Counseling Licensure in Delaware
The state of Delaware has its own specific regulations around the granting of licenses to Counselors which must be followed if one wishes to become a Licensed Professional Counselor or a Licensed Associate Counselor of Mental Health in Delaware. The first thing you should always do when you are researching licensure is to take some time to review the state’s Division of Professional Regulation website on regulations for Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals which you can find here:
There are two levels of licensure for Counselor’s in Delaware, the Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and the limited licensure level known as the Licensed Associate Counselor of Mental Health (LACMH). The difference in these titles relates to the scope of the practice as well as the supervised work experience required for each.
In order to be granted either the title of Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) or Licensed Associate Counselor of Mental Health (LACMH) in Delaware, you must follow these steps:
- Complete the required educational component which is earning at least a Master’s of Counseling or a highly related field that meets the course work requirements as outlined on the state’s website.
- You must pass a criminal background check.
- Fulfill the state’s requirement for supervised work experience which is 3200 hours for the LPC and 1600 hours for the LACMH.
- Apply to the state board to sit for the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE) or the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) which is administered and created by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC).
- Send in your completed application and all required materials and verification to the Delaware Board of ProfessionalCounselors of Mental Health.
Educational Requirements
- Delaware has the following educational elements that they require of those seeking licensure:
- Earn your Bachelor’s in Counseling, Psychology, Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, Human Services or a highly related field of behavioral science.
- Apply for and be accepted to Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredited Master of Counseling program.
- Complete either you Master of Counseling or Ph.D. in Counseling.
Supervised Experience
The two levels of licensure have their own supervised experience requirements.
- You must pass a criminal background check.
- You may substitute 30 hours of post-graduate coursework in counseling for up to 1600 hours of supervised experience.
- All supervised experience must be completed in no less than 2 years and not more than 4 years.
- Approved supervisors include: Marriage and Family Therapists, LPC’s, Licensed Social Workers, Psychologists and Psychiatrists.
- If you want to attain the Licensed Associate Counselor of Mental Health (LACMH) title then you will need 1600 hours of direct supervised experience.
- For the LACMH at least 1500 of the hours must be face-to-face direct mental health counseling.
- 750 of these hours must be individual face-to-face client contact with direct mental health services with the remaining 750 hours in group, couple or family counseling.
- At least 100 of the 1600 hours must be face-to-face direct supervision by your supervisor with at least 60 of those hours must be individual supervision.
- For the LPC you must meet all of the above requirements, but have a total of 3200 equivalent hours (with post-graduate studies counted per above) of supervised work experience.
Apply for and Take Your Exam
The final step is to apply for and take your exam.
- You must apply with the National Board of Certified Counselors to take the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE) or the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE).
- Send in your form and all verification of scores and materials which for LPC’s can be found here:
- For the LACMH your form can be found here:
You will need to complete 40 hours of continuing education every two years as the license expires on even numbered years. You will want to stay abreast of any changes that may occur by periodically reviewing the state’s Division of Professional Regulation for Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals website which you can find here: