Become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor

You've done some career exploration, and learned what mental health counselors do and how they help people. Now you’re thinking about becoming a licensed mental health counselor. With the right education and a license, you can do just that!

Steps

Getting Your Education

1. Earn your bachelor’s degree.The first step in becoming a licensed mental health counselor is to obtain your bachelor’s degree. Most likely your degree would be a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) in psychology or a related field.
   • Once accepted and in school, take opportunities to join student organizations and do research. These activities can give valuable experience and allow you to meet people for future networking and professional growth.
   • As part of the four year BA or BS program of study, you'll need to take upper-division credit hours in social sciences (psychology and sociology). Research methods and statistics can be helpful too, and may be required.
   • Do your best to keep your GPA up. Making good grades will make it much easier to get into graduate school.
   • Look into internships that you can do during your BA program as well. This can help you to figure out what you might like to specialize in later on or if you actually want to pursue a career as a counselor. For example, you might intern at a women’s shelter or for a crisis line.
2. Get your master’s degree.Obtaining a Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MS) or equivalent degree is the next step in becoming a licensed mental health counselor. Some states require that the degree program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. Check with your state licensing board to determine what their requirements are.
   • Take the Graduate Record Exam. This test measures your critical thinking skills and is required in order to be admitted into graduate school. Study for it well in advance, but don’t worry if you have to take it more than once. Many people do.
   • Many programs have a multi-part application process. It often includes submitting essays, undergraduate records, letters of recommendation, and an interview process. Begin the process early so you have enough time to complete the process and meet all deadlines.
   • Make the most of opportunities to participate in research and in student and national organizations in the field of mental health counseling like the American Mental Health Counselors Association.
3. Think about earning your doctorate.Some licensed mental health counselors go on to earn their PhD in order to make themselves more marketable and to gain more experience and knowledge. However, this is optional. You need a Master's degree to be a licensed counselor, but you do not need a PhD.
   • Use resources like the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine if the additional years of school are worth the increase in income.

Getting Licensed

1. Complete your practicum while you are in school. While you are completing your Master’s degree, you will need to complete a practicum. The practicum is an important part of getting a counseling degree. The practicum gives you supervised counseling experience and helps you to develop your counseling skills.
   • You may be required to participate in a group practicum, individual practicum, and an externship. The externship may take place at a clinic or hospital while you are still in school, such as during the last two semesters of your program. A supervisor from your program will likely need to be on site for an externship as well.
   • You usually need about 600 hours of practicum to meet your requirement.
   • Keep in mind that practicum and externships are not something that you can just go out and get. They must be approved by your program director.
2. Take your NCE exam. After your practicum and your coursework is complete, you will need to sit for your NCE exam. You can usually do this towards the end of your last semester or after it is over. Some states also require an additional state exam, and all states have a jurisprudence exam. Find out about licensing requirements in your state to determine what tests you need to take.
   • Check with the licensing board in your state to find out what tests you need to take, when the tests are offered, how much they cost, when you need to take them, and any other specific requirements you will need to know about.
   • Prepare for the exam in advance by reviewing course material from your graduate program, participating in an exam preparation program, or joining a study group.
3. Send your passing NCE scores and proof of your practicum to the state board. After you pass your NCE exam, you will need to send your passing scores and proof that you have completed your practicum (in-school clinical hours) to the state board to receive your provisional license.
   • This license usually has a special term in it to indicate that it's provisional, such as "LPC-Intern" or "Licensed ASSOCIATE Counselor."
4. Find a job or internship. Next, you will need to get an entry level counseling job that requires a provisional license. It is usually something like an intake employee at a hospital, a case worker, or working for a non-profit. You can use this job or internship to obtain your required post-master's degree supervised clinical hours.
   • During the years that you are working in this capacity, you will need to keep track of all your face-to-face contact hours and meet once weekly with a clinical supervisor to review your cases.
5. Submit proof of completion. Once you have completed all of the required hours at your job or internship, you will need to submit documentation to show that you have completed the required post-master's hours. You will need to submit this proof to the state board to receive a full license.
   • You do not need to take any additional tests after this point.
   • Full licensure is usually called something like "Licensed Professional Counselor" or "License Professional Clinical Counselor."

Starting Your Career

1. Determine your specialty.Because mental health counseling covers a range of areas (like marriage and family counseling, psychotherapy, or substance abuse treatment) you will need to decide exactly which area or areas you want to specialize in.
   • Some careers require additional training or experience in that area before you can begin practicing.
   • Think about things like what setting you want to work in (a hospital, clinic, treatment center, etc.) and the types of clients you want to help.
   • Take some time researching the area you are interested in to determine what the requirements are, how much you will make, and where you can practice (for example, private practice, in a counseling center, etc.)
2. Look into your job options. There are many different ways you can begin your counseling career. You may want to start your own independent practice, join an existing practice, work for a non-profit organization, or even a government agency. Think about the pros and cons of starting your career in each setting.
   • Keep in mind that you will likely be paid during your post-licensing practicum or at least during your externship, even if it is just a stipend. During these experiences, you will also have a chance to experience different types of populations and figure out what population you want to work with.
   • If benefits and security are important to you, you may want to join a practice or work for an agency.
   • Consider joining an existing practice to gain experience and then opening your own practice.
   • Research all of your options on sites the U.S. Department of Labor.
   • Think about issues like liability and the opportunity to select your own clients rather than have them assigned to you.
3. Apply for a position.The final thing you need to do to become a licensed mental health counselor is to apply for a job (and get it) or open your own practice.
   • Use the relationships and connections you made during graduate school and your residency to find out about job opportunities in your area.
   • Search job boards and sites like LinkedIn to learn about mental health counseling positions that are available.
   • When you get a job, then you can keep your position and get a pay bump after you are fully licensed, or you can leave to start your own practice. However, keep in mind that you cannot open a private practice in any state until you are fully licensed.
   • Remember that you might not get the first position you apply for. Don’t let it discourage you, just keep submitting your resume to agencies and centers and you will obtain a position.

Tips

• Try to decide where you want to live after graduation, and research that state's counseling licensure requirements. Some states have equivalency, and others require an exam.
• Many other roads to this destination are available--registered nurses, social workers and chemical dependency counselors can perform some of the same job functions as a mental health counselor.
• Mental health counseling is a growing field.
• Investigate pay levels in your area as part of your decision to enter this field, and decide if the trade-off of rewarding work versus little financial reward is worth it for you.
• Take mental health-related classes in high school, so you can see if you actually enjoy the field.

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Sources and Citations

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