Supervision Guidelines

Board of Counseling

Supervised Experience Requirements for the Delivery of Clinical Services for Professional Counselor Licensure

The Virginia Board of Counseling requires that an individual who proposes to obtain supervised experience in Virginia, in any setting, shall submit a supervisory contract stating the proposed plans for the resident to provide clinical services using recognized counseling and counseling treatment interventions while under the supervision of a qualified licensed practitioner as listed in the Regulations Governing the Practice of Professional Counseling. The supervisory contract, submitted on a board approved form, completed by the supervisor and the resident, must receive board approval prior to the beginning of the supervised experience.

The supervisor is currently required to assume full responsibility for the counseling activities of the resident and must verify and document the resident’s experience in the delivery of 2000 hours of face to face clinical counseling services utilizing counseling treatment interventions as defined in the Code of Virginia as follows:

“Counseling” means the therapeutic process of: (i) conducting assessments and diagnoses for the purpose of establishing treatment goals and objectives and (ii) planning, implementing, and evaluating treatment plans using treatment interventions to facilitate human development and to identify and remediate mental, emotional or behavioral disorders and associated distresses which interfere with mental health.

"Counseling treatment intervention" means those cognitive, affective, behavioral and systemic counseling strategies, techniques and methods common to the behavioral sciences that are specifically implemented in the context of a therapeutic relationship.

If the Board’s designated credentials reviewers are unable to determine, based on the registered supervision contract submitted, that the resident will be providing clinical services utilizing counseling...