Choosing an LPC supervisor
in Colorado
Find a clinical supervisor who is the right fit for you.
Why choosing the right LPC supervisor matters
When you’re working towards licensure to become a licensed professional counselor, choosing an LPC supervisor can be one of the most important decisions on your journey.
Your clinical supervisor could be part of your professional life for 2 years or longer, and their advice and guidance can help shape your career as a therapist and give you a head start when you’re preparing for licensure.
Before you choose an LPC supervisor in Colorado or Denver, read on for some tips to help you choose where to get your Licensed Professional Counselor supervision.
Experiemce matters
When you’re looking for an LPC supervisor to help you become a licensed therapist in Colorado, experience is undoubtedly one of the most important factors.
In Colorado, someone can currently become an LPC supervisor very shortly after completing their hours to become an LPC. That means that your supervisor could have slightly more experience than you, and might not have much experience seeing clients in various settings.
Instead, look for a therapist who has at least a few years of post-graduate professional experience, ideally 5 or more. Even more, look for a therapist who has worked in a variety of different settings, including group practices, private practice, residential treatment, and community mental health, like our Colorado LPC supervisors.
Having a wide range of experiences can help your LPC supervisor better understand the types of challenges you’re facing and provide relevant, helpful supervision and suggestions for you.
Alignment with the clients you see
To help you get the most out of your supervision sessions, if you know the types of clients that you’re most likely to see, make sure your LPC supervisor has experience with similar clients.
For example, if you think you’ll work with a lot of teen clients, you’ll want to make sure that a significant percentage of your supervisor’s clients are teens, or that they’ve at least worked with many teens before. If you work in a residential treatment facility, you’ll want your supervisor to have that experience to understand how different your work is compared to a one-on-one private practice setting.
Also, think about the types of issues your clients frequently have, including anxiety, PTSD, trauma, depression, and more. When your LPC supervisor has experience with the types of clients you see, your time together can be even more valuable to your growth as an LPCC.
Colorado LPC licensure requirements
This may sound obvious, but knowing requirements for licensure goes hand and hand with experience. You have a lot to think about already as you’re tracking hours, working with clients, and preparing for the National Counselor Examination (NCE) and Colorado Jurisprudence exam.
Your supervisor should be able to clearly and simply explain the requirements for you to become a licensed professional counselor in Colorado, including education requirements, experiential requirements, and required counseling exams.
When you choose an LPC supervisor, you’re putting your trust in someone to help guide you through the process. Make sure the person knows what they’re talking about.
Supervision
We offer individual and group supervision for candidates working towards the following licenses:
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT)
- Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC)
- Licensed Addiction Counselors (LAC)
Have their past supervisees become LPCs?
In general, you’ll want to know that people that an LPC supervisor has supervised are now licensed professional counselors in Colorado. It might be simple, but this is a very tangible way to know that an LPC supervisor understands the requirements needed for supervisees become licensed.
If someone is a new LPC supervisor, you might not want to be the person that they’re having their first supervision experience with.
Everyone starts somewhere as a supervisor, but finding someone with experience with the licensing process can be extremely important.
Ask them what their supervision sessions look like
Whether you’re planning to do all individual supervision or combine it with group supervision, ask a potential LPC supervisor what these sessions could look like. You might want to use your time to review a number of cases, or go in depth on a single client.
If you’re getting group supervision, how is the time spent? How many people are in sessions? Are sessions always about client cases, or would you also spend time talking about what it’s like to be an LPC, imposter syndrome, personal challenges, and building rapport like clients.
Just like you would if you were a client seeing a therapist, you want to feel comfortable with your LPC supervisor because you’ll be spending a lot of time with this person, frequently two years or more.
Especially in individual supervision, you’ll be sharing a lot about how you’re feeling as a relatively new therapist. Make sure that the person communicates with you in ways that make you feel heard, understood, and that the person feels like someone you can learn and grow from.
Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn’t you – all of the expectations, all of the beliefs – and becoming who you are.
Rachel Naomi Remen
