To meet the Georgia LPC requirements, you need a qualifying master’s degree in counseling, a period of practice as an Associate Professional Counselor under Board-approved supervision, a passing score on a national counseling exam, and an approved application to the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists. From the day you finish your degree, plan on at least two to three more years before you hold a full Licensed Professional Counselor credential.
The Degree You Need
Georgia requires at least a master’s degree from a regionally accredited program in clinical counseling or counseling psychology, totaling at least 60 semester hours (or 90 quarter hours) and including a supervised practicum or internship built into the program.1Justia Law. Georgia Code Title 43, Chapter 10A – Section 43-10A-11 Requirements for Licensure as Professional Counselor The coursework must be substantially similar to a program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).2Cornell Law School. Georgia Comp R and Regs R 135-5-.01 – Associate Professional Counselors
For degrees started after September 30, 2018, the Board’s rules require coursework in all nine CACREP content areas: human growth and development, counseling theories, professional ethics, social and cultural diversity, group counseling, career development, research and evaluation, assessment, and helping relationships. Programs beginning after that same date must include 600 hours of practicum or internship, up from the previous 300-hour floor.2Cornell Law School. Georgia Comp R and Regs R 135-5-.01 – Associate Professional Counselors
The Associate Professional Counselor Stage
You cannot jump straight from graduate school to full LPC status. After earning your degree, you apply for an Associate Professional Counselor (APC) license, which lets you practice under supervision while you build the post-degree experience full licensure requires. The APC application asks for official transcripts, practicum or internship verification, a contract affidavit describing your supervision arrangement, a nationwide fingerprint background check, and the application fee.3Georgia Secretary of State. How to Guide – Professional Counselor
The APC license is temporary by design. State law caps APC practice at five years total, and the license cannot be placed on inactive status.1Justia Law. Georgia Code Title 43, Chapter 10A – Section 43-10A-11 Requirements for Licensure as Professional Counselor If you don’t upgrade to full LPC within that window, you land in reinstatement, which is more expensive and adds paperwork. This is the stage where many candidates stall out, so pace your supervision hours from the start.
Supervised Experience Hours
Full LPC licensure requires two years of post-degree directed experience in a work setting the Board accepts.1Justia Law. Georgia Code Title 43, Chapter 10A – Section 43-10A-11 Requirements for Licensure as Professional Counselor For experience beginning on or after October 1, 2018, that translates to a minimum of 1,000 hours of directed work per year and at least 35 hours of clinical supervision per year.4Georgia Secretary of State. FAQs – Board Rule 135-5-01 APC and 135-5-02 LPC
Your supervisor has to meet the qualifications set by the Board’s standards committee for professional counseling.5Justia Law. Georgia Code Title 43, Chapter 10A – Section 43-10A-3 Definitions In practice, that means a fully licensed LPC (or equivalent) whom the Board has approved to supervise. The supervision must involve direct clinical review of your work with clients for teaching and training purposes. When you eventually apply for full licensure, your employer or supervisor completes Form C (directed work experience verification) and Form E (clinical supervision verification).6Georgia Secretary of State. Application for Licensed Professional Counselor Licensure
Log every hour as you go. Budget for supervision, too. If your employer doesn’t include clinical supervision in your role, you may end up paying a supervisor out of pocket.
Passing the Exam
Georgia accepts two national exams for LPC licensure: the National Counselor Examination (NCE) and the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE). Both come from the National Board for Certified Counselors.7National Board for Certified Counselors. Exam Registration You only need to pass one.
The NCE is a 200-item multiple-choice test aligned with CACREP’s core content areas.8College of Education and Human Development. National Certified Counselor NCC Certification The NCMHCE uses 11 clinical case simulations that ask you to work through intake, assessment, and treatment as you would with a real client.9National Board for Certified Counselors. NCMHCE Format Comparison Chart Most candidates test during or after their APC period. If you already passed the NCE or NCMHCE before applying, Georgia offers a licensure-by-exam-waiver route so you don’t retake it.3Georgia Secretary of State. How to Guide – Professional Counselor
Applying for the Full LPC
Once your degree, supervised experience, and exam are behind you, you mail the LPC application to the Board with the full supporting packet: official transcripts, practicum or internship verification, post-master’s directed experience and supervision verification forms, your exam score report or exam waiver documentation, a nationwide fingerprint background check, an affidavit of citizenship, and any applicable immigration documents.3Georgia Secretary of State. How to Guide – Professional Counselor
The application fee for LPC licensure by examination is $110 ($100 application plus a $10 mail-in processing fee), payable by check or money order to the Georgia Composite Board. It is non-refundable.10Georgia Secretary of State. Fee Schedule You pay separately for the background check through the Board’s approved vendor.6Georgia Secretary of State. Application for Licensed Professional Counselor Licensure
The Board generally processes complete applications within 20 business days. An incomplete file draws a deficiency letter, and the 20-day clock restarts once the Board receives what was missing. Applications that need Board review at a meeting must arrive at least 15 days before that meeting to make the agenda.3Georgia Secretary of State. How to Guide – Professional Counselor Incomplete applications are the single biggest source of delay, so check every form before it goes in the envelope.
Renewal and Continuing Education
Every Georgia LPC license expires on September 30 of even-numbered years. To renew, you complete 35 hours of continuing education during the two-year cycle (October 1 of one even-numbered year through September 30 of the next) and pay the $110 renewal fee.11Georgia Secretary of State. Chapter 135-9 Continuing Education10Georgia Secretary of State. Fee Schedule
The 35 hours break down this way:
- At least 5 hours in professional ethics, completed through synchronous (live) activities only.
- At least 15 of the remaining 30 hours in your specialty area of professional counseling.
- Up to 15 hours may come from related fields such as psychiatry, psychiatric nursing, or psychology.
- No more than 10 of your 35 total hours may be earned through asynchronous (self-paced online) courses.11Georgia Secretary of State. Chapter 135-9 Continuing Education
The asynchronous cap catches counselors off guard. Only 10 of your 35 hours can be self-paced online, and the 5 ethics hours must be live.12Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Board of Professional Counselors Social Workers and Marriage Therapists FAQ Keep documentation for everything, because the Board may ask to see proof at renewal.
Telemental Health Training
If you plan to see clients by video, phone, or other technology-assisted media, Georgia expects extra training before you start. Board Rule 135-11 requires at least six continuing education hours in telemental health topics before you deliver any clinical telemental health services. Supervisors who provide supervision via telemental health need nine hours.13Georgia Secretary of State. Chapter 135-11 Telemental Health
Training can cover research in telemental health, intake and assessment for remote clients, delivery methods, risk management and HIPAA compliance for electronic information, and adapting in-person techniques to a virtual format. Before you provide services, you also must obtain both verbal and written informed consent from the client, documented in the record, including disclosure of any third-party vendors handling record-keeping or billing.13Georgia Secretary of State. Chapter 135-11 Telemental Health If you completed the required hours within the past five years, you don’t need to repeat them.
Already Licensed in Another State
If you hold an active LPC license elsewhere, you may be able to get a Georgia license without retaking the national exam. The Board may grant licensure by endorsement when the other state’s requirements are substantially equal to or greater than Georgia’s. You file an endorsement application, pay the non-refundable fee, and have your current state’s licensing authority confirm your license is active and in good standing.14Cornell Law School. Georgia Comp R and Regs R 135-3-.04 – Licensure by Endorsement
Georgia was the first state to enact the Interstate Counseling Compact, signing HB 395 into law, which is designed to let licensed counselors practice across state lines without a separate license in each state.15Counseling Compact. Georgia Enacts Counseling Compact As of early 2026, the Compact is operational in Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio, which have finished the technical and regulatory work. Georgia has not yet gone live in the Compact system despite passing the legislation.16Counseling Compact. Counseling Compact Check the Counseling Compact website for current status.
What Can Cost You the License
The Board can deny, suspend, or revoke a license for a range of reasons: fraud or misrepresentation in obtaining or using the license, a felony conviction or a crime of moral turpitude, practicing outside the scope of the license, violating the Board’s code of ethics, discipline of your license in another state, and unprofessional or unethical conduct. Penalties range from a reprimand to full revocation depending on severity. Discipline in another state can independently trigger Georgia Board action, and an arrest resolved through first-offender treatment can serve as a basis for discipline even without a formal conviction.17Justia Law. Georgia Code Title 43, Chapter 10A – Section 43-10A-17 Denial or Revocation of License
Letting the license lapse is its own problem. Reinstatement costs $360 (non-refundable, including a $10 processing fee), more than three times a standard renewal, and you must submit documentation of continuing education accrued during the lapse plus an explanation of why you failed to renew. If the license has been lapsed or on inactive status for more than five years, you must meet whatever licensure requirements are current at that time and retake the licensing exam.18Georgia Secretary of State. Application for Reinstatement of Licensure For APCs the rule is harsher: the APC license may only be reinstated once, and the reinstated license runs only for what remains of the original five-year window.