1. Look through Washington Department of Health listing.

2. You can ask peers and colleagues how they find their supervisors.

3. You can look through supervisor listings including:

   1. Washington State Society for Clinical Social Work

   2. Motivo

   3. Counseling Washington

   4. Psychology Today

4. You can look through therapy directory listings including:

   1. Multicultural Therapists

   2. Therapy Den

   3. Inclusive Therapists

   4. The Washington Therapy Fund

   5. Asian Mental Health Collective

   6. Deconstructing The Mental Health System

   7. Latinx Therapists

   8. Therapy For Black Girls

   9. Gaylesta

   10. Ingersoll

5. You can ask past professors and lecturers for recommendations or if they themselves offer supervision.

6. You can Google/do an online search for clinical supervisors.

7. You can join Meet Up groups

   • King County Mental Health Professionals

   • Reflect Therapist

8. You can join the WA Mental Health List Serv and post a request.

   • WA Mental Health Professionals

9. You can post a request on various Facebook therapist groups including

   1. Seattle Therapist Exchange

   2. Greater Seattle Therapists

   3. Washington State Therapists in Private Practice

   4. WAMFT PreClinical/Associate Networking Group

   5. Therapy Associates of Tacoma

   6. Washington Mental Health Counselors Association Group

   7. WA State Clinical Supervisors and Supervisees Support

   8. Spokane Psychotherapy Network

   9. Seattle Therapist Networking Hub

1. Apply for your LSWAIC/LMHCA/LMFTA within 90-days of graduating. I recommend applying the day you receive your diploma.

2. Follow all instructions for the LSWAIC/LMHCA/LMFTA application. If the application wants you to use black ink for a physical application, do not use blue ink. Use black ink.

3. Wait several months (usually 2-5 months, but at its worst due to staffing shortages and other issues, 9-months) for the DOH to issue your credential. Take a vacation, rest, sleep, travel, find a temporary part time job before you’re issued your credential. You’re allowed to practice and see clients once issued your credential.

4. Learn about the requirements of renewal for your LSWAIC/LMHCA/LMFTA.

5. Renew your LSWAIC/LMHCA/LMFTA before it expires.

6. Confirm your supervisor is an Approved Supervisor.

7. Document all your experience and supervision hours. Create an Excel sheet. Have supervisor(s) sign off on this at least once every 1-3 months. I’ve heard of horror stories where supervisors pass away/die, refuse to sign off on supervision hours, etc.

8. Periodically send your documented supervision hours to the DOH (every 4-6 months). Keep a copy for your records.

9. Meet the minimum continuing education credits for licensure renewal annually. Keep your CEU documentation for at least 4 years in a Google Drive/somewhere safe.

10. Contact the Department of Health if you have questions via email/message for written documentation.

11. Stay informed with the Department of Health’s updates.

12. Stay informed with your profession’s updates.

13. Review the exam breakdown/outline for your respective profession and study for areas of growth ongoing. This is a much more effective study method than cramming your studying into several weeks or month once you accrue enough hours/meet the minimum length of time to apply for independent licensure.

14. Ask for help. We can rarely do things alone. Develop a peer support or consultation group. Find an effective and good fit supervisor.

15. Seek out your own personal counseling.

It is your responsibility to:

1) Verify your supervisor meets the approved supervisor requirements for your intended profession,

2) Maintain documentation of work done and supervision hours provided/completed, and

3) Periodically submit documentation of supervision hours completed to the DOH.

Click on the underlined links to learn more.

• Models of Clinical Supervision

• A Brief Summary of Clinical Supervision Models

• Decolonizing Supervision (Slides)

• Decolonizing Supervision (Video)

• Sharing Wisdom: Ethnic Minority Supervisor Perspectives

Check application processing times here.

Washington State Department of Health - Provider Search (Verify License)

LICSW Approved Supervisor & Supervision Forms

WAC

• Regulations of executive branch agencies are issued by authority of statutes. Like legislation and the Constitution, regulations are a source of primary law in Washington State. The Washington Administrative Code (WAC) codifies the regulations and arranges them by subject or agency.

RCW

• The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) is the compilation of all permanent laws now in force. It is a collection of Session Laws (enacted by the Legislature, and signed by the Governor, or enacted via the initiative process), arranged by topic, with amendments added and repealed laws removed.

New Law Reduces Hour and Supervision Requirements for Social Work Licensure in Washington

Governor Inslee signed 2SHB 1724 early this month, May 2023, which went into effect 5/11/2023.

Independent Social Workers: An applicant's doctoral degree may be from any university accredited by a recognized accrediting organization, instead of only the Council on Social Work Education.

The supervised experience hours are reduced from 4,000 hours to 3,000 hours over two years instead of three years.

The hours of experience that must be directly supervised are reduced from 130 hours to 100 hours.

Read more here.

• By January 1, 2024, every health profession under RCW 18.130.040 with a CE requirement

• Read more here and here