A. Applications for a license to practice as a licensed professional counselor shall be made to the State Board of Behavioral Health Licensure in writing. Such applications shall be on a form and in a manner prescribed by the Board. The application shall be accompanied by the fee required by the Licensed Professional Counselors Act, which shall be retained by the Board and not returned to the applicant.

B. Each applicant for a license to practice as a licensed professional counselor shall:

1. Pass an examination based on standards promulgated by the Board pursuant to the Licensed Professional Counselors Act;

2. Be at least twenty-one (21) years of age;

3. Not have engaged in, nor be engaged in, any practice or conduct which would be grounds for denying, revoking or suspending a license pursuant to this title; and

4. Otherwise comply with the rules promulgated by the Board pursuant to the provisions of the Licensed Professional Counselors Act.

C. In addition to the qualifications specified by the provisions of subsection B of this section, an applicant for a license to practice as a licensed professional counselor shall have:

1. Successfully completed at least sixty (60) graduate semester hours (ninety (90) graduate quarter hours) of counseling-related course work. These sixty (60) hours shall include at least a master's degree in a counseling field. All courses and degrees shall be earned from a regionally accredited college or university. The Board shall define what course work qualifies as "counseling-related" and what degrees/majors qualify as a "counseling field"; and

2. Three (3) years of supervised full-time experience in professional counseling subject to the supervision of a licensed professional counselor pursuant to conditions established by the Board. One (1) or two (2) years of experience may be gained at the rate of one (1) year for each thirty (30) graduate semester hours earned beyond the master's degree, provided that such hours are clearly related to the field of counseling and are acceptable to the Board. The applicant shall have no less than one (1) year of supervised full-time experience in counseling.

D. Applicants with degrees from schools outside the United States may qualify with Board approval by providing the Board with an acceptable comprehensive evaluation of the degree performed by a foreign credential evaluation service that is acceptable to the Board, and any other requirement the Board deems necessary.

E. Applicants licensed in other states shall be licensed by the Board if the candidate is in good standing in the other state, has maintained a minimum of three (3) years of licensure since the time of initial full licensure post-provisional term and submits proof of licensure in the other state.

Added by Laws 1985, c. 145, § 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1985. Amended by Laws 1986, c. 92, § 1, emerg. eff. April 3, 1986; Laws 1995, c. 167, § 5, eff. Nov. 1, 1995; Laws 1998, c. 295, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 1998; Laws 2000, c. 53, § 1, emerg. eff. April 14, 2000; Laws 2013, c. 229, § 7, eff. Nov. 1, 2013; Laws 2014, c. 367, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2014; Laws 2018, c. 310, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2018; Laws 2019, c. 363, § 62, eff. Nov. 1, 2019.