Badass Therapists Building Practices That Thrive

132 What Is the Counseling Compact And Why It Matters for Your Therapy Practice

• Dr. Kate Walker Ph.D., LPC/LMFT Supervisor • Season 3 • Episode 132

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Speaker 1:

So here's the thing this state that is part of the counseling compact gets to grandfather in folks who may not have met the criteria. So if you're like me and you never took an NCE and instead took an older version of what was then known as a Texas licensing exam, you're good to go. Welcome to Badass Therapists building practices that thrive, where it's all about working smarter, not harder. Now here's your host, dr Kate Walker, who can form an impromptu band just about anywhere she goes. Hey, badass Therapists, today we are diving into the counseling compact what it is, how it works and why it matters. If you're thinking about working across state lines, there's an important correction we added in post-production, so be sure to listen for that. And if you're ready to course correct in your business, don't miss the Smart Practice Sprint, our May promotion to help you simplify your marketing dial in your HIPAA compliance and get booked fast. The first day is totally free, so head to katewalkertrainingcom slash bonus to grab your spot. Keep listening. I'm going to tell you more in the mid-roll. Now let's get to work. I'm going to tell you more in the mid-roll, now let's get to work. Hey, I'm Dr Kate Walker. Welcome to your Tuesday Coaching.

Speaker 1:

Today I'm going to talk about the counseling compact, diving into how the compact is going to impact our business positively and possibly negatively, you know, just kind of remains to be seen. I'm going to be totally transparent. I'm probably one of the ones who is leaning against it a little bit, but I mean not completely. I think it's a great thing for accessibility to care, but I, my job, is to show you how it's going to impact your business. So we'll talk about how does the counseling compact work and we will talk about the pros and the cons regarding your business.

Speaker 1:

All right, so let's start out with what is the Counseling Compact? Well, you know how you have a license. We talk about the difference between a license and a certificate, right, so certificate says you can do something. A license says you have permission to do something. Right, so you can have a certificate that says you know how to drive, but only a license gives you permission to drive. Right, and so that counseling license that you have is permission to practice. And right now, the way things stand, and you have to get a license in every single state, right? It's not like your driver's license where you could just drive to Tennessee and suddenly you're a driver in Tennessee, right, those licenses for things like medicine and counseling and other things they don't transfer like that. So if you aren't licensed in another state, you can't see clients in that state and you can go to another.

Speaker 1:

Training where we've talked about what is the definition of counseling across state lines, remember, in Texas it's where your client's feet are right. So as far as Texas is concerned, counseling happens where your client's feet are in that moment of services, right, doesn't matter where they're a resident, they're on vacation, they're a college student, but they really pay taxes in Texas or however that works. So when we think about the compact and I'm going to read directly from my notes the counseling compact is an agreement among participating states that allows licensed professional counselors to practice across state lines without obtaining multiple licenses, so more like a driver's license. Now, right, so it's going to be this thing where I've got my Texas license and now I can practice in participating states. Now it's important to know this is a privilege, right. So in Texas, right, this license I have, right, it gives me. So it's also a privilege, right. I'm not going to say a license isn't a privilege, because I'm a mom and I've said it a hundred times driving is a privilege, right? But your license in Texas means you have taken the CEs, you have passed the Texas exam, you are under the auspices of BHEK, lpc, lmft, social Work, psychology, whatever member board governs your license. So with the compact it's a little bit different, right? Because you're not licensed in that state. So, as of April 1st, texas hasn't joined the counseling compact, but we do have bills that are going before the legislature. It looks good that this will pass this year.

Speaker 1:

The compact licensed professional counselors in Texas would be able to practice in other compact member states without needing additional licenses, provided they meet the compact uniform licensure requirements. So what does that mean, right? So in our case, right in Texas, we have a 60-hour license and that was enacted a few years ago. So folks were grandfathered in right Cause. Like I graduated under a 36 hour license, right, a long time ago. That means I had to pick up hours to become licensed as an LMFT and I think I'm covered now cause I have a PhD. But you know that idea that there are folks out there and this could be you and that's okay, right? If you have a 48 hour license and you were grandfathered in before the 60 hour went into effect, that might affect your ability to be able to sign the agreement with the compact. Agreeing states so that's the one issue. There's also going to be a fee. Degreeing states so that's the one issue. There's also going to be a fee. So, yes, master's degree, 60 credit hours passing the NCE so that's good, right. That's why Texas did this a long time ago, because we knew the compact was coming.

Speaker 1:

I'm not speaking for the board, but adopting the NCE as the state license was part of this future thinking. So like for me, I've never passed an NCE, right. I've been a counselor so long. I passed the Texas exam back when you took it at the beginning. No, you got all your hours. Then you took the licensing exam Super scary, so clean disciplinary record. And it mentions here if you were grandfathered in you might not be eligible. So right off the bat, a lot of folks are going to need to look at what exam they took and how many hours went into their master's degree. I've been fact-checked and corrected. So here's the thing the state that is part of the counseling compact gets to grandfather in folks who may not have met the criteria. So if you're like me and you never took an NCE and instead took an older version of what was then known as a Texas licensing exam. You're good to go, good news, right.

Speaker 1:

So when we think about how the Counseling Compact works, there's going to be some infrastructure in place. So the Counseling Compact participating states will have not necessarily a governing body, but more like an infrastructure in place so that they can handle these. Because really, when we have this, state laws still rule. Even if you're compact eligible, you still have to follow the client's state laws on things like mandated reporting, scope of practice. You can't assume your home state's rules apply everywhere and licensing boards are still learning, right. So the fact that we have this compact and then we're going to have folks from you know a different state practicing in Texas right, and they get in trouble for breaking a Texas rule right. You can see that there's a little bit of a conundrum there. How's that going to work? See that there's a little bit of a conundrum there. How's that going to work?

Speaker 1:

So it is on you, just like you need to know the rules of the road in every county in Texas that you drive through, or every state that you drive through. It's incumbent on you to understand the rules in the state where you plan to practice, and so you know, obviously, the next question is telehealth supported and 100% yes, right, that's what this is for. This is you know, obviously. The next question is telehealth supported and 100% yes, right, that's what this is for. This is you know? My example was driving, where you're physically going from state to state. This is virtual right. So if your client feet are in another compact state and see, I'm not even using another state as an example in my examples because I don't want people to get confused you can go and Google which states currently participate in the counseling compact. But if your client's feet are in a state that supports the compact and then you have entered into an agreement because you were eligible for the compact, you still must obey the rules for the state where their client's feet are at.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so there are some things, and I even came up with what are the top five questions people across the US are asking about the counseling compact. So, number one which states are part of the counseling compact? We've got, as of today, 37 states, so I'm not going to list all of those who is eligible to participate in the compact. You must have an active, unencumbered license as an LPC in your home state. And then you meet those criteria, as we mentioned. And how does the application process work? Well, it's not fully operational yet, but once it is, you apply for a privilege to practice in other member states through the Compact Commission's website. This involves submitting an application, paying fees, undergoing a background check. Each state may have its own fee and may actually require its own jurisprudence exam, which makes sense, right, because you want to make sure you know that state's code of ethics and their rules.

Speaker 1:

When will the compact be fully operational? The Counseling Compact Commission is developing the necessary data systems and infrastructure, aiming to begin processing applications by fall 2025. Applications by fall 2025. So, remember, texas is legislation. Legislators only meet every other year, so we are in a legislative year. So if it doesn't pass this year, we've got to wait another two years, right, that's what happened last time this was up, for it was a proposal in 2023, but it did not make it to the voting or I don't remember exactly what happened, but we had to wait two years, right. So it looks good, and if it passes, then in the fall we should have some sort of an infrastructure in place.

Speaker 1:

So this brings up something that's important, because I get asked a lot and I'm not the only one, others get asked too. You know, why isn't the board advocating for this compact? Well, this isn't a board thing. I mean, the board can be pro-compact. They have, in fact, they are. They have, you know, they've been on committees where they're really trying to understand the compact, obviously, because if it passes, they need to be good at this and get up to speed quickly. But this is a legislative issue. It is up to our Texas legislature to enact this right.

Speaker 1:

And, of course, it's all about portability, is all about access to care. We want to make sure that clients Texas clients have access to care, first and foremost. And then now we've got traveling. Texans have access to care, great. And now we come to the business part, where you guys have lots of you out there have been, you know, participating in online groups. How can I be a traveler? How can I be a nomad? How can I go all these different places and move your feet to other places? Right. But then we've got those of you who are like no, my feet are going to stay in Texas and I want to see counselors in other states. Now, that's part of your business plan. You're like okay, once this compact is enacted, then finally I can see clients in, you know, whatever state that participates.

Speaker 1:

Hey, badass listeners, quick pause. If you're tired of spinning your wheels and ready to grow a private practice that actually pays the bills, you need to check out my Smart Practice Sprint. This live four-day virtual experience is designed to help you simplify your marketing structure a HIPAA-compliant business and book more clients fast. And the best part, day one is totally free. It starts June 2nd, so go to katewalkertrainingcom slash bonus to grab your spot now. That's katewalkertrainingcom slash bonus, because it's time to stop guessing and start growing All right back to the show. Guessing and start growing All right back to the show.

Speaker 1:

So this is where I'm going to bring up one of my cons that I talk about with folks. We are a very, very populated state. We knew that. We knew Texas had a lot of people in it. Right, alaska may be the biggest state, but we're big and we are populated. Right, so we've got California, we've got New York, those in Texas. Right, we're super populated. So imagine if you only needed 300 people this year, if you only needed 300 people in your practice, that's, with new in-catechs, new phone calls. If you're a group practice owner, double that. So 600 people. If you live in Texas, you have access and do not quote me on this, I'm not looking at population numbers, but let's just say you have access to 10 million people 7 to 10 million people to get into your practice. Ok, so expanding this and saying that being able to practice in another, less populated state is going to help your chances of getting more.

Speaker 1:

And remember our KPIs more phone calls, more contact, less phone tag and more booked first appointments. Right, those are our three KPIs that we focus on. I think you may be a little bit I don't know shooting for the stars there, but not really. I want to be very careful and kind here. I want you to be successful in your KPIs. I want you to have client contact, I want you to have phone calls, I want you to have booked first appointments, and you guys are already so well trained by me and other business coaches to make sure that you are focusing your marketing effort right.

Speaker 1:

The ideal client who are they? What do they do? Where do they eat lunch? What do they need? What's their pain point? You know the people in your community and or you know the people in your niche, right, you know how to talk to them. You know how to draw them in, you know how to be attractive to them, be the shiny object that catches their attention and they hit the keyboard and go to you.

Speaker 1:

Imagine now you've got to do this for the whole country, right? Oh, now you got to know everybody. All right, I'm going to give you another con, right? Kids call me mom the dream killer, right? It's like. Well, there's your dream, I'm going to squish it. These folks are all coming to us, right?

Speaker 1:

So remember, the counseling compact works both ways. It's not that our horizons are opening and we can now practice in other states. Other participants in the Counseling Compact may be like oh my gosh, I was in such a therapist, saturated area of fill in the blank name state. I can go to Texas, where there are more people. Right, how many of you have complained that you are in a therapist, saturated area in Texas? Now, you're going to have other people, right, they're going to be Googling the zip codes where they can get the highest rate. They're going to be Googling to see which insurance companies pay higher. You know they pay higher in a suburb of Houston, or do they pay higher in that little town in between San Antonio and Austin, right, so they're going to be doing their work to see where they can practice.

Speaker 1:

Remember, this is telehealth, so opening the doors with the counseling compact is going to work this way as well. Right, and I really want to make sure folks business owners, big practice owners, solo practice owners, people starting out, people who've been in this a long time understand that while we want the compact to improve access to care and it will, right, we want that for our clients we are going to have to up our game when it comes to marketing and making sure that we're doing all the things so that we're standing out in the competition as well. Okay, so I think that covers everything I wanted to cover, but let's review. So we talked about what is the counseling compact, we talked about how the counseling compact will work and then we talked about pros and cons for practicing counseling. We talk about workforce portability, especially for military spouses, digital nomads. This portability means it's going to reduce the friction in maintaining your career if you or your partner is relocating. You or your partner is relocating. Thanks for listening. If today's episode got you fired up to finally build the private practice you've been dreaming about.

Speaker 1:

Don't miss the Smart Practice Sprint. It's happening virtually, so you can join from anywhere. Starting June 2nd, we'll spend four days getting your messaging clear, your HIPAA compliance dialed in and your client calendar moving from crickets to booked Head to katewalkertrainingcom. Slash bonus to register, remember, night one is completely free. And here's the exciting part I'll be taking this sprint on the road in Texas. Soon I'm going to be coming to DFW, austin, houston, el Paso. So wherever you are, I'll be coming to a city near you. Can't wait to see you inside the sprint and maybe shake your hand in person. Real soon, real soon, when you get a second. Please like, share and subscribe and write us a review. That's really how we get picked up by other RSS feeds and we get this information out to the mental health badasses who need it. Thanks again and keep saving the world with excellent therapy. Thank you.