Licensing exams can create self-doubt and questions about competence even for highly trained clinicians.

Failing a high-stakes licensing exam does not necessarily reflect a clinician’s competence.

Resilience can mean learning to separate professional identity and self-worth from an exam score.

After years of graduate school, clinical training, internship, supervised hours, and countless hours spent learning how to help others, one final hurdle often stands between a mental health professional and independent practice: the licensing exam.

That exam was the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology.

I knew this exam was important, but I didn’t fully realize its emotional weight until I sat in front of the computer, knowing that years of work came down to a single score. When I didn't pass on my first try or even my second, the experience challenged me in ways that had little to do with my knowledge of psychology.

I joined online forums and study groups for people preparing for the exam, hoping to find information, encouragement, and reassurance that I wasn’t alone. Reading stories from people who hadn’t passed after several attempts made me realize how easily a test score can become intertwined with our professional identity.

I wasn’t the only one struggling with questions that made passing feel like a huge challenge:

Am I good enough?Am I really ready?What does not passing say about me as a clinician?

It’s hard to quiet these questions when so much of your future seems to depend on one exam.

Those questions weren’t just about passing a test. They started to feel like doubts about whether I could really become the........

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