Post-Graduate Training Program for Maryland-Based LGPCs and LMSWs!
Setting a Solid Foundation for Life as a Newly Licensed Therapist!—Next application round begins May 2025. Next cohort start date is October 2025.
You’ve graduated from school, you’ve passed the exam, and you’ve finally been approved for your license! That alone is reason to celebrate!
You’re excited about new possibilities (and maybe a little overwhelmed), and you know that you want to start your new career on solid ground!
You know that school is over, and real-world learning has just begun. You want to set yourself up for success by choosing to start your career at a place that will prioritize your professional development and provide mentorship and supervision.
If that’s you, you’re in the right place!
LifeSpring Counseling Services’ Post-Graduate Training Program for Newly Licensed LGPCs and LCPCs.
Doctors have residency programs after graduation. Newly licensed counselors and social workers get a minimum of two-years of supervision and clinical practice before obtaining full licensure. The quality and frequency of that supervision can vary vastly based on the site where one is working.
LifeSpring’s Post-Graduate Training Program has been intentionally designed so that newly licensed therapists can count on quality and consistent supervision in addition to built-in mentorship and training. We want to help you avoid the challenges, frustration, and overwhelm of starting your career without these supports in place.
Read below for the logistics of our 3-year Post-Graduate Training Program.
Meet Our Supervisors
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Melissa Wesner, LCPC
Newly licensed therapists can expect that I will help them cross their t’s and dot their i’s. This isn’t always the exciting part, but it’s the part of the work that helps us sleep well at night!
As a Certified Brainspotter and Brainspotting Consultant, I’ll be encouraging new therapists to pursue Brainspotting as a means of transforming their work with clients. -
Liza Krohn, LCSW-C
“I find supervision energizing and appreciate the mental stretch it gives. It brings us back to best practices and continuous learning, while reminding us that we are human and function best in community.
I love seeing clinicians build confidence in their skills and learn to trust their gut over time. Sometimes I get to see “lightbulb” moments where an idea/approach clicks, but I also get to see growth in the way questions are asked and cases are conceptualized as clinicians build experience.”
Year 1: Building a Strong Foundation
The Year 1 Post-Graduate Training Program will include:
Individual Supervision
Group Supervision
Mentorship
2 in-person retreats located in Baltimore County
Year 1 professional development trainings will be centered around the following topics:
HIPAA
Ethics
Note Writing & Treatment Planning
Electronic Health Records, Record-Keeping, & Compliance
Billing & Accepting Insurance
Telehealth: Compliance & Best Practices
Building Rapport & Assessing the Therapeutic Relationship
Screening & Risk Management
Developing Your Professional Identity
Marketing
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy interventions
A Certificate of Completion will be awarded upon successful completion of the Program.
Year 2: Diversity & Wellness
The Year 2 Post-Graduate Training Program will include:
Individual Supervision
Group Supervision
Mentorship
2 in-person retreats located in Baltimore County
Group therapy experience
Year 2 professional development content will include:
Dismantling Oppression Training Series
Intersectionality
Sexual health
Group therapy
Holistic Wellness
Self-Care & Burnout Prevention
A Certificate of Completion will be awarded upon successful completion of the Program.
Year 3: Developing Your Specialty
The Year 3 Post-Graduate Training Program will include:
Specialized Supervision with Focus on Trauma, Child Therapy, or Brainspotting.
Group Supervision
Mentorship
2 in-person retreats located in Baltimore County
Advanced Group Therapy Experience
Opportunities to Develop a specialty in trauma, child therapy, or Brainspotting.
Year 3 professional development content will include:
Brainspotting Phase 1 Training (Paid by LifeSpring if you choose this specialty)
Brainspotting Consultation (paid and provided by LifeSpring if you choose the Brainspotting track)
Trauma Training (all year 3 participants)
Screening for Trauma (all year 3 participants)
Child Therapy Track will include supervision with our child therapy supervisors, training in working with children and parents.
Training in documentation when working with minors (for individuals in the child-therapy track)
Screening and assessments for working with children (child-therapy track)
Interventions in working with children training
A Certificate of Completion will be awarded upon successful completion of the Program.
Are you a good fit for our post-graduate training program?
Our ideal cohort members are LGPCs and LMSWs who are:
Motivated, teachable, and eager to learn
Professional, reliable, & dependable
Looking for quality mentorship & supervision
Committed to developing their clinical skills & professional identity
Physically located in the Greater Baltimore area
Willing and able to keep a full-time work schedule (flexible hours)
Wants to be an active part of an intentional learning cohort after graduation
Are committed to completing this 3-year program—Your cohort members will be counting on you to be there for the duration of this experience!
Do the work you love (with clients you love) while feeling supported too!
At LifeSpring, we have a great team of clinicians with a variety of specialties. At our office, you can find colleagues who are warm, professional, and excited about the work they do. This provides a supportive learning environment where you can learn from others at the office. On a quarterly basis, we try to get together for some food, connection, and learning! We’re invested in ongoing growth and training, so you can count on opportunities to learn!
Post-Graduate Training Program Benefits
→ Paid holidays
→ Paid time-off
→ Life insurance (FT status)
→ Short-term disability coverage (FT status)
→ 401k retirement plan + matching after year 1
→ Access to cohort-specific + practice-wide trainings for professional growth
→ Free/paid group and individual supervision and consultation
→ Ability to enroll in health insurance (FT status)
→ Quarterly office gatherings for fun and connection
→ Recognition gifts throughout the year
→Flexible scheduling
→The option to choose between remote, hybrid, and in-person (Baltimore City) work
→ and other benefits too!
At LifeSpring, we use an hourly, W-2 model for our cohort program. Cohort members start out as part-time status until they meet their full-time caseload goals, allowing them to meet eligibility for full-time employment status. We have a two-tiered payment system with one payment structure for clinical hours and another for administrative hours. This model is a common one in group practices. While part-time, cohort members will be paid $40/clinical hour and $20 for an administrative hour. Once moved to full-time status, benefits will increase, and hourly pay is increased to a starting rate of $42/clinical hour and $22/administrative hour with eventual increases up to $45/clinical hour. This means, that a full-time cohort member who sees a client for a 53-60 minute session (clinical hour) and writes a note (15 minutes admin time) can expect to be paid $47.50 for an hour-long session and a note. While this is a common model in group practices, it’s often new to people who are new to private practice. We’re happy to help clarify anything that’s unclear. Rate increases
As this is an hourly, W-2 position for new graduates, it is ideal for starting cohort members to have some other form of employment while building up their caseload. Whatever job you had to get through grad school, It’s OK to keep that just a little while longer. We’ll help you navigate that transition!
Apply Here!
We will be accepting applications for round 3 of our Post-Graduate Training Program starting May 2025.
The start date for this program will be 10/1/25.
See what our year 1 members had to say!
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“Transitioning from a counseling intern to a full-time licensed therapist was quite the adjustment period. I'm so grateful to have found a practice and supervisors who are truly dedicated to providing budding clinicians with the support and skills needed to be confident and successful in this field.” ~ Jordan Bramhall, LGPC
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“As a graduate from a school counseling master’s program, I was initially intimidated by the transition into clinical mental health counseling. The post-graduate training program gives me all of the learning opportunities I need to feel supported and capable as a new counselor!” ~ Cam Davis, LGPC
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“Our 6 month cohort retreat was an exceptional time filled with lots of valuable therapy related information, and one more opportunity to bond with my cohort. The energy is always engaging, supportive and authentic, because Melissa has the unique ability to form a united cohort group. I am so grateful to be a cohort member of our cohesive group.” ~ Annlynn Best, LGPC
Frequently Asked Questions
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The Post-Graduate Training Program bears some similarities to our full-time mental health therapist position.
This program is different in that it provides more support and structured education. In this program, we are incorporating mentorship, intentional training, specialty training, and specialized supervision and consultation. Additionally, this program involves 2 in-person retreats each year. -
The individuals who are not a good fit for this program are:
—independent, rather than team-oriented
—generally uninterested in opportunities for continued learning (through training, supervision, mentorship, etc.)
—not open to feedback
—are only interested in completing 1 year of the program vs. completing it in its entirety.