Mental health counseling is the newest of all the licenses, it's only been around since the 1970's. So I have found there to be a lot of snobbery/competition from social workers towards masters level couselors. I've talked to my T, who is an LICSW, at length about this and she said it's very true, especially when they get into the academic/ education aspect. Its one of the things she dislikes about the field. It's competition in he market that social workers once dominated after pdocs, PhDs and PsyDs became less available for therapy. So it's either snobbery, ignorance or both.