First step, transcripts!
I wanted to get my LPC as soon as I started as a high school counselor. I knew I wanted to be able to more for students than scheduling and checking transcripts. I also knew nothing of how to get started. I did what most of us do when we have no idea where to start, Google it! I was terribly confused and even more sure it would not happen. I put that thought on the backburner for a while but then my world got flipped upside and had no choice but to move forward with it. I tried again. At the time I did not know any other therapist who had come from education but I knew plenty of school counselors that wanted to know how to. I went to the Texas Behavioral Health website and learned that I was in need of additional graduate classes. I remember feeling so defeated, I cried and then pulled up my transcripts. I compared the classes I had and what I would need to take, called the college where I got my masters from and much to my surprise they had a program where I could enroll and complete my “bridge courses”. In a semester I could complete my Certificate in Mental Health Counseling.
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Finally, all my transcript expertise had paid off! It was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, I was ONE CLASS short! That was it, ONE CLASS! I happily took my one class and moved one with the process, I was on my way to my LPC. There was plenty of work ahead but I had just completed the first step and there was no stopping. So if you are wondering is there a light at the end of the transcript tunnel, there is! As school counselors we are equipped with the skills that are needed to evaluate our own transcripts and enroll in the classes we need. So check your transcript, enroll if you have and move forward with your own LPC journey.
