Professional Counselors – Applying for a license FAQ’s

An applicant must hold a graduate degree in counseling or a counseling-related field from an accredited program. See academic requirements in board rules 681.81, 681.82, and 681.83.

The Board does not pre-evaluate coursework or degree types for licensure eligibility. To have your education reviewed, you must submit a complete application along with all required supporting documentation.

Staff may accept an electronic transcript only if emailed directly from the school - to transcripts@bhec.texas.gov. Staff may accept a paper copy of a transcript only in the unopened envelope that was sealed by the school - mailed to BHEC LPC Transcripts, 1801 Congress Ave., Ste. 7.300, Austin, TX 78701.

To qualify for LPC licensure in Texas, all applicants must pass either the National Counselor Examination (NCE) or the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE), administered by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). Applicants must also complete the Texas LPC jurisprudence exam.

Applicants should contact the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) directly to register, verify eligibility, or check the status of their testing request. NBCC is the official administrator of both exams. Applicants are not required to seek pre-approval or register with Texas before taking the exam.

If you registered directly for the NCE/NCMHCE and indicated Texas was your jurisdiction, NBCC will forward your scores directly to our staff. NBCC typically forwards the verification within 3–6 weeks after your exam. If you took the exam in another jurisdiction, or through your university, you will need to contact NBCC to request your score verification be sent to the Texas Portal.

No. National exam scores do not expire. If you have taken and passed either exam at any point, Texas will accept your score.

No. Passing the national exam is only one part of the licensure process. You must first receive your LPC Associate license from the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council before you can begin providing counseling services, even under supervision.

Texas does not limit the number of attempts to take or pass the national LPC exams, and no additional approval is required. However, please contact the NBCC to confirm any specific policies or restrictions they may have regarding retesting.

Yes, in Texas, you can take the national exam before graduating but only under certain conditions. Please contact the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) directly to confirm eligibility.

All applicants must complete the Texas LPC jurisprudence exam no more than 6 months before submitting an application. The jurisprudence exam is administered online by eStrategy Solutions, a third-party vendor. To register visit our Jurisprudence Exam webpage. Applicants should contact eStrategy to register, schedule or reschedule the exam, request a copy of their certificate, or resolve any payment issues. If you need technical assistance related to the jurisprudence exam, click the “Need help?” link under the “Login” button on the Jurisprudence Examination webpage.

Find a Supervisor.

LPC associates must have completed a minimum of 18 months of supervised experience totaling 3,000 hours. These hours must include at least 1,500 hours of direct counseling experience, defined as providing direct client counseling services. Associates must also receive 4 hours per month of direct supervision during this period. See board rule 681.92.

Only the actual time spent providing counseling services to clients can be counted as direct client contact hours.

Your LPC Supervisor should complete a Supervised Experience Documentation Form, available on our forms webpage.

An LPC Associate can have up to two LPC supervisors at a time.

LPC Associates must receive a minimum of four (4) hours of supervision each month. These hours can be divided and scheduled throughout the month in a way that is mutually agreed upon by the associate and the approved supervisor. A supervisor and supervisee may, but are not required to, meet beyond the required four hours.

Yes, an LPC Associate can request a copy of their file. Supervisors should maintain accurate records and provide copies when asked.

If the required supervised experience hours are not completed on time, the LPC Associate must reapply for licensure and meet all the current requirements in effect at the time of reapplication. Any experience hours already completed will carry over and count toward the new license if there is appropriate record submitted to the board. Associates should ensure their supervisor submits a Supervised Experience Documentation Form.

Yes. You don’t need to have a job lined up to apply for the LPC Associate license. However, you must submit a Supervisory Agreement Form (SAF) with your application. This form includes the name and license number of a board-approved supervisor who has agreed to oversee your clinical work, once it begins. The SAF is required for your license to be approved.

No. Texas does not have reciprocity with any other jurisdiction. All applicants must meet all licensure requirements to be eligible for a Texas LPC license.

No. Texas does not currently offer a temporary LPC license.

No. Applicants must meet all licensure requirements to be eligible for Texas licensure.

Former licensees may apply for reinstatement of a license after meeting all requirements and paying the reinstatement fee. Carefully review Council Rule §882.22 Reinstatement of a License. Gather the items listed in the Reinstatement Required Documentation Checklist from the MFT Board’s Forms and Publications webpage. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions in How to Request Reinstatement of an Expired/Retired/Revoked/etc. License on the Council’s How To User Guides webpage.

Inactive status maintains your license with the Council, but by placing it in “inactive” status you are no longer eligible to practice unless/until you request to return to active status. See How To Request Inactive Status and How To Reactivate Inactive Status on the Council’s How To User Guides webpage.

No. Licensees with inactive status are not required to complete continuing education.

A retired license is no longer considered a current, renewable license. Someone with a retired license wishing to practice again would be required to reinstate their license. See How To Request “Retired” Status on the Council’s How To User Guides webpage.

A fee table is available in Council Rule 885.1.

License applications expire and are automatically denied if incomplete after 180 days. Staff cannot extend the time of an application. Applicants whose application expires will be required to re-submit their application and pay the application fee again.

Yes, if possible it is recommended that you submit all required documents together. Sending materials separately or in multiple parts may delay the processing of your application. To avoid unnecessary delays, please ensure your application is complete before submission.

Visit https://www.npdb.hrsa.gov/pract/selfQueryBasics.jsp for instructions on how to obtain a Self-Query Report from the National Practitioner DataBank (NPDB). • The NPDB may email to you a certified self-query report. DO NOT ALTER THIS PDF FILE. You may upload the certified report when you complete your online application for license or you may forward the emailed, certified NPDB self-query report to NPDB@bhec.texas.gov. • If you prefer, NPDB will mail the self-query report to you. You may mail the NPDB self-query report to the Council as long as it is still in the unopened envelope sealed by NPDB. Mail to BHEC NPDB, 1801 Congress Ave., Ste. 7.300, Austin, Texas 78701.

Each board offers a Verification of Licensure form on its Forms and Publications webpage. Complete the portion designated for an applicant, and then send the form to the non-Texas licensing agency that issued your license to complete the remaining information. A separate form must be received for each license you currently hold or have ever held in the past. Some state agencies generate their own form. Council staff may rely on the state-agency-generated form. However, if necessary data is not included on the state-agency-generated form, staff may ask the applicant for additional information/documentation. Some state agencies no longer issue any type of license verification, but rather provide an online primary source verification. If that’s the case for one or more of the licenses you hold, please note that in your online application contact staff after your application has been submitted. If another state’s online license verification does not include all the data needed, staff may ask the applicant for additional information/documentation.

Upon submission of your online application, the online licensing system will send you a confirmation email. Within the confirmation email is a link to instructions for completing the fingerprint process. See more details on our Fingerprint Information webpage.

Yes. There are various waivers and advantages provided for active-duty military, veterans and military spouses. For more information see the Council’s Military Service Members, Veterans, and Military Spouses webpage.