Counseling Resident License
You thought finishing school was the hard part, right? Now you have to navigate regulatory boards, official paperwork, and legal verification before you can sit down with a client and get to work. Applying for your resident license is a complicated, multi-step process, and you’ll likely make a mistake or have to do something over again along the way. It’s all going to be okay! I’m here to guide you through in the most straightforward way I can.
Step One: Get prepared while you’re still in school.
If you attended a CACREP or CORE accredited program, a lot of the heavy lifting for your coursework verification is already done. Your coursework verification will be as simple as filling out the form with your course names, codes, and number of credit hours as well as your total hours accrued during internship. Your program official will need to approve and sign off on this (or, if your professor is as great as mine, they’ll do the whole form for you!). If your school is not CACREP or CORE accredited, you can prepare by keeping copies of syllabi to demonstrate you have received instruction in all necessary areas.
Another thing you can do while still in school is take your licensing exam. For Virginia, the required exam is the NCMHCE, and residents must pass this exam within six years of the issuance of their resident license. While it’s not required for a resident license, many find that taking the exam while still in school is a great way to knock one item off the list toward licensure while much of the knowledge is still fresh and they still have time to study.
Finally, you can begin to assemble some documentation that might take a while to obtain. If you have changed your name, been convicted of a crime, have an impairment that could interfere with your job, or ever held mental health or other healthcare credentials you must provide documentation to the Board. Courts and doctors can take a while to fill document requests, so if you know you need one of these supplements you might want to request them before you get a job. However, do not request your transcript until after graduation as you need it to verify that you did, in fact, graduate. More on this later!
Step Two: Job hunting.
The most important parameter of your job hunt regarding licensure is making sure it fits the requirements for accruing hours, especially regarding supervision. Your supervisor must have a valid license of the type you are pursuing (LPC, LMFT, etc.) and must meet the educational qualifications for providing supervision. You can search on the Approved Supervisor registry to see who is already approved. If not, you will need to have your supervisor register as an approved supervisor in Virginia by submitting this form. You can also provide evidence that your supervisor has a valid license and has received either 4.0 credit hours or 20 continuing education credits in supervision.
Step Three: Compile and submit your application.
You got the job, you have a supervisor, and you’re ready to get your resident license. Congratulations! Now it’s time to assemble your application and send it off. Other than your transcript, it’s best to send all your application materials at the same time.
Create an account and fill out the online application and pay the $65 application fee. Keep this login info as you can use it to check your application status later.
Access and print, if desired, or fill out electronically the long-form application. You may already have the educational requirements completed but, if not, complete them now and include any supplemental documentation.
Conduct an NPDB self-query. There is a button at the top of the page that says “Start a New Order” that will take you through the steps. Print or save as a PDF.
Verify your supervisor’s credentials on the supervisor registry, or provide necessary documentation if they aren’t on the approved list yet.
Obtain a signed supervisory contract from your supervisor. The Board provides examples of such a contract, though your supervisor may have their own version. Make sure it has both your supervisor and your signatures.
Provide documentation if you’ve changed your name. This could include photocopies of your marriage license, a court order, or any other official government forms that verify your name change.
Provide documentation for any criminal conviction, impairment, or past healthcare credentials.
Order your official transcript from your school. Transcripts can be sent electronically or physically, but they must be sent directly from the institution (or affiliate, like the National Student Clearinghouse) to the Board of Counseling. I personally liked the electronic transcripts because it alerts you when your document has been accepted by the recipient.
Review the items on the checklist on the front page of your application, making sure you have everything required. Don’t include anything extra, and there’s no need to be fancy when putting it all together. A straightforward, no frills application is a good application.
Send your materials to the board via email or the post. From classmates I’ve spoken to, your sending method doesn’t seem to make a difference in how quickly your application is processed. I personally chose to submit a physical application because I felt I could keep it better organized, but it’s really down to personal preference. You can either email all the items as attachments to coun@dhp.virginia.gov or mail in a manila envelope to the mailing address below. I would encourage you to go to the post office to mail it to make sure you have the right postage for the weight.
Department of Health Professionals
Attn: Virginia Board of Counseling
Perimeter Center
9960 Maryland Drive, Suite 300
Henrico, VA 23233
Step Four: Now we wait!
Waiting for your residency application to be approved can be a frustrating process, though there are some ways to make sure everything is going smoothly. You can check on the status of your application through the same login you used to fill out the initial online application. It will have a checklist of all your materials that will update in real time as it’s processed. This checklist will let you know if you need to provide additional information or if parts of your application are incomplete. You can also check whether your application has been approved by using the License Lookup tool.
As anxiety-inducing as waiting may be, please refrain from contacting the Board until at least 10 days after your application has been received. The folks working there are processing as quickly as they can and always get a flood of applications at the end of the school year. The board states processing of your application will be completed within 30 days of a complete application, and no amount of calling or emailing will speed that up.
Ultimately, applying for your resident license is a small step in what will be a long and fulfilling career, and one you hopefully only have to do once!
Written by Paige Goodloe.
