Supervision is an extremely important aspect to gaining licensure. After graduating supervision tends to be one of the first topics on any new graduates mind and with that a lot of unanswered questions may come up. After last month’s article regarding how to turn in supervision hours, a lot of Registered Interns had follow up questions and below are the follow up questions and answers:
- What does Florida require for supervision hours? 100 hours of supervision in no less than 2 years.
- If an intern has a caseload of more than 15 clients a week, does the intern require an additional hour of supervision? Yes, for every 15 client hours an intern needs one hour of supervision so, if an intern has more than 15 clients in one week, they are required an additional hour of supervision for that week.
- If an intern has 2 supervision hours in one week, do both hours of supervision count towards licensure? Yes, any amount of supervision will be counted towards the 100 hours of supervision.
- What if an intern ends up with all 100 hours of supervision in less than 2 years? The intern will still be required to continue supervision until the 2 year minimum, 1500 client hour AND 100 hours of supervision have been met. Regardless is one or the other is met prior to the 2 year minimum.
- Can an intern have more than one supervisor? Yes, many interns will have more than one supervisor for situations of canceled supervision hours or to obtain group supervision from one supervisor and individual from another. There are many benefits to having more than one supervisor.
- If an intern loses a job, has an emergency, moves out of town etc. and has a break in obtaining hours for licensure can the intern “make up” lost hours by carrying a heavier case load? In order to “make up” hours implies that the intern is attempting to obtain all of the minimum requirements by the 2 year minimum. However, it is important to note that the 2 years is a minimum and not a maximum. Meaning that it’s a minimum for everyone and can be done but, also accounts for issues of losing a job, moving, family emergencies etc. and currently there is not a maximum limit on being a registered intern, meaning if you finish requirements after the 2 year minimum you will still be allowed to become licensed.
It is important to remember the basics of becoming licensed such as 1 hour of supervision is required every 15 hours of face to face clinical hours. Supervision must be done at a minimum of every 2 weeks, even if you have not completed 15 hours of clinical face to face. If you have more than 15 clients a week, you need an additional hour of supervision. So if you have 24 hours of face to face in 1 week you are required 2 hours of supervision for that week. However, remember no matter how fast you complete the 1500 hours or 100 hours of clinical supervision you STILL have to wait a minimum of 2 years, all requirements must be met. Also important to remember is that the 2-year requirement does not mean that the intern has to be working consecutively during that 2-year period, or that the hours have to have been spread out evenly during the 2-year period, this would be extremely difficult to achieve for anyone.
With the upcoming FMHCA conference in February, there will be a question and answer panel for students and interns to ask questions regarding supervision and other related topics of becoming a registered intern and becoming licensed. It’s a great way to have unanswered questions put to rest, network, and find support. Hope to see you all there! Here are the links for more information and to register:
Agenda:
http://flmhca.org/conference/conference-agenda
Conference Page:
http://flmhca.org/conference/2015-conference
Registration:
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e9nsqtwwd8e596ea&llr=hlvygggab
Jessica Richards is a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern for the State of Florida. As a graduate of NOVA Southeastern University, she holds a master's degree in Mental Health Counseling. She currently contracts with local community agencies to obtain hours for full LMHC licensure, while working on establishing her private practice, Peace of Mind Counseling. Both located in Orlando, Florida.
