Some Thoughts on the Licensing of Psychotherapists

Abstract

The author offers some reflections in response to James B. Smith's article “Licensing of Psychotherapists in the United States: Evidence of Societal Regression?” She considers how checks and balances in the form of licensing, registration, and/or membership in professional organizations to a great extent keep structures, procedures, and ethics codes intact. If the norms and procedures to earn these memberships are too rigid, they are oppressive and regressive; if they are too flexible, they are of no use. The author considers how to strike a balance between these extremes.