Texas LPC Requirements

Texas Counselor Licensing Requirements

When seeking to complete all Counselor Licensing Requirements in Texas, we have the important information for you. While you are in the process of completing requirements, you will work as a Licensed Professional Counselor Intern (LPC-I). It is recommended strongly that you educate yourself on the important steps to take to ensure that you are on the right path toward getting the education you need.

Texas Counselor Credential Titles

Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Licensed Professional Counselor Intern (LPC-I) An applicant practicing under supervision; valid for 5 years.

Texas Counselor Educational Requirements

Master’s degree or higher in professional counseling or related field from an accredited college/university consisting of 48 graduate semester hours. Completion of specific coursework and a 300-lock hour supervised practicum with at least 100 hours of direct client contact. Counseling related field: a mental health discipline utilizing human development, psychotherapeutic, and mental health principles including, but not limited to, psychology, psychiatry, social work, marriage and family therapy, and guidance and counseling. Non-counseling related fields include, but are not limited to, sociology, education, administration, dance therapy and theology. *60 semester hours will be required beginning in 2017.

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Texas Counselor Experiential Requirements

3,000 hours of post-masters supervised experience, including 1,500 hours of direct client contact. Supervision must be under a board-approved LPC.

Texas Counselor Exam Required

NCE and Texas Jurispruden Exam

Texas Requirements for Clinical Supervisors

Texas LPC Licensed as a professional counselor for at least 2 years and successful completion of a graduate course in counselor supervision or successful completion of a CE course consisting of 40 clock hours of training in supervision.

Texas Requirements for Out of State Applicants

1. The Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors may grant a provisional license to a person who holds, at the time of application, a license as a counselor or art therapist issued by another state or territory that is acceptable to the board.
1. The board shall consider only the state and territories of the United States as acceptable for the purposes of licensure by endorsement.
2. Submit an application and license fee;
3. Be licensed in good standing as a counselor or art therapist in another state or territory that has licensing requirements that are substantially equivalent to the regular licensing requirements of the Licensed Professional Counselor Act; and
4. Have passed the required examinations.

A provisional license is valid for 180 days or until the date the board issues a regular license or denies the provisional licensee’s application for a license, whichever occurs first. The board shall issue a regular license to the holder of a provisional license if the board verifies that the provisional licensee has the academic and experience requirements for a regular license.

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Texas Scope of Practice

“PRACTICE OF PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING” is defined as the application of mental health, psychotherapeutic, and human development principles to facilitate human development and adjustment throughout the life span; prevent, assess, evaluate, and treat mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders and associated distresses that interfere with mental health; conduct assessments and evaluations to establish treatment goals and objectives; and plan, implement, and evaluate treatment plans using counseling treatment interventions that include: 1. “counseling” which means assisting one or more clients through the therapeutic relationship, using a combination of mental health and human development principles, methods, and techniques, including the use of psychotherapy, to achieve the mental, emotional, physical, social, moral, educational, spiritual, or career-related development and adjustment of the client throughout the client’s life; 2. “assessment” which means selecting, administering, scoring, and interpreting instruments designed to assess an individual’s aptitudes, attitudes, abilities, achievements, interests, personal characteristics, disabilities, and mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and the use of methods and techniques for understanding human behavior that may include the evaluation, assessment, and treatment by counseling methods, techniques, and procedures for mental and emotional disorders, alcoholism and substance abuse, and conduct disorders, but does not include the use of standardized projective techniques or permit the diagnosis of a physical condition or disorder; 3. “consulting” which means the application of scientific principles and procedures in counseling and human development to provide assistance in understanding and solving current or potential problems that the person seeking consultation may have with regard to a third party, including an individual, group, or an organization; and 4. “referral” which means evaluating and identifying needs of a counselor to determine the advisability of referral to other specialists, informing the counselee of such judgement, and communicating as requested or deemed appropriate to such referral sources. Now that you are familiar with the counselor licensing requirements in Texas, visit our How to Become a Counselor in Texas page for a more detailed look into the steps you will need to take to make your dream of becoming a counselor a reality.

State Information

TX State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors P.O. Box 149347 MC 1982 Austin, TX 78714 512/834-6658 512/834-6677 (fax) Executive Director Bobbe Alexander CONTACT: [email protected] WEBSITE: www.dshs.state.tx.us/counselor Application fee: $200

source: https://www.dshs.texas.gov/counselor/lpc_scope.shtm