The time period between completing a graduate degree and obtaining an Associate registration number from the BBS can feel like a strange state of limbo. You’re no longer a trainee (or, for social workers, an intern), but you’re not yet a registered associate either. Thankfully, hours of supervised experience gained in that time can still count toward LMFT, LPCC, or LCSW licensure — if you fall within the 90-day rule. What is the 90-day rule, and why does it matter so much?
Law and ethics
Why you shouldn’t share an exam prep login
We all want to pass our licensing exams. If we don’t pass, we may prolong our progress to licensure by several months. Preparing for exams takes a lot of time and money. One way people have sought to save money is by sharing an exam prep login. In other words, letting a friend or colleague access license exam test prep material under your username and password.
Paying half (or less) of the price feels a lot better than paying the whole price, and sharing an exam prep login provides a sense of community around your study experience. But before offering your password to someone else or using someone else’s account, here are some things you should consider.
Self-care is great, if you can afford it
From the time you were in graduate school, your instructors and supervisors have likely emphasized the importance of self-care. Burnout is a real risk in the world of counseling and psychotherapy, and you have to be able to take care of yourself in order to avoid it.
These messages come from a good place. But they ignore reality for many therapists, especially those early in their careers. And those messages often come with dangerous assumptions and a dark undercurrent: If you’re having a hard time, it’s your own fault.
Differentiating passing scores and pass rates on license exams
Two of the most frequent questions to come up in social media groups for therapists involve licensing exams: What is the pass rate for [a specific license exam]? And, What is the passing score? Passing scores and pass rates are both good questions, and it’s easy to confuse them.
Sometimes people ask one when they mean the other. And sometimes people ask the question in a way that could mean either one, like “What’s the passing percentage?” Let’s clarify the difference, and answer both.
Cyber-stalk yourself
When potential or current clients or employers search your name, what will they find? What impression do you leave? There’s one easy and absolutely necessary way to find out: Cyber-stalk yourself.
Even if you are still in grad school and not seeing clients in the near future, it is never too early to start caring about your professional reputation. This is not as simple as switching your social media accounts to private. When you search your name on Google or any other search engine, things from your past may come up that you may have forgotten about. And if those results show up for you, they’re like to show up for others, too. Like prospective clients. And potential employers.