Counselor Licensure in South Carolina: LPC Requirements, Hours and Exams
South Carolina licenses counselors on three rungs: Professional Counselor Associate (LPCA), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPCS).
The exam comes first: the associate license issues only after a passing NCE or NCMHCE.
The LPC then takes 1,500 post-master's hours over not fewer than 2 years — 1,380 of them documented direct client contact and 120 documented supervision, which may be delivered by video.
Supervisors are separately licensed.
The Counseling Compact is enacted but not live as of September 2026.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) — issued on top of an associate license once 1,500 post-master's hours over not fewer than 2 years are documented (Reg.
36-05(3)).
Professional Counselor Associate (LPCA) — a license, not a registration (S.C. Code §40-75-20(5), -240), issued after the degree and a passed exam; it ends at 2 years without a board extension.
60 graduate semester hours: a CACREP-accredited Clinical Mental Health counseling program at graduation, or a master's, specialist's or doctoral degree with 60 graduate semester hours primarily in counseling from an accredited or substantially similar program (Reg.
36-04(2)-(3)).
CACREP accreditation itself is not strictly required.
1,500 hours of post-master's clinical experience and supervision over not fewer than 2 years — at least 1,380 of documented direct client contact and at least 120 of documented supervision, of which at least 60 must be individual/triadic (Reg.
36-05(3)).
The NCE or the NCMHCE, passed before the associate license is issued (board page; §40-75-240).
No state jurisprudence exam.
Supervision comes from an LPCS — a separate license requiring at least 5 years in the practice of counseling — or a board-approved qualified licensed mental health practitioner: an MFT supervisor, addiction counselor supervisor, psychologist, or medical doctor.
Enacted: 2024 Act No. 189 (S.610), effective May 21, 2024.
A commission member, but not live — not issuing or accepting privileges — as of September 2026.
Every 2 years; 40 hours of board-approved continuing education per period — 33 related to the license, 6 in ethical standards, 1 in suicide assessment, treatment and management (§40-75-250(C); Reg.
36-16).
The South Carolina credential ladder
- Professional Counselor Associate(LPCA)Pre-licensure
A license (S.C. Code §40-75-20(5), -240), issued after the education requirement and a passed NCE or NCMHCE but before the supervised experience; it authorizes practice only under the direct supervision of a licensed professional counselor supervisor.
- Licensed Professional Counselor(LPC)Independent
The independent counseling license, granted once the associate documents 1,500 post-master's hours — at least 1,380 of direct client contact and 120 of supervision — over not fewer than 2 years (Reg.
36-05(3)).
- Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor(LPCS)Supervisor
A separate supervisor license above the LPC: an SC LPC license, at least 5 years in the practice of counseling, and Reg.
36-06's requirements — a doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision, or the 5-year/36-hour/3-credit route.
Three licenses: associate, LPC, and a supervisor license above both
The entry rung is a real license, not a registration.
Section 40-75-20(11) folds an authorization to practice as a professional counselor associate into the definition of "License", and §40-75-20(5) defines an associate as someone the board has licensed.
The associate license goes to an applicant who has met the education requirement and passed the exam but not yet the supervision and experience requirements (§40-75-240); the title replaced the older "intern" in 2018.
Hold it and you may practice only under the direct supervision of a licensed professional counselor supervisor.
The LPC is the independent license, and the LPCS sits above both as a separate license, not a notation on the LPC.
For an employer reading a résumé, the letters carry the tier: LPCA means supervised practice, LPC means independent practice, LPCS means a supervisor license on top.
Other states issue the same counselor licence under different letters — see LPC vs LMHC vs LPCC vs LCPC, mapped state by state.
“A professional counselor associate may practice only under the direct supervision of a licensed professional counselor supervisor.”
A 60-hour counseling degree; CACREP-accredited or substantially similar
Two degree routes exist, and CACREP is not the only door.
Route one is graduation from a minimum 60-graduate-semester-hour Clinical Mental Health counseling program accredited by CACREP at the time of graduation.
Route two is a master's, specialist's or doctoral degree with a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours primarily in counseling, from a program accredited by a national educational accrediting body such as CACREP or one that requires and follows substantially similar educational standards, at an institution accredited by the Commission on the Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, one of its transferring regional associations, the Association of Theological Schools, or another regionally accredited institution.
A school may submit its program to the board for a substantially-similar determination, so a non-CACREP degree can qualify by board review.
Non-CACREP graduates also file a Coursework Description and Verification Form and a Practicum/Internship Review, with course descriptions copied from the catalogue for the year the courses were taken.
For why boards write program accreditation into the degree rule, see CSWE vs CACREP vs COAMFTE accreditation.
1,500 hours, 1,380 of them direct client contact — earned as an associate
The 1,500 hours are post-master's clinical experience and supervision performed over not fewer than 2 years, obtained — as the board's page says plainly — as an Associate.
The split defines the placement: at least 1,380 documented direct client contact and at least 120 documented supervision, so the non-supervision hours are essentially all direct contact and an administrative-heavy role will not stretch.
Sequence matters too.
Reg.
36-04(5) requires a completed supervision plan submitted to and received by the board before an associate provides any services, and the board's page goes further: no services until the plan is submitted and approved and the Associate license is issued.
File it with the application or after employment; it must be effective once the exam is passed and the license issued, so wait for approval before a first client.
Timing is tight: the experience must span not fewer than 2 years while §40-75-240 caps the associate license at 2 years unless extended — file the extension if your count will slip.
No minimum weekly or monthly supervision frequency appears in the sources read.
For what counts as a supervised hour, and what changes at independent licensure, see associate vs. independently licensed therapists.
“submit, on forms approved by the Board, documentation of completion of a minimum of one thousand five hundred (1500) hours of post-master's clinical experience and post master's clinical supervision in the practice of professional counseling performed over a period of not fewer than two (2) years. Of the one thousand five hundred (1500) hours, there must be a minimum of one thousand three hundred eighty (1,380) hours of documented direct client contact and a minimum of one hundred twenty (120) hours of documented supervision by a licensed professional counselor supervisor or other qualified licensed mental health practitioner approved by the Board prior to beginning supervision, that included experience assessing and treating clients with the more serious problems as categorized in standard diagnostic nomenclature. A minimum of sixty (60) hours of the supervision hours must be individual/triadic, and the remaining sixty (60) hours may be individual/triadic or group.”
The NCE or NCMHCE, passed before any license issues
South Carolina flips the usual order: the exam comes before any license, including the associate.
Section 40-75-240 requires the associate applicant to have passed the examination required for licensure, and the board's page names the two that qualify: the NCE or the NCMHCE, both administered by NBCC.
You do not register for the exam cold — the board sends instructions once it has approved your education and application, so build that review time into your job-start date.
There is no state jurisprudence exam.
One gap: the sources read do not say whether the NCE-versus-NCMHCE choice differs for supervisor or endorsement applicants, so confirm with the board before registering if you are endorsement-bound.
For how the counselor, social work and MFT licensing exams compare, see ASWB vs NCE vs NCMHCE vs the MFT national exam.
“All licensure candidates must take and pass either the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE) or National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE).”
Choosing a supervisor: an LPCS license, or a board-approved QLMHP
Two kinds of supervisor can oversee an associate, and one is itself a licensed rung.
The statute pins associate practice to direct supervision by a licensed professional counselor supervisor; for the 120 supervision hours, the rule and the board's page also allow a board-approved qualified licensed mental health practitioner — a marriage and family therapy supervisor, addiction counselor supervisor, psychologist or medical doctor — with expertise in diagnosing and treating more serious problems in standard diagnostic nomenclature.
LPCS licensure takes an SC LPC, at least 5 years in the practice of counseling, and then either a doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision or 5 years of continuous clinical experience, 36 hours of supervision-of-supervision over no less than 2 years while supervising 2 to 6 associates, and 3 semester hours of graduate study in supervision.
Video supervision is explicitly allowed (Reg.
36-01(1)).
Before you sign a placement, check the board's supervisor list: family members may not supervise, peer supervision, administrative supervision and workshops do not count, and a supervisor is limited to 12 supervisees for direct client contact hours (Reg.
36-27).
For what it takes to become a supervisor yourself, see can an LPC supervise an associate?
“Supervision may be conducted either in person or via a HIPAA-compliant technological medium.”
Diagnosis sits inside the LPC's scope, gated by training and referral
South Carolina writes diagnosis into the counselor's scope, with a training gate.
The practice of professional counseling means functioning as a psycho-therapist — individual therapy, family counseling, group therapy, marital counseling, substance abuse counseling and more (§40-75-20(17)) — although the same chapter forbids an LPC from using the title "psycho-therapist" (§40-75-30(E)).
Assessment is defined to include assessing, diagnosing and treating using standard diagnostic nomenclature; a counselor may assess more serious problems only with specific training in that problem, and must refer what exceeds the counselor's training and competence (§40-75-20(4)).
The rules then deem LPCs to have the requisite training to diagnose, assess and treat serious problems (Reg.
36-01(15)).
Titles are protected: representing yourself as a "licensed professional counselor", "professional counselor" or "licensed counselor" without the license is practicing without a license (§40-75-30(C)).
Endorsement at an equivalent level, with no years-licensed floor stated
Endorsement is credential-level-locked.
The applicant must hold a current, active, unrestricted license in good standing under another state's laws, have no current or pending investigations in that state, and certify on the application that they have read the board's statutes, regulations and Code of Ethics for the license sought.
The rule then says an applicant is eligible only at an equivalent credential level: an out-of-state LPC endorses to the LPC (Reg.
36-14(A)), and a supervisor to the supervisor license (Reg.
36-14(B)).
What the rule does not state is any endorsement route below the independent level — Reg.
36-14 names no associate category, so a counselor whose out-of-state license is a supervised-tier equivalent should confirm the options with the board rather than assume endorsement applies.
The board's page adds that an endorsing supervisor must hold and maintain the underlying LPC, and tells applicants who lack it to apply for that credential first.
No minimum number of years licensed appears in the rule; what it states is good standing, clean investigation status, and the equivalent level.
For how endorsement works when you move, see moving states as a therapist: license transfer and endorsement.
Counseling Compact: enacted in 2024, not yet live
South Carolina enacted the Professional Counseling Compact Act, 2024 Act No. 189 (S.610), effective May 21, 2024, codified as Article 6 of Chapter 75 (§40-75-910 et seq.), and the commission counted South Carolina as a member.
Membership is not operation: as of September 2026 the commission's status shows Compact Live = No, and South Carolina is not among the states issuing or accepting privileges.
The statute anticipates the security step: an LPC applying to enter the compact via a privilege to practice must undergo SLED and FBI fingerprint criminal records checks, a requirement the same 2024 act added alongside the license itself (§40-75-220(C)).
Until the commission lists South Carolina as live, no Compact privilege works in either direction; the route in remains a South Carolina license, by examination or endorsement under Reg.
36-14.
For how the compact’s privilege to practice works, see the Counseling Compact explained.
Renew every 2 years: 40 CE hours — 33 license-related, 6 ethics, 1 suicide
Renewal runs every 2 years, and each period needs 40 hours of board-approved continuing education: 33 related to your license, 6 in ethical standards, and 1 in suicide assessment, treatment and management treatment.
A first-time licensee is exempt for the period in which the initial license was issued; licensees holding more than one license owe 50 hours; supervisors add 10 hours in supervision.
No hours carry forward, CE may be taken in person or online, and up to 20 hours per period can come from activities such as first-time presentations, refereed publications, or course preparation, each capped at 5 hours.
The suicide hour is new law: 2024 Act No. 158 added §40-75-250(D) effective May 20, 2024, applying to renewal cycles ending after 2025.
“A person licensed under this chapter must receive at least one hour of continuing education in suicide assessment, treatment, and management treatment, which may be completed virtually, as a portion of the total continuing education requirement for license renewal as determined by the board in regulation.”
What changed from 2023 to 2026
Three changes fall in the window.
First, 2024 Act No. 189 (S.610), effective May 21, 2024, enacted the Counseling Compact and added fingerprint criminal records checks — SLED and FBI — for LPC applicants (§40-75-220(B)-(C)).
Second, 2024 Act No. 158 (S.408), effective May 20, 2024, added the 1-hour suicide-assessment CE requirement, applying to renewal cycles ending after 2025.
Third, SCSR 49-5 Doc. No. 5354, effective May 23, 2025, amended both Reg.
36-04, the degree rule, and Reg.
36-16, the CE rule, whose current text carries the 1-hour suicide requirement.
A guide written before the May 2024 acts misses the Compact, the fingerprints and the suicide CE statute, and one predating May 2025 can still show the older degree and CE rules.
The hour totals in Reg.
36-05 were not amended in the window, so an older page can have the right hours and exams and still be out of date on fingerprints and the Compact.
Out-of-state telehealth: the $10 behavioral telehealth registration
One more door exists for clinicians already licensed elsewhere: the behavioral telehealth registration.
Under §40-75-800 (2022 Act No. 155, effective June 12, 2022), an out-of-state licensee with an active, unencumbered license substantially similar to South Carolina's may provide behavioral telehealth to clients located in the state after registering with the board, paying a $10 fee, and clearing a lookback of no disciplinary action relating to the license in the prior 5 years.
Registrants must display a hyperlink to the board's website and report any new discipline within 5 business days.
The registration covers telehealth only, not in-person practice, and it is separate from the Counseling Compact — it was open years before the Compact becomes operational.
A South Carolina licensee does not need this registration to serve clients in the state (§40-75-800(I)).
What This Page Does — and Doesn’t — Cover
This page summarizes the South Carolina statute, rules, board pages and other documents cited above, as read for this state-by-state counselor licensure series, current as of September 2026.
It does not list application forms, fees beyond those cited above, or processing times, and it is not a substitute for the instructions the South Carolina Board of Examiners for the Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors, and Psycho-Educational Specialists publishes.
Nor does it cover social work licensure in South Carolina, MFT licensure in South Carolina, or what therapists earn in South Carolina.
Hour totals, exams and supervision rules change by statute and by board rule; for how the counselor, social work and MFT licences differ, see LCSW vs. LPC vs. LMFT: which therapy licence to get.
Confirm every requirement with the South Carolina Board of Examiners for the Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors, and Psycho-Educational Specialists before you count hours, register for an exam or apply — and before you take one of the mental health counselor jobs in South Carolina that asks for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need the associate license before I can start counting hours?
Yes.
The 1,500 hours must be post-master's clinical experience and supervision obtained as an Associate, and the board's page says an associate cannot provide services until the supervision plan is submitted to the Board and approved and the Associate license is issued; the rule itself (Reg.
36-04(5)) states the plan must be submitted to and received by the board.
The sequence is: finish the 60-semester-hour degree, pass the NCE or NCMHCE, obtain the Professional Counselor Associate license, then get the Plan for Clinical Supervision filed and approved.
Wait for the board's approval before your first client, since hours that predate the plan do not fit Reg.
36-05(3).
Can my supervision be done by video in South Carolina?
Yes.
Reg.
36-01(1) states that supervision may be conducted either in person or via a HIPAA-compliant technological medium.
The format minimums still apply: at least 60 of your 120 supervision hours must be individual/triadic — one or two supervisees in a session of at least one hour — and the remaining 60 may be individual/triadic or group, with group defined as no more than six supervisees for a minimum of two hours.
Confirm documentation of video sessions with the board.
How long can I stay an associate before I have to be done?
Two years, absent an extension.
Section 40-75-240 reads: "An associate who has not completed the requirements for licensure within two years may apply to the board for an extension."
Because the experience requirement itself must be performed over not fewer than two years, your window is exactly as long as your hours requirement — a late start or an employment gap puts you into extension territory.
Contact the board and file the extension before the license lapses rather than after.
Can a psychologist supervise my associate hours?
For the 120 supervision hours, yes, if the board approves the arrangement in advance.
Reg.
36-05(3) allows supervision by a licensed professional counselor supervisor or another qualified licensed mental health practitioner approved by the board; the board's page names marriage and family therapy supervisors, addiction counselor supervisors, psychologists, and medical doctors.
Approval must come before supervision begins, and the supervisor must show expertise in diagnosing and treating more serious problems in standard diagnostic nomenclature.
Because §40-75-30(A) itself names the LPCS for associate practice, confirm any QLMHP arrangement with the board in writing.
Can I practice in South Carolina under the Counseling Compact now?
Not as of September 2026.
South Carolina enacted the Professional Counseling Compact in 2024 (Act No. 189, S.610) and is a commission member, but the compact is not live here — no privileges are being issued or accepted.
To practice in person, get a South Carolina license by examination or endorsement (Reg.
36-14).
If you only want to serve South Carolina clients by telehealth from another state, the behavioral telehealth registration under §40-75-800 is the separate, $10 route.
More South Carolina & Mental Health Counselor Resources
Sources
- South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 40, Chapter 75 (Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists) (retrieved 2026-09-24)
- South Carolina Code of Regulations, Chapter 36 — Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists (retrieved 2026-09-24)
- South Carolina LLR Board of Examiners, Professional Counselors page (retrieved 2026-09-24)
- Counseling Compact Commission, home page (live and member states) (retrieved 2026-09-24)
Sourced from the statute, rules, board pages and other documents cited above.
Verified September 2026.
This is career information, not legal or clinical advice — confirm current rules with the South Carolina Board of Examiners for the Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors, and Psycho-Educational Specialists.