Endorsement for Licensure: Practices and Challenges Reported by Counselor Supervisors

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to explore the extent to which supervisors of post-matriculation, pre-licensed counselors engage in gatekeeping. Two-hundred seventy-nine supervisors of post-matriculation, pre-licensed counselors completed an online survey that assessed 1) what methods of supervision supervisors of postmatriculation, pre-licensed counselors use that promote gatekeeping; 2) whether training in supervision increases the likelihood that supervisors engage in gatekeeping; 3) if supervisors endorse individuals for licensure about whom they have reservations; and 4) what barriers supervisors of post-matriculation, pre-licensed counselors report to engaging in gatekeeping at the licensure level. Analysis of the data revealed that, in the course of supervising an individual for licensure, supervisors engage in very few practices that promote gatekeeping. In addition, supervisors in the sample admitted to endorsing individuals for licensure despite concerns about their level of skill or appropriateness for the profession. The amount of training a supervisor had in supervision had no appreciable relationship to the amount of time supervisors spent engaged in the more objective methods of supervision. There was, however, a significant difference in the median number of hours of training reported by supervisors who had refused to endorse at least one individual for licensure compared to the median number of hours of training of those who had never refused to endorse someone for licensure, with the former group having a higher median. Implications for supervisors, state licensing boards, and academic training programs are discussed.

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