What is a Professional Counselor?
There are several masters-level providers of mental health services in Tennessee, the primary ones being Licensed Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Licensed Clinical Social Workers. These three types of providers have their own state laws, professional organizations, and training philosophy associated with them, but they are similar in many ways and typically work in the same types of jobs. Lipscomb’s M.S. in Professional Counseling prepares students to seek licensure as a Professional Counselor with Mental Health Services Provider Designation (LPC-MHSP).
Tennessee law provides detailed guidelines for how LPCs are educated and our program is designed to meet (and in many cases, exceed) these guidelines. If you would like to read Tennessee’s rules governing Professional Counselors, you can obtain a PDF version at this location: Because this is a lengthy document, we have provided excerpts below for your convenience.
Many applicants to our program ask us “What exactly can an LPC do?” Regular LPCs (without MHSP designation) provide therapy to clients of all ages, as well as groups and couples. They help people cope with many different issues: grief, marriage problems, career/occupational problems, parent and child relationship issues, etc. Some people are not aware that it is not necessary to have the “Marriage and Family” license to provide marriage counseling or family counseling—LPCs can do this too, along with many other things. Copied below is Tennessee’s definition of a Professional Counselor, copied from Page 3 of the General Rules Governing Professional Counselors:
Another question that students often ask is “What is special about an LPC who has MHSP designation? Why is this designation important to me?” The difference is that LPC-MHSPs have additional training and can provide a wider variety of services to clients. “Regular” LPCs are forbidden from treating mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders (except those specified in the definition above). Those with MHSP designation do have the ability to treat these types of disorders. Because insurance companies generally will only pay for counseling that is designed to treat a diagnosed condition, MHSPs have the added benefit of being able to accept patients’ insurance. These distinctions make LPC-MHSPs more attractive to employers. Again, see below for the state’s detailed description: