Before applying for licensure, please familiarize yourself with the general licensing policies.

 

Applicants who  matriculated into a graduate degree program prior to July 1, 2017, shall have:

 

Earned from a regionally accredited institution of higher education a master's or doctoral degree in social work, marriage and family therapy, counseling, psychology or a related mental health field determined to be in the discipline of professional counseling by the Department;

 

Completed sixty graduate semester hours in or related to the discipline of counseling at a regionally accredited institution of higher education, which included coursework in each of the following areas: human growth and development, social and cultural foundations, counseling theories and techniques or helping relationships, group dynamics,  processing and counseling, career and lifestyle development, appraisals or tests and measurements for individuals and groups, research and evaluation, and professional orientation to counseling;

 

Acquired three thousand (3000) hours of postgraduate supervised experience in professional counseling performed over a period of not less than one year that included a minimum of one hundred (100) hours of direct supervision by either (A) a licensed physician certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, (B) a licensed psychologist, (C) a licensed advanced practice registered nurse certified as a clinical specialist in adult psychiatric and mental health nursing with the American Nurses Credentialing Center, (D) a licensed marital and family therapist, (E) a licensed clinical social worker, or (F) a licensed professional counselor or for supervision prior to October 1, 1998, by a counselor otherwise eligible for licensure.

 

 

An applicant who is currently licensed or certified as a professional counselor or its equivalent in another state may substitute three (3) years of licensed or certified work experience in the practice of professional counseling in lieu of the postgraduate supervised experience outlined above.  Please arrange for a letter to be submitted directly to this office from the appropriate authority at the organization where the work experience occurred.  The letter must indicate that the applicant was employed as a professional counselor and provide dates of employment.

 

Successfully completed the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE) or the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) administered by the National Board for Certified Counselors.

 

If an applicant has not successfully completed the NCE or NCMHCE and wishes to sit for the examination for purposes of obtaining a Connecticut license, you need to register online via NBCC's website at http://www.nbcc.org/.  Choose the 'ProCounselor Login' tab in the upper right-hand corner of the page.  Select 'Register to Take a State Licensure Exam'.

 

Documentation Requirements:

 

An applicant for licensure shall arrange for the submission of following documentation directly from the source:

 

An official transcript and Course of Study Form sent directly from each educational institution attended indicating all graduate level coursework completed and graduate degree(s) conferred;

 

Verification, sent directly from each state licensing authority where a license, certificate or registration as a professional counselor is, or has ever been held.  Most jurisdictions charge a fee for this service.  Please contact the jurisdiction prior to submission of the form;

 

Verification form sent directly from the appropriate authority(s), of three thousand (3000) hours of postgraduate supervised experience and one hundred hours of postgraduate-degree supervision;

 

A score report for the NCE or NCMHCE sent directly to this Department from the NBCC;