Common Mistakes New Therapists Make During the Licensure Process (And Why You're Probably Not the Only One Making Them)

Let's be honest:

The licensure process can feel like a full time job on top of your full time job.

One minute you're feeling good because a client had a breakthrough, and the next you're staring at your supervision paperwork wondering if you've been tracking your hours correctly for the past six months.

Over the years, we’ve noticed that many pre-licensed therapists make the same mistakes not because they're careless or unprepared, but because this phase is genuinely hard to navigate.

Here are a few of the most common ones.

1. Treating Licensure Requirements Like a Problem for Future You

Many therapists start out thinking:

"I'll figure that out later." “I can’t even look at this right now”

Then later arrives.

And suddenly you're digging through old emails, spreadsheets, notebooks, and random sticky notes trying to remember how many hours you've actually completed. Save yourself the headache.

What helps:

Create a simple system from the start and update it regularly. Your future self will thank you.

2. Thinking Everyone Else Knows What They're Doing

Have you ever sat in supervision or a consultation group and thought:

"Wow. Everyone sounds so confident."

Meanwhile, you're replaying every session in your head wondering if you accidentally ruined someone's life because you asked the wrong follow up question.

Here's a secret:

Most new therapists are questioning themselves way more than they admit.

Confidence doesn't magically appear after graduation. It develops through experience, mistakes, learning, and surviving awkward sessions.

3. Making Every Session a Reflection of Your Worth

Client had a great session?

You're a therapist superstar. Shining bright as ever.

Client seemed disengaged?

Maybe you should quit and become a barista/bartender/nanny/ fill in the blank

Sound familiar?

Many new therapists tie their confidence to how every single session goes. The problem is that therapy is messy, humans are complicated, and not every session will feel amazing.

A difficult session doesn't mean you're a bad therapist.

It means you're a therapist.

4. Ignoring Burnout Because You're "Almost There"

The licensure process has a way of turning everything into:

"I just need to get through this week."

Then:

"I just need to get through this month."

Then:

"I just need to get licensed."

Meanwhile you're exhausted, emotionally drained, and surviving on caffeine and determination.

The problem is that burnout doesn't care how close you are to the finish line.

Taking care of yourself now isn't a distraction from your professional growth. It's part of it.

5. Trying to Do It All Alone

A lot of therapists think they should be able to handle everything themselves.

The paperwork. The self-doubt.

The overwhelm. The clinical questions.

The anxiety. The pressure.

But support isn't something you earn once you're struggling enough. It's something you deserve throughout the process.

Final Thoughts

If you're making any of these mistakes, congratulations.

You're probably a normal pre-licensed therapist.

This phase can be exciting, meaningful, exhausting, confusing, rewarding, and overwhelming sometimes all before lunch especially if you’re in community mental health :].

You don't have to have everything figured out.

You just have to keep showing up, keep learning, and remember that becoming a therapist is a process, not a performance.

And if you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure of your next steps, know that you're not the only one.