Steps for Applying for Your LPC and LCPC Licenses in Kansas

1) Fill out the Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Application Packet. This can be downloaded and printed off of the Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board website: www.ksbsrb.org

The requirements for the LPC license are as follows:

§ Be at least 21 years of age

§ Pay the $100 application fee

§ Have a masters degree in counseling including 60 graduate credit hours (be sure to check the educational requirements listed in more detail in statute 102-3-3a on the website as certain courses/areas of study are required in order to apply)

Note: One of the biggest confusions regarding licensure is how many client contact hours a person needs in order to apply. The formal requirement is a person must have completed a practicum involving 350 client contact hours. However, the statutes, specifically 102-3-4a (c)(7), clearly state that if a person has not received all 350 hours in the course of their practicum, he/she may tack these additional hours needed onto their postgraduate supervised experience that is completed once a person receives their LPC license (see more about this below)

2) Should your application be approved, the BSRB will send you a letter saying you are eligible to take the National Counselor Exam (NCE)

§ In order to take the exam, you must have a test application (separate from the LPC application) on file with the BSRB four weeks prior to the test company's (NBCC in this case) registration deadline. These dates are all posted on the website. Make sure you do this because they stick to that 4-week deadline!

§ The NCE is given four times a year and costs $120. More detailed information regarding the NCE, as well as sample questions for the test and study guide materials, can be found at http://www.nbcc.org/nce . The NCE is administered by the same company that administers the CPCE, the comprehensive exam offered as an option for completing the MS degree in Counseling Psychology here at KU.

3) A person may apply for and be granted a Temporary LPC license if they meet all of the requirements for the LPC license with the exception of taking and/or passing the NCE

§ Cost is the same as the regular LPC license ($150)

§ You can practice with it for 2 years (some people opt to get the temporary license while they study for the NCE exam and/or find a job).

§ The only downfall of the temporary license is that some employers are apprehensive hiring someone without a “full license.”

4) After taking the NCE, your scores will be submitted to the BSRB and you should receive a letter in the mail regarding the exam. Assuming you passed, you should be able to submit the $150 for the LPC license (issued for 2 years) and then receive your license and billfold card in the mail within a couple weeks.

5) Everyone holding an LPC license is required to work “under the direction of” a practitioner at the independent level. “Under the direction of” basically means being supervised by. This includes Licensed Psychologists (LP), Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors (LCPC), Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapists (LCMFT), Licensed Clinical Psychotherapists (LCP), and Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Workers (LSCSW). LPCs can be supervised by any of these practitioners as long as they are at the independent level of their license (they do not have to be practicing independently/ in private practice but rather just have to be eligible to practice that way). The supervisor must also have practiced for at least two years beyond their licensure date at this level. This is important information to keep in mind when searching for a job!

6) LPCs can practice at the LPC level for their entire career, however, if they choose to do so, they must always work under the direction of someone licensed at the independent level. Therefore, most LPCs choose to obtain the LCPC license allowing them to practice independently (either in private practice or otherwise, but NOT HAVING TO work under anyone else’s direction).

The requirements of the LCPC license are as follows:

§ Practice at the LPC level for 4000 supervised hours. Supervised hours is not the same as client contact hours…it means any hours spent doing counseling-related activity. It does include client contact hours but also includes writing progress/case notes, treatment planning, writing reports, doing assessments, returning phone calls/e-mails, consulting with other professionals, etc. (You get the point!). Within those 4000 hours, 1500 of the hours must be direct client contact hours. This can include individual, couples, family, or group counseling as well as assessments/evaluations conducted face-to-face with the client.

§ In order for these 4000 hours to count toward licensure, you must be working under a LCPC Supervision Training Plan approved by the BSRB (you can download and print this plan off the website). This is a relatively extensive document that must be filled out by you and the supervisor you’ll be working under. You cannot count any supervised experience or client contact hours until you receive a letter in the mail telling you your plan is approved by the BSRB. More information regarding the 4000 supervised hours and the 1500 hours of client contact, as well as supervision requirements is found in the statutes on the website (102-3-7a).

§ After completing your 4000 supervised hours, including your 1500 client contact hours, then you are ready to complete the application to become an LCPC (again found on the website). This process is similar to the LPC application process in that you submit the application to the BSRB along with the $100 application fee.

§ Once approved, the BSRB will send you a letter stating that you are eligible to take the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE), which is the LCPC exam in Kansas. More information regarding the NCMHCE can be found at http://www.nbcc.org/ncmhce. Just like the NCE, the test costs $120 and you must have a test application on file with the BSRB four weeks prior to test company's (NBCC in this case) registration deadline. These dates are all posted on the website.

§ After taking the NCMHCE, your scores will be submitted to the BSRB and you should receive a letter in the mail regarding the exam. If you passed, you submit the $150 for the LCPC license (issued for 2 years) and then receive your license and billfold card in the mail within a couple weeks.

Whew! This can be a very complicated and time-consuming process. I have found it helps to break it down and focus on one step at a time to not get too overwhelmed. I also have found the BSRB to be very helpful in the process. It is much easier to call them and ask questions prior to moving ahead on some step than having to go back and redo things (applications, tests, etc.). The BSRB’s contact information is on their website.

*This information has been compiled by Stacy Johnson, MS, LPC. Although information for this handout was taken from the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board’s website (www.ksbsrb.org), Ms. Johnson is not an employee or representative of the BSRB and advises defaulting to them when questions arise regarding obtaining your LPC or LCPC license.