Summerville Women’s Mental Health Services (SMMHS)

Here at Summerville Women’s Mental Health Services (SWMHS), we are a teaching private practice. This means we allow post-graduate Licensed Professional Counselor-Associates (LPC-A) as well as Masters Level Counseling Students (Counseling Interns) from accredited graduate programs to obtain real-life experience in the counseling profession alongside our more seasoned clinicians. This is very important to provide continued quality of care in the mental health field, and it also allows us to provide therapy at a lower cost to clients.

What is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Associate (LPC-A)?

Licensed Professional Counselor-Associates (LPC-A): LPC-A’s are highly trained post-graduate counselors. They have already completed two years of a rigorous master's degree program, in which they had to complete 700 hours of counseling experience (on average) before graduation. During this time, they received training on various counseling techniques, assessments, and diagnostic skills.

After graduation, they then go on to complete their national licensing exam, which allows them to receive their LPC-A license from the state. This is when the period of clinical supervision begins. During the clinical supervision period, LPC-A’s complete an additional 3,000 hours of counseling work over a minimum of 18 months (much like a doctor going through residency) before receiving their unsupervised License Professional Counselor (LPC) license. 

Throughout these 3,000 hours, they are supervised either on or off-site by a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPCS) who has had a minimum of five years post-license experience and has also taken another rigorous 40-hour course to be certified to supervise. The LPC-A you see may discuss your case confidentially with their supervisor. When you are receiving treatment from an LPC-A, you receive the benefit of not just your clinician’s knowledge, experience, and expertise but also the knowledge, experience, and expertise of the Associate’s supervisor as well, all at a reduced cost to you! 

For more information about our LPC-A’s, please visit the Meet our Team page.

Book With an LPC-A