Massachusetts Counseling License Requirements

Requirements and Resources for LMHC Licensure in Massachusetts

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Massachusetts’ Division of Professional Licensure, Board of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions –referred to henceforth as the State Board– issues the credential that allows you to engage in the practice of professional mental health counseling statewide: the Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC).

As an LMHC counselor you can do things like:

Render professional services for compensation to clients including individuals, families, and groups
Develop treatment plans for intra or inter-personal disorders
Assess, diagnose, and treat mental and emotional disorders
Provide counseling and psychotherapy services of a non-medical nature
Engage in preventative psycho-educational treatments

Steps Towards Counseling Licensure in Massachusetts

Becoming a licensed LMHC in Massachusetts is a multi-phase process that involves the following basic steps:

Earning a qualifying graduate degree in Mental Health Counseling or a related field
Completing a period of pre-master’s clinical field experience as part of your graduate degree
Completing a post-master’s period of clinical field experience
Passing the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) that’s sponsored by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)

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Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC)

Fulfilling the education requirement:

You’ll need to earn a master’s or doctoral degree in Mental Health Counseling or a related field. It must include a qualifying practicum and internship. Its course content must include coverage of 10 specifically defined subject areas. Once you graduate have your school send your official transcripts to the State Board.

Fulfill the pre-master’s degree clinical field experience requirement:

This segment must be included in your graduate degree program. It’s comprised of two portions: a practicum and an internship.

Complete a qualifying practicum. It must be at least seven weeks in length totaling at least 100 hours.
Complete a qualifying internship. It must be at least 600 hours in length.
Once you’ve completed these requirements fill out a Pre-Master’s Degree Experience and Education Form and submit this with your application for LCMH licensure.

Fulfill the post-master’s degree clinical field experience requirement:

To fulfill this component after you’ve earned your graduate degree you must ensure that you’re doing it at a proper site of practice, that your supervisor is qualified, and that you complete the right amount and type of supervised experience.

Locate a site of practice where you can fulfill the post-master’s experience. Your practice site needs to have an integrated program for the delivery of clinical mental health counseling within established provisions for supervision. It needs to be through an accredited school or with an entity that’s regulated by the state like a health or mental health institution, or an employer who’s otherwise exempt from regulation. Your practice site for fulfilling this requirement cannot be private practice as an individual or in a group.
Locate a qualified supervisor. Your supervisor needs to be an employee of your practice site. Furthermore, they must be approved by the State Board, which can only happen once they’ve obtained three years of full-time mental health counseling experience as one of the following licensed professionals:

LMHC – You must receive at least 75 hours of supervision from an LMHC; this requirement can include pre-master’s and post-master’s LMHC supervision

Independent Clinical Social Worker
Marriage and Family Therapist
Psychologist
Nurse-Practitioner or Physician, with a sub-specialization in psychiatry
An equivalent out-of-state professional

Complete the required amount of supervised experience. This must be accomplished in at least two years and not more than eight years. It must be 3,360 hours in total and include 960 hours of direct client contact experience. During this time you’ll also need to complete 130 hours of practice under supervision, including 75 hours under individual supervision.
Once you’ve completed these requirements fill out a Post-Master’s Clinical Experience Form and submit this with your application for LCMH licensure.

Fulfill the exam requirement and become licensed:

At this point you’re ready to submit an application for LCMH licensure to the State Board. You’ll need to create an online account with the state’s ePLACE Portal. The application fee is $117. Your application needs to include all of the following, with the listed forms available here:

Pre-Master’s Degree Experience and Education Form
Post-Master’s Clinical Experience Form
Criminal Offender Record Information Form
Certificate of passing a training course on domestic and sexual violence; this is free, online, and available here
Contained within the application for LMHC licensure is an application for examination. You use this to gain authorization to take the exam. This enables you to register with the NBCC for the NCMHCE exam. Once you pass the exam upload an official NBCC score report to your online application on the ePLACE Portal.
Once the State Board has approved your application for licensure and exam scores it will issue your LMHC license after you’ve paid a $155 licensure fee.

Renewing your LMHC license:

The LMHC license expires every two years, and you can renew it online. To be eligible for renewal you must attest to completing 30 hours of continuing education every renewal period.

How Long Does it Take to Become a Counselor in Massachusetts?

The time you invest into becoming an LMHC can be classified as follows:

Education – At least six years; four years in a bachelor’s degree program and two additional
Post-master’s experience – At least two years
Total – At least eight years

Reciprocity

You can apply for licensure via reciprocal recognition if you’re the equivalent of a licensed LMHC in another state. To qualify you must have been continuously and actively practicing for three full-time years (or a part-time equivalent) as an LMHC. You’ll need to submit proof of completion of the step-by-step process listed above, with the exceptions of the pre-master’s and post-mater’s experience. In addition, the Massachusetts State Board needs the following:

Your forwarded NCMHCE exam score from the NBCC
Official verification of your out-of-state LMHC license from your state’s Board of Counseling
A copy of your out-of-state LMHC licensure laws and requirements

Practicums and Internships

To become licensed as an LMHC you must complete a qualifying practicum and internship as part of your graduate degree program. These are your pre-master’s degree clinical field experience. Both include components of supervised clinical field experience and direct client contact experience.

First you’ll need to complete a practicum. This must be at minimum seven weeks and 100 hours in length. It needs to include 40 hours of direct client contact experience and 25 hours of supervisory contact as follows:

At least 10 hours of individual supervisory contact hours
At least five hours of group supervisory contact hours
The remaining 10 hours can be individual or group

When you start your internship its required supervisory contact hours, totaling 45, must similarly adhere to the following guidelines:

At least 15 hours of individual supervisory contact hours
At least 15 hours of group supervisory contact hours
The remaining 15 hours can be individual or group

You must also complete 240 hours of direct client contact as part of your internship. In total your internship must be at least 600 hours.

Required Exams

To become an LMHC in Massachusetts you must pass the National Board for Certified Counselors’ (NBCC) National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE).

This is a computer-based three-hour test that evaluates your responses to 10 simulated clinical situations. Questions can be broadly classified into two categories: information gathering or decision making. You can find more information about this exam in the NCMHCE Handbook.

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Required Education and Degrees

To fulfill the education requirement for licensure as an LMHC you must earn a master’s or doctoral degree in Mental Health Counseling or a related field. The school that offers your program must be accredited by a regional body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). If you earn a master’s degree it must be at least 60 semester credits.

Your education program must also include a course that’s at least three semester credits dedicated to each of the following topics:

Professional organization
Counseling theory
Human growth and development
Cultural and social foundations
Psychopathology
Group work
Clinical skills
Appraisal
Special treatment issues
Evaluation and research

Your education program must also include a qualifying practicum and internship, also known as pre-master’s degree clinical field experience.

Programs that are considered to be in fields related to Mental Health Counseling are:

Counseling
Expressive Therapies
Counselor Education
Adjustment Counseling
Rehabilitation Counseling
Clinical Psychology
Counseling Psychology
Any other field determined to be qualifying by the State Board

Salary Information

The following average annual salary information for a range of careers in the field of counseling, specifically for Massachusetts:

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors – $68,520
Marriage and Family Therapists – $52,720
Rehabilitation Counselors – $43,500
Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselor – $47,530
Counselors, all others – $56,350
Occupational Therapists – $85,760

Types of Counseling Careers

According to the US Department of Labor, of the 35,910 professionals working in the careers designated above statewide:

45% are Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
22% are Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors
17% are Rehabilitation Counselors
13% are Occupational Therapists
2% are Marriage and Family Therapists
1% are Counselors, all others

Resources

Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association (MaMHCA) – This professional organization is the hub for information, advocacy, and education relating to LMHCs throughout the state. In addition to member benefits like annual continuing education, an annual conference, and licensure support services, MaMHCA also maintains a list of clinical supervisors.

Western Massachusetts Counselors Association (WMCA) – The main goal of this organization is to bring together professionals who are interested in aspects of college and university admissions and guidance counseling. This organization provides scholarship opportunities, award recognition, networking opportunities, and professional support.

Massachusetts Association of for Alcoholic and Drug Abuse Counselors (MAADAC) – This organization strives to ultimately enhance the recovery and health of individuals, families, and communities by supporting addiction-focused professionals. It provides resources for education, upcoming events, and legislative updates for those involved in this field.

Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH) – Founded as part of an early 20th-century international movement in 1913 as the Massachusetts Society for Mental Hygiene, today this organization is more focused than ever on eliminating the negative social determinants of health. One of the main ways it does this is through advocacy of affordable housing.

Massachusetts School Counselors Association (MASCA) – Founded in 1961 to advance guidance counseling through promotion, expansion, and improvement, MASCA can trace its roots back to the National Defense Education Act. Its four strategic objectives reflect its founding values: advocacy, equity, membership, and professional development.

Career Opportunities

Massachusetts Department of Mental Health – With a dedicated workforce of nearly 3,300 professionals, this state-level department serves more than 29,000 of the state’s most vulnerable populations every year, including children, youths, adults, and families who need help with mental disabilities. It provides a supportive work environment for its employees with programs like peer support training.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Massachusetts – Founded in 1982, the mission of this organization is to improve the quality of life for people who are diagnosed with mental illnesses. In addition to support and advocacy for professionals in the field, it also provides resources for those who are suffering or recovering from mental illnesses including connection recovery groups and peer-to-peer support groups.

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