ASPIRE & ACQUIRE LLC
Your Texas contact for LPC Associate supervision, consulting, & training!
Lona Snell, M.Ed., LPC-S, CCTP, CART, BC-TMH
Lona (“Law-na”) is the founder of Grace & Guidance PLLC and Aspire & Acquire LLC. She works various roles in the community as a consultant, trainer, supervisor, and mentor. She partners and serves multiple first responder agencies, as well as provides behavioral health training and program launching. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, trauma & EMDR Trained, certified in ASSIST, CIDP, & CISM, of whom specializes in First Responder & Veteran Counseling, trauma & self-harm, anxiety, depression, adolescent issues, and marital issues.
Lona has obtained an array of experience from working among first responder departments, corporate settings and debriefings, collaborating with non-profit organizations, private practice settings, school counseling settings, a behavior modification setting, a local adolescent youth shelter, and a drug & eating disorder treatment facility. She is a mother of two children (ages 21 and 14) and has 9 first responders within their blended family.
Lona has consulted with, trained, served, and presented to over 26 first responder departments, has authored the Off Duty Processing Journal, has been published in Firehouse Magazine, and highlighted in LCA Houston Magazine. She was a 2022 guest speaker at The Texas Association of Hostage Negotiators Conference in Austin, a presenter at The International Association of Fire Chiefs Conference in 2023 a co-presenter at The Houston Hot Zone Conference October of 2023, and spoke at a forensic practitioner conference in February 2024.
She empowers her clients to reach their full potential and utilizes a variety of counseling theories and techniques, including EMDR as a therapeutic option. She facilitates practical coping strategies, grounding techniques, mindfulness, exploration/processing, and self-regulation to assist her clients in their personal and professional settings.
When Lona is not working, she enjoys being outdoors, traveling, dancing, laughing, camping, or spending time with her loved ones, friends, and dogs. She values family, faith, and fun, as she celebrates her daily gratitude for life.
RESOURCES AND INFORMATION BELOW FOR LPC-ASSOCIATES
LPC Supervision- Texas Administrative Code
(a) All applicants for LPC licensure must complete supervised experience acceptable to the Council of 3,000 clock-hours under a Council-approved supervisor.
(1) All internships physically occurring in Texas must be completed under the supervision of a Council-approved supervisor.
(2) For all internships physically completed in a jurisdiction other than Texas, the supervisor must be a person licensed or certified by that jurisdiction in a profession that provides counseling and who has the academic training and experience to supervise the counseling services offered by the Associate. The applicant must provide documentation acceptable to the Council regarding the supervisor's qualifications.
(b) The supervised experience must include at least 1,500 clock-hours of direct client counseling contact. Only actual time spent counseling may be counted.
(c) An LPC Associate may not complete the required 3,000 clock-hours of supervised experience in less than 18 months.
(d) The experience must consist primarily of the provision of direct counseling services within a professional relationship to clients by using a combination of mental health and human development principles, methods, and techniques to achieve the mental, emotional, physical, social, moral, educational, spiritual, or career-related development and adjustment of the client throughout the client's life.
(e) The LPC Associate must receive direct supervision consisting of a minimum of four (4) hours per month of supervision in individual (up to two Associates or group (three or more) settings while the Associate is engaged in counseling unless an extended leave of one month or more is approved in writing by the Council approved supervisor. No more than 50% of the total hours of supervision may be received in group supervision.
(f) An LPC Associate may have up to two (2) supervisors at one time.
Basic Licensure Requirements for LPC Associate (formerly intern)
Graduate degree in counseling (or related field) from an accredited university/college
Pass National Counseling Exam or National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Exam
Complete LPC Jurisprudence Exam
Pass fingerprint background check
Registering for NCE information and link
Basic Required Documentation for LPC Associate Application
BEFORE accessing the Online Licensing System, you will need to have the following forms completed and scanned into your device to be attached to your electronic application.
Practicum Documentation Form – This form is completed by the appropriate faculty/administration member of your counseling program and returned to you for inclusion in your application.
Jurisprudence Examination Completion Certificate – You must take the Jurisprudence Exam prior to submitting your application for license. Please note, the exam must be completed no earlier than six months prior to submission of your application. Upon completion of the exam you will be issued a certificate.
Supervisory Agreement Form – This form is the agreement between you and your board approved supervisor. It must be completed by you and signed by both you and your supervisor. Both you and your supervisor will need to maintain a copy of this form for the duration of your supervision.
LPC Checklist for Licensure can be found at:
https://bhec.texas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Checklist-for-LPC-Licensure.pdf
Helpful Links
ACA 2014 Code of Ethics (counseling.org)
Practioner's Guide to Ethical Decision Making (counseling.org)
Online Search/Verify a License – Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council
Texas Administrative Code (state.tx.us)
LPC Associate & LPC resource below:
This one-of-a-kind, Off Duty Processing Journal serves as a self-debriefing and resiliency tool for mental health, justice & social workers. This journal allows various community service workers to adaptively process the demands of their caseloads, treatments, and advocacy of clients.
