Good Morning, and welcome to Counselor Weekly!  The newsletter that serves up goodness even better than the Waffle House. 

Thanks again for being part of the community!

Until I have an official sponsor, looks like I'm the sponsor!

I'm launching a new site in the next couple weeks and you can sign up to be notified when it's ready to go!  Just click HERE, or the photo above and it will take you right to the site.  If you are an LPC Supervisor in Texas (sorry, starting in Texas only and will look at options for other states down the road), or a potential Supervisee looking for a Supervisor, this is the place for you!  It's a directory for LPC Supervisors to market their services by listing their information so that potential Supervisees can connect with them and hopefully find a perfect match!  If you have any questions, click REPLY to this email and I can answer any questions you have.  Thanks again for allowing me this personal promotion!  🙏

Sorry I missed last week, but I'm back to getting this out weekly again.  So let's get to it!

Today is 3/1/23 and it's National Peanut Butter Lover's Day!  Get out there and slather peanut butter on whatever floats your boat.

Here's the short and skinny of today's newsletter:

• Websites: Why Yours May Suck!

• Big News for Texas LPCs

• Cat Photo

Websites: Yes, Your Website Might Be Horrible

Sounds harsh, right?  That's not my intent, but I hope to help you with a quick website "check up" to make sure you're optimizing your online opportunities.  Below I'm going to describe some things that I see in websites that need to be remedied ASAP! 

#1: Using a Facebook page as your actual website

• So many reasons this is a bad idea, but let's start with an obvious reason: HIPAA. There's no confidentiality on Facebook and it's not HIPAA compliant.

• Also, looks unprofessional. Facebook can be an excellent marketing resource and a great way to remain personally connected with friends and family, but it's not meant as a counseling website. Feels like a person is trying to create a "cheap" website.

#2: You don't have a photo of yourself on your site

• It's important for your audience to see you.

• It's how you build a "connection" with potential client.

#3: Spelling and Grammar Issues

• You can't charge $150 an hour and have a sight that makes it appear you have the spelling attributes of a 3rd grader (did you see error in this sentence? If not, read it again and see if you can find it!).

#4: Not Mobile Friendly

• If your website looks like something from 2001 on a mobile device, you need to get a whole new website. Most people use their phones for almost everything, so make sure yours looks good! Go ahead, this might be a good time to check!

Let's get to the BIG NEWS! 😠

If you're not a Texas LPC, you can disregard this. 

The Board has officially approved the new Continuing Education rules and it's a HUUUUUGGGGEEEE change!

Here's a link to the recently adopted rules going into effect on March 7, 2023.  I had a bunch of other things planned to cover in the newsletter over the next few weeks, but I'm going to focus on these new rules.  Most of my current readers are from Texas, so my apologies to folks from other states (I'll still have lots of cool articles and things you'll enjoy as well though 🙂).

I'm not going to say anymore at this point.  Check it out, and please respond with your thoughts/comments.  I'm curious how you feel about this (I won't share them with anyone).

And, Finally the Cat Picture

Putt Putt Cats!  By my son, Cole.