Welcome, Florida Mental Health Counselor Interns!

Morgan Ash, LCSW, QS- Board Certified Qualified Supervisor for Registered Mental Health Counselor Interns in the state of Florida.

Supervision Requirements

Interns need 1500 client face to face hours requiring  100 hours of supervision hours over a minimum of 100 weeks. The state requires 1 hr/supervision for (full-time) registered interns doing 15 hours of face-to-face psychotherapy with clients each week, or 1 hr/supervision biweekly for (part-time) less than 15 hours of face to face psychotherapy with clients each week. Generally, it takes 2-4 years to finish supervision. Supervision cannot be completed in less than 100 weeks, regardless of how many clients you work with weekly.   We will meet for individual sessions (up to 2 supervisees) for at least half the time we meet, and group sessions for up to half our time together (3 or more supervisees). See 491 Board Rules and Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling website here for requirements.

How Long Can you Be Registered Before Passing  the Licensure Exam

Current licenses expire at midnight, Eastern Time, on March 31, 2022.
During the 2016 Legislative Session, House Bill 373, and companion Senate Bill 12, were passed into law limiting intern registration to 5 years. Clinical social work, marriage and family therapy, and mental health counseling intern registrations issued on or before March 31, 2017, will expire March 31, 2022, and may not be renewed or reissued. Currently registered interns were sent an updated license with the new expiration date of March 31, 2022. No subsequent intern registration may be issued unless the candidate has passed the theory and practice examination.

Finding the Right Supervisor

Deciding on your licensure supervisor is an important decision.  It is crucial to choose a supervisor you feel comfortable with, confident in, and have a relationship with where you can explore your own growth as a therapist.  It is important for us to meet first to decide if it is mutually a good fit for your goals.

Supervision is a place to develop the necessary skills and practice of counseling to protect one’s clients and become a competent practitioner. My approach to supervision follows the Developmental Model, which adjusts for and to the level of expertise of the supervisee. As a clinical supervisor, I am here to help you in a safe and supportive environment that allows you to be accountable while learning whether in individual or group supervision.

What to Expect From Your Supervision  

  • A supportive  atmosphere

  • Mentoring and guidance

  • Learn to write a well-written clinical/interpretative summary

  •  Develop clinical skills in diagnosing, assessing, treatment planning, implementation, and documentation

  • How to run group counseling

  • Setting boundaries professionally and personally. Transference and countertransference

  • Role-playing

  • Learn and  demonstrate micro-skills: reframing, summarizing, empathizing, open-ended questions

  • Developing personal and professional goals

  • Case discussion and conceptualization

  • Clinical model discussion: CBT, Gottman Couple’s Techniques, Postpartum specialities

  • Guidance towards licensure

  • Discuss  laws and ethics that guide our profession

  • Topics important to each supervisee

  •  Model and promote appropriate ways to work with issues of culture, gender, sexual identity and preference, religious affiliation or other differences in the counseling setting.

  • To assist in reducing professional performance anxiety while increasing professional identity and areas of expertise. Your needs as a  supervisee will change substantially over time.

  • Direction on  creating and building  a private practice

SUPERVISION DETAILS:

WHERE:  In-person beach supervision in Longboat Key, FL and/or through telehealth and online methods.

FORMAT: Alternating group and individual supervision.

COST:  Supervision is a flat fee of $130/hour.

About My Practice: I’m in my 11th year of full-time private practice. I specialize working with women experiencing postpartum, narcissistic abuse recovery, anxiety, divorce, overcoming shame, boundary setting, high achievement stress. I also have completed Gottman 2 training through Gottman Institute- and work with couples virtually. I also work with cancer survivors- or those with a recent cancer diagnosis.