Therapy without a license

[TMS@1987]

I was wondering if you are allowed to practice therapy (barring private practice) without a license? I would like to work in an MH setting and do counseling/therapy during my 2 yrs of supervision before I get my license but I have heard that if you don't have a license you typically won't be allowed to do therapy and I was wondering if that was really the case and if I'm going to have to do case management (which I really don't want to do) during those 2 yrs. I'm also interested in working in the UK, Australia, France, etc. and I was wondering if the same rules applied their in regards to the whole "no license, no therapy" thing?

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[michalita]

Where are you at in your education at this point?

I've seen master's level clinicians (license eligible/with supervision) who do group and individual therapy. They may be limited by the kinds of clients they can see because of insurance/government requirements (like Medicaid), but I definitely have seen some who do therapy. It's probably more likely that you'll see job opportunities for case management b/c there's a need, but there's a lot you can learn doing that as well.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I believe until you are licensed, you MUST be supervised and 'under' someone else's license if you engage in therapy. I'm not sure how it works at the MA/MS (if it is any different), but I am pretty sure this is the setup at the doctoral level.

-t

 

[PsyKardinal]

At the MS level you can do therapy, if you are supervised under someone else's license. Typically in that situation you have what is called a Temporary license, and most meet weekly with your supervisor. A great deal of jobs require some level of case management experience so getting some is a good idea.