Resources

Steps to becoming an LCSW

Oct 31, 2025

Social workers are in every corner of your community – from schools and hospitals to social service agencies and the military. While there are many different careers paths a social worker can take, here we will focus on clinical social workers in behavioral health: providing therapy, counseling and crisis intervention. A few key experiences influenced my decision to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). During my undergraduate...

Steps to becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Oct 30, 2025

Social workers are in every corner of your community – from schools and hospitals to social service agencies and the military. While there are many different careers paths a social worker can take, here we will focus on clinical social workers in behavioral health: providing therapy, counseling and crisis intervention. A few key experiences influenced my decision to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). During my undergraduate...

Steps to becoming a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor

Sep 29, 2025

My journey into drug and alcohol counseling began at 37, after realizing I was deeply unfulfilled working in retail management. I’ve always been guided by the value of service and wanted to use my experience in long-term recovery to help others, so I left my job and began working as a case manager at a men’s homeless shelter. Over time, my skills and passion for helping others grew, leading me to a role as a peer support specialist at SIU...

Wellness for behavioral and mental health professionals

May 29, 2025

Wellness is important for everyone — especially for those in the business of helping others. Behavioral and mental health professionals often face unique challenges, including navigating the emotional weight of clients’ trauma while juggling high caseloads, long hours and systemic stressors. The irony? We teach others about wellness, but frequently neglect our own – I’ve seen and experienced this first-hand while carrying that emotional and...

An overview of behavioral health careers

Apr 28, 2025

Behavioral health careers span a wide range of specialties that support the mental, emotional and psychological well-being of individuals and communities. Professionals in this field focus on how habits, environments and medication impact a person’s overall health. Some roles require advanced degrees and licensure through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). Others require a certification through the...

Exploring integrated care: A guide for aspiring behavioral health providers

Mar 21, 2025

Integrated care is an evolving field that provides patients with comprehensive, coordinated support for their medical and mental health needs. It can take different forms across various organizational settings, ranging from minimal collaboration between medical and behavioral health (BH) providers to fully co-located, team-based care. For those hoping to work in this field, preparing for an integrated care role requires careful thought and...

Steps to becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor

Nov 26, 2024

As a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), my journey in mental health care began during my undergraduate studies. I was working on my bachelor’s degree in psychology while also on my own counseling journey. I realized the impact my LGBTQ+ counselor had on my life and the importance of having people from our community as counselors with the lived experience to know how to truly relate to and help others. That’s when I decided to become a...

Benefits of a CRSS in the workplace

Oct 09, 2024

What is a CRSS? A Certified Recovery Support Specialist (CRSS) is a mental health professional who uses their lived experience with mental health and/or substance use recovery to help others. Illinois is one of the several states to address the shortage of behavioral health professionals and increase CRSSs. How is a CRSS trained? To become a CRSS in Illinois, an individual may go through a state program to meet requirements or...

The Illinois Certification Board: A resource guide for human service professionals

Aug 14, 2024

The mission of the Illinois Certification Board, Inc. (ICB) is to protect the public by providing competency-based credentialing of Human Service Professionals. ICB is a private, non-profit organization that promotes standards for professionals in the addictions field. ICB shall protect the welfare of the public by improving quality health care services provided to the individual, their family and/or significant others. ICB does this by...

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