It has been quite a busy week here in the ED. In fact, our slower ED had a unusual number of cases earlier this week. Luckily, the driving was minimized and response times did not suffer. Now down to one active bedfinding case, I've got a few minutes to write and think about professional development.
Last week I was in Memphis--that is a new world, for sure--and ducks are lining up for this new life adventure. The opportunity to learn how the crisis response system works in Tennessee and Mississippi has the potential to expand my horizons. So far, only minor differences are apparent. Temporary medical power of attorney and differences in terminology are the first ones to come to mind.
But, determining a job and a place to live add a sense of security; class schedule will get nailed down in the next week or so and the puzzle will have the major pieces in place. All the rest will be filling in details. Much relief: cool rain on a hot day, odor of flowers in Spring, a favorite restaurant at the end of a long day--all the good things.
Moving to a different state is hard enough. Add in moving professional status and the chores mount. Lessons in the utility of flexibility arrive daily. For instance, I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in NC and had planned to obtain licensure in TN. So, naturally, I prepared to obtain a
TN counseling license. In the process earning a new credential: Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (
CCMHC). Now, a job in
MS leads me toward that licensure process. Once I leave NC I can no longer practice as a counselor until granted a license in the state where I work.
Federalism is alive and well. There are
national certifications and state licenses, but there is no national license. Since 2009, all 50 states have a professional counseling licensing. However, each has different credentialing processes and requirements. And this is not a problem just for counselors: all the helping professions face the same problem.
The American Association of State Counseling Boards (
AASCB)is one organization working to solve the problem through the development of a National Credentials Registry. Such a project requires common standards as an initial step toward nationwide portability of licenses.
Two additional credentialing issues come to mind, and I want to quickly mention them. One is how to define a career ladder in the counseling professions (social work, counseling, marriage and family, chemical dependency, pastoral) in an era of cost-containment and insufficient workforces. All the specialties have practitioners with different amounts of education and experience, and with vaguely defined professional development ladders. Another issue is recognition for sub-specialty certification. For example, several certifications exist for crisis workers. None were linked from licensing boards and none have a national status.
As an afterthought: we will never have effective distance counseling programs until there is some nationally recognized credential.
Professional development is a task for us as individual counselors and for the field. Although the credentialing system is imperfect, work continues on ways to increase quality and fiscal efficiency, it is interesting to consider the issues and steps to take in helping folks live as best they can.
