Counselor Licensure in Delaware: LPC Requirements, Hours and Exams

Delaware's counselor subchapter issues two licenses, and the entry rung is a full license.

The Licensed Associate Counselor of Mental Health is defined in §3031(1) as an individual licensed to obtain experience under the professional direct supervision of an LPCMH or other Board-approved health professional, for the purpose of becoming licensed as an LPCMH.

The Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health is the tier that offers professional mental health counseling to individuals, groups, organizations or the general public.

Title protection attaches to both: §3030 makes it unlawful to hold yourself out as either without a license under the chapter.

The clock matters for planning: the associate license is effective for 2 years and may be renewed up to 2 times.

The statute asks for a master's degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education with a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours in clinical mental health counseling, or a graduate degree equivalent to clinical mental health counseling from a recognized institution as determined by the Board.

CACREP accreditation itself is not named as the requirement.

The regulation adds the mechanics for the equivalent route: applicants whose degree is not in clinical mental health counseling must show at least 60 graduate semester hours of coursework encompassing the current CACREP standards for a clinical mental health counseling program, including the specialty standards, practicum and internship, documented on a course evaluation sheet submitted with the application.

Regulation 2.1 also fixes a date question: where a master's required remediation by a certifying organization, the remediation completion date counts as the conferment date of the degree of record.

Ask the board early if your program's title is not clinical mental health counseling.

The statute frames the requirement as the equivalent of 2 years of supervised professional mental health counseling experience, and then states the numbers: not less than 3,200 hours over not less than 2 and not more than 4 years — Regulation 2.4 calls them consecutive years — with at least 1,600 hours of supervised clinical experience acceptable to the Board.

Of that 1,600, at least 1,500 must be the actual provision of face-to-face direct mental health counseling services, at least 750 of them individual face-to-face client sessions; the remaining 750 may be individual, group, couple or family services.

Supervision itself is at least 100 hours face-to-face, with no more than 40 in groups of no more than 6 supervisees.

Sequencing is where applicants lose hours: a Board-approved supervision plan must be in place before any experience accrues under §3033(b), and hours worked under a supervisor who does not meet Regulations 2.5 through 2.5.3 do not count toward the 1,500, though they may count toward the 1,600 not required to be supervised.

The statute and the regulation state the same exam requirement: the National Counselor Examination or other examination acceptable to the Board.

The rules do not name the alternatives, so confirm any other counseling exam with the board before you rely on it.

There is no Delaware jurisprudence exam; the Counseling Compact commission's fees table lists none for Delaware.

Timing is worth noting for a new graduate: §3033(a) requires an associate applicant to meet every LPCMH requirement except the experience requirement, so the exam sits at the entry of the ladder, before supervised hours begin counting toward the LPCMH.

Delaware has no supervisor credential; qualification is the supervisor's own license and record.

Supervision by an LPCMH licensed in any state or U.S. territory is acceptable to the Board, so an out-of-state LPCMH can supervise Delaware hours.

A non-LPCMH supervisor — the rule names marriage and family therapists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, physicians and APRNs as examples — needs Board approval for a compelling clinical reason tied to your training.

Every supervisor needs 2 years post-licensure without discipline, a minimum of 3 CE hours in clinical supervision within 2 years of the application or 12 lifetime, and no more than 10 supervisees at a time.

On format, Regulation 2.3 — in the LPCMH licensure section — settles client sessions: face-to-face includes both in person and live video conferencing, so counseling delivered to clients by live video counts toward the experience.

The supervision meetings are the open question: §3031(3) defines professional direct supervision as face-to-face consultation, and the 100-hour rule gives those meetings no video definition, so get the board's answer in writing before your plan depends on video meetings.

Delaware defines professional mental health counseling in the statute to include the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders, so the independent license carries that authority by definition rather than by a separate designation.

The associate license is defined the other way around: an LACMH exists to obtain experience under professional direct supervision, and that definition is what ties associate practice to supervision.

For a new graduate, the practical reading is that the associate rung is a supervised learning license, and the diagnosis-and-treatment authority attaches to the LPCMH definition.

Delaware statute calls it reciprocity, and §3034 sets two doors.

The first: an applicant certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors or another national mental health specialty certifying organization acceptable to the Board, holding a current license in good standing from a jurisdiction whose standards for licensure are substantially similar.

The second, for jurisdictions that are not substantially similar: a license in good standing for a minimum of 5 years plus the NCE or another Board-acceptable exam.

Regulation 2.6 puts the burden of proof on the applicant — you submit your state's statute and rules, and the Board decides substantial similarity.

Section 3034(c) is the fallback for counselors who lack the 5 years: apply for the associate license and earn the experience Delaware requires.

Check which door your state's standards put you at before you move.

Delaware sits on the Counseling Compact Commission's member list, and the commission has published a news post announcing Delaware's enactment — but the Compact is not live here as of September 2026.

Delaware is not among the states issuing and accepting privileges, so no Delaware counselor can take a Compact privilege to another state, and no counselor licensed elsewhere can practise in Delaware on one.

The enacting statute was not located in the sources read; it is not among Title 24 chapter 30's subchapters, so this page cannot cite a Delaware Code section for membership.

The route in remains a Delaware license, by examination under §3032 or by reciprocity under §3034.

Licenses renew biennially on September 30 of even-numbered years, online through the Division of Professional Regulation.

Each renewal needs at least 40 acceptable CE hours completed during the previous licensure period, including 3 hours in ethics and 3 in cultural inclusion, equity, and diversity; Regulation 12.2.1 prorates the first cycle by grant date, from 0 to 30 hours.

Verification is by electronic attestation subject to random audits, so keep attendance documentation for at least a year after each renewal.

Associates are different: Regulation 12.2 does not require associate license holders to complete CEs — the CE duty arrives with the LPCMH.

An LACMH renewing within the associate span should plan supervision and experience hours, not CE.

No rule change dated 2023 to 2026 was identified in the sources read for the education, hour, exam or supervision requirements.

The session-law notes printed with §3032 run to 83 Del. Laws c.

433, with the amendment content not identified, and the 3-hour cultural inclusion, equity, and diversity CE category appears in Regulation 12.2.1 with its adoption date not shown.

For a reader checking an older guide, the practical conclusion is narrow: the 3,200-hour total and the 2-to-4-year window read the same in the sources used for this page, and the CE category list is the item whose timing is uncertain.

Confirm both with the board if you are reconciling an old supervision plan.