Online supervision with Dr. Emily Fornwalt, PhD, LCMHC-S
Clinical Supervision for LCMHC and LCMHCA Licensure in North Carolina
You’re All Done with School. Now You’re An LCMHCA, with 3,000 hours ahead of you.
On the one hand, you know you know some stuff. On the other, you wonder if you actually know nothing. You’re confident one moment and self-doubting the next. All in a day’s work.
Maybe you just got your Associate license in the mail and you’re about to start at your first position in Charlotte or Raleigh or Durham or Asheville. Maybe you’ve been supervising with someone for six months and it isn’t working. Maybe you’re about to graduate and trying to line up supervision before your start date.
Whatever brought you here, the NCBLCMHC requires a supervision contract on file before you begin providing counseling services. That contract shapes the next two to three years of your career. You cannot afford to get this one wrong.
You’ve heard the stories. The supervisor who signs off on hours without engaging with your work. The one who’s technically board-approved but clearly doesn’t know what to do with the Associates they’ve taken on. The one who’s never available when you need to consult.
You want someone who will tell you the truth about your work without making you feel like a fraud, someone with the right balance of support and challenge, and someone you feel safe enough with to share your mistakes without being shamed.
Here’s what I can tell you about working with me: I’ll tell you the truth about your work, and I’ll do it without making you feel small. I’ll challenge you when it matters, and I’ll support you when that’s what you need. That’s what supervision should look like.
“What’s Supervision Like With You, EMily?”
Pull up a chair.
In LCMHC supervision with me, power is shared, and we both contribute to the work.
And the process is useless when it’s not rooted in a trusting and supportive relationship.
If you can’t show me a recording of your worst moments in a session, how can we help you grow into the therapist you want to be?
That kind of safety doesn’t grow by chance. It takes time and attention. I’ll take time to get to know you and what works for you in supervision.
We’ll talk about our intersectional identities and how those might influence our work together, as well as your work with clients.
I’ll help you notice what you’re doing well and what you can invite yourself to try differently.
We might try an online sandtray or a drawing when words fail you. I love creative approaches.
Now, you might be asking yourself, “You said collaboration, too, Emily. What does that look like?”
I believe we both bring something to the table when we meet. You will always have expertise about your client and what’s happening in the room that I cannot have. I respect that, and we’ll use it.
I’ll ask you what’s helping and what’s not, and we’ll make changes accordingly.
I’ll invite you to brainstorm with me. When you’re drawing a blank, I’ll brainstorm and invite you to note what lands for you.
We work together to support your growth, adjusting over time as you gain skill and confidence.
The North Carolina licensure path
North Carolina moved from LPC to LCMHC in 2019. Your Associate license is now LCMHCA, and the fully licensed version is LCMHC. The supervisor credential is LCMHC-S.
Here’s what you need to know about the hour requirements:
You need 3,000 hours of supervised professional practice before you can apply for LCMHC. At least 2,000 of those hours must be direct client contact. You cannot exceed 40 hours per week. You need a minimum of one hour of individual supervision or two hours of group supervision per 40 hours of practice.
The supervision contract has to be approved by the Board before you start seeing clients, and it typically takes about two weeks to review. If you change supervisors partway through, you file a new contract.
I’m licensed as LCMHC-S in North Carolina (#S6459), which means I serve as your qualified clinical supervisor and sign off on all the hours you accumulate with me.
“What stuff do you know, Emily?”
My clinical experience:
I have specific expertise in working with trauma, children and young people, and parents (including supporting caregivers of LGBTQ+ kiddos). I am a Registered Play Therapy Supervisor (RPT-S) and an Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS).
I’m well-versed in parent-child approaches, including child-parent relationship therapy.
I’ve worked with trauma in many forms over the years and have taught several classes focused on teaching counselors-in-training how to work with trauma.
I approach trauma in a neurobiologically-informed way. Many of the things experienced by trauma survivors are not signs of “brokenness” but signs of the brain doing what it needs to best protect your client. Even if you don’t think you want to be a trauma therapist, you will absolutely be presented with trauma in your work.
I’m well-versed in attachment theory and can use this to support your work with individuals seeking increased satisfaction in relationships. An attachment lens can be applied to romantic, sexual, familial, and friendship relationships.
What makes my supervision different:
Academic background. I have a PhD in counseling from UNC Charlotte (my original counselor licensure was in North Carolina, back in 2007) and I’ve taught in several master’s-level counseling programs. That teaching background matters here because it means I can walk you through the why behind what I’m asking you to try, not just the what.
Training that exceeds North Carolina’s requirements. The NCBLCMHC requires LCMHC-S candidates to complete 45 contact hours of clinical supervision training. I’ve completed that and a whole lot more. I hold the Approved Clinical Supervisor credential through the Center for Credentialing and Education, and I’ve completed supervision-of-supervision training, which means I’ve been trained in how to train supervisors. That specific layer of training is rare.
Broad supervisee experience. I’ve worked with both clinical mental health counselors and school counselors, in post-masters employment and during their internships. I’ve supervised people working with clients across the full age range.
“So, who will I be when we’re done, Emily?”
Wow, that’s quite a question. Honestly, I don’t know exactly who you’ll be.
But I know you’ll be different.
Self-advocacy skills. Sometimes the system is hard. I want you to know when to speak up for yourself and set a boundary (like when your agency assigns you a client you don’t have the training to work with).
Stronger clinical skills. Knowing when to use a specific intervention, how to conceptualize a case to best support your client, so you can do things like talk to a psychiatrist or a school, write a report for a court hearing, or run a family session.
Your actual theoretical orientation. Not a vague gesture at eclecticism, but a real answer to the question “how do I think change happens in therapy?” We’ll have helped you determine what you believe, so you’re more confident about what you’re choosing to do in session.
How to talk to parents or caregivers without violating your client’s confidentiality, if you work with children or teens.
How to really look at yourself as a therapist and what you’re bringing to the table that may or may not be helpful. Dealing with transference and countertransference. Knowing when you need peer support (“hey colleague, can we talk for a sec?”) versus consultation with someone more senior.
How to use creativity, humor, and playfulness with clients and not force yourself to be the blank slate you may have been taught to be. That’s not a thing. Learn how and when to use self-disclosure.
Identifying what you’re already good at and using those strengths to grow in the areas you want to grow in.
Self-compassion. My supervisees are often harder on themselves than I would ever be. I always work to increase self-compassion, because this makes you a better therapist. You’ll be more present because you’re not in your head critiquing everything you’re doing or saying. You’ll connect with your clients in a way that makes a huge difference.
Who I work with in North Carolina
I provide online supervision for LCMHCAs across North Carolina, including Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Asheville, Fayetteville, Cary, Chapel Hill, Concord, Wilmington, High Point, Apex, Gastonia, and throughout the state.
Whether you’re in a community mental health agency, a private group practice, a school counseling position, a hospital, or any other setting, telehealth supervision fits into your schedule without adding a commute to an already demanding residency.
i’m Emily.
About dr. emily fornwalt
I’m a PhD-level therapist with a doctorate in counseling from UNC Charlotte. My original counselor licensure was in North Carolina, and I’ve been licensed and practicing since 2007.
I’m a Level II AEDP therapist with training in interpersonal neurobiology, advanced training and certification in play therapy, Board Certified in TeleMental Health, and a National Certified Counselor.
If you’d like to learn more about me than can fit in a short blurb, please explore the link below.
North Carolina licensure FAQs
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Yes. I hold the LCMHC-S credential in North Carolina (#S6459), which allows me to serve as a qualified clinical supervisor. Hours with me count toward your LCMHC licensure.
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The path starts with a master’s degree (minimum of 60 semester hours) in counseling or a related field from a CACREP-accredited program or an institutionally accredited institution with equivalent coursework. After graduation, you apply for your LCMHCA (Associate) license.
Once you have your LCMHCA, you complete 3,000 hours of supervised professional practice. At least 2,000 of those hours must be direct counseling experience. Indirect counseling (phone calls, documentation, case management) counts too, but only up to 1,000 hours. You cannot exceed 40 hours per week.
You’ll also need to pass either the NCE (National Counselor Examination) or NCMHCE (National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination) if you haven’t already.
Once you’ve met the hours and examination requirements, you can apply for the LCMHC license.
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The NCBLCMHC requires a minimum of one hour of individual supervision (or two hours of group supervision) per 40 hours of supervised professional practice. Over your 3,000 hours of supervised practice, that works out to a minimum of 75 hours of individual supervision (or equivalent).
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Once we decide to work together, we complete the NCBLCMHC supervision contract form, which you submit to the Board. The Board typically reviews contracts within two weeks. You cannot begin providing counseling services until the contract is approved.
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North Carolina allows multiple supervisors, but you need a separate contract for each one. Some LCMHCAs work with one primary supervisor and one for specialty case consultation.
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North Carolina has reciprocity agreements with South Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Active, independently licensed counselors in those states can apply for LCMHC licensure by reciprocity. Licensed professional counselors from other states can apply by endorsement. You’ll need to verify your license through the other state’s board as part of the application.