What research exists to support this certification/practice?
• What is the cost of the certification?
• How much training is involved (can be in CEUs or contact hours)?
• Is there a practice or field experience component to the training?
• If so, how many hours are required?
• If so, what kind of supervision of the activity is required and who is allowed to supervise or
certify that the activity has appropriately taken place?
• What is the potential benefit of this certification?
An additional component of this activity would include having the student find a professional who has
obtained/maintained the certification and interview them with the following questions as guides:
• What interested you in this particular practice/professional focus?
• How do you use your certification in your practice as a mental health counselor?
• What advice would you have for someone seeking this certification?
• What might be the drawbacks from seeking this certification?
Have the student report their findings to the class and/or in a formal paper. In the report, students should
include what they learned about these professional certifications and what actions they will likely take as
a result.
NOTE: This activity can also be used to focus students’ research on a professional organization and
someone who is a member or who is in a leadership capacity within the organization.
Discussion Questions
1. Post to the class your response to the following: What are the advantages of membership in
professional organizations as a graduate student? What are the advantages of professional membership as
a professional mental health counselor? What is my position on being a member of and/or involved in
professional organizations?
2. Post to the class your response to the following: What continuing education activities would you likely
involve yourself in and why? For one of these activities, what type of financial/time commitment would
you have to invest in to be competent in a particular specialization area? In what ways can you prepare for
these activities now in your graduate program?
3. Post to the class your response to the following: Choose a division of the American Counseling
Association and summarize its purpose. What client populations does this division advocate for? How
might it be effective in accomplishing its mission? What is expected of its members and how might
members be advocates in their own practice? What division memberships might I be interested in and
why?
Multiple Choice Questions – Answer Key