233. Why You Probably Won't Lose Your Therapy License for Speaking Your Conscience | Chris Legg, LPC
You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist · Sep 28, 2026 · 1:17:27
You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist
You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist · Sep 28, 2026 · 1:17:27
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Pastor and counselor Chris Legg returns to talk about something he sees in nearly every grad student who arrives for training at Aletheia Family Counseling Center: fear. After 25 years of training new therapists from seminaries, secular universities, and everything in between, Chris says most show up convinced a lawsuit is coming the moment anyone learns what they personally believe.
We start with the phrase "check your values at the door," and Chris shows why it collapses under its own logic. He tells the story of a local university that stopped sending students to Aletheia after an intern wrote that she was glad she wasn't required to counsel same-sex couples, and what happened when he asked the professors whether a survivor of assault should be required to treat abusers.
We also look at what the record actually shows about therapists getting in trouble for declining certain clients, why the process is so often the punishment, and why some talented clinicians are giving up their licenses to work as coaches. I explain why I kept my license but do my work as a coach.
Then Chris speaks directly to grad students and interns: you matter to the therapeutic process, and you don't have to practice in constant fear. What does it look like to expose your faith without imposing it? And where can counselors with conservative or religious values find mentorship?
Pastor Chris Legg, LPCs, and his wife Ginger have been living out the parable of God’s love for His people since 1993 and have been blessed with five great kids. He is the Lead Pastor at South Spring Baptist Church in Tyler, TX (www.southspring.org) and is also the founding owner and clinical director of Alethia Family Counseling Center (www.alethiacounseling.com), which offers training, counseling, speaking and business consulting in several locations in Texas. He and his son, Mark, are the authors of the book Sex and Marriage, which is intended to restore to marriages the power God intended. Learn more about SSBC at www.southspring.org. More about Alethia at www.alethiacounseling.com.
Contact Chris, read any of his articles, and look for other resources at his website at www.chrismlegg.com and at https://chrismlegg.substack.com/
[00:00:00] Start
[00:03:35] Why Grad Students Fear Their Own Values
[00:08:08] University Cuts Ties Over Same-Sex Couples Policy
[00:11:34] Competency, Referrals, and Therapist Boundaries
[00:20:43] Do Therapists Really Lose Licenses Over Refusals
[00:24:55] Board Complaints: The Process Is the Punishment
[00:30:44] Aletheia's Bylaws: Therapy as Protected Speech
[00:32:44] Why Therapists Trade Licenses for Coaching
[00:42:12] Chris's Message to Anxious New Therapists
[00:55:07] Imposing vs. Exposing Values in Therapy
[00:59:53] How Conversion Therapy's Meaning Shifted
[01:02:17] Advice for Therapists in Blue States
[01:10:27] Cross-State Licensing Laws and PSYPACT
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MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission.
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Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.
Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.
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