Substance Abuse Counselor Requirements in Kansas: Credentials, Hours and Exams

Kansas regulates addiction counseling through the addiction counselor licensure act, and the board issues every rung as a licence — there is no registration or certificate track below the three full tiers.

The practice-protection line is broad: it covers not just the licensed titles but anyone who represents that they are an addiction counselor, a substance abuse counselor or an alcohol and drug counselor, and a violation is a class B misdemeanor.

Below the LAC sit three pre-licensure licences: the student temporary licence for a person still completing the education, the temporary licence for an applicant waiting to sit the examination, and a 12-month provisional licence for an applicant completing board-prescribed remedial requirements.

The temporary and student licences expire after 24 months and the temporary licence is not renewed or issued again at the same level, so the calendar matters when you plan an exam date.

The statute opens four doors to the LAC: a baccalaureate from an addiction counseling program approved by the board; any approved baccalaureate plus board-approved coursework on substance use disorders; a current Kansas licensed baccalaureate social worker licence plus that coursework; or a current Kansas licence from the board at the master's level, who may then take the LAC examination (65-6610(a)(2)).

Every LAC applicant without a NASAC-accredited degree completes the content areas and a practicum of at least six semester credits including at least 400 clock-hours of practice with one supervision hour per 10 practice hours (K.A.R.

102-7-3(c)); the LBSW route completes only (c)(1), (4) and (9) (K.A.R.

102-7-3(d)).

The LMAC and LCAC need a master's: an addiction counseling program or a NASAC-accredited program; without NASAC accreditation the master's coursework standard applies, including its practicum of at least 300 hours of client contact (K.A.R.

102-7-3(e), (f)(8)); another master's needs at least 30 graduate semester credit hours supporting diagnosis and treatment (102-7-3(e)(2)).

A current Kansas LMSW, LPC, LMFT or master's-level psychologist may take the LMAC examination instead (65-6610(b)(1)(B)(iii)).

Under 65-6610(c)(2)(A)–(C) the LCAC applicant completes not less than two years of postgraduate supervised professional experience under a board-approved clinical supervision plan totalling not less than 3,000 hours, including at least 1,500 hours of direct client contact conducting substance abuse assessments and treatment, plus not less than 100 face-to-face clinical supervision hours including 50 individual; the board may waive the face-to-face requirement on a finding of extenuating circumstances.

The board may waive half the hours for an applicant with a board-approved doctoral degree in addiction counseling or a related field, completing the remaining half in not less than one year.

Route (D) skips the hours: an applicant currently licensed in Kansas as a psychologist, specialist clinical social worker, clinical professional counselor, clinical psychotherapist or clinical marriage and family therapist qualifies by an attestation of competence to diagnose and treat substance use disorders, signed by a professional licensed in independent practice to diagnose and treat mental disorders, substance use disorders, or both, or licensed to practice medicine and surgery.

The LAC and LMAC have no statutory post-degree hour total.

Each tier's requirement list includes that the applicant has passed an examination approved by the board (65-6610(a)(3) for the LAC, with parallel clauses for the LMAC and LCAC).

Neither the statute read nor the rules read name the examination, so the one thing this page cannot supply is the exam's name — ask the BSRB which examination currently applies before you schedule.

The temporary licence exists precisely for the gap: an applicant who has satisfied the education requirements but is waiting to take the examination may hold a temporary LAC or temporary LMAC licence while the exam date approaches.

Where supervision is spelled out, it is a plan rather than a weekly ratio.

The LCAC's hours must follow a clinical supervision plan approved by the board, and the 100 face-to-face supervision hours include not less than 50 hours of individual supervision.

The student temporary licence carries the most concrete monthly floor: a supervision plan signed by the prospective employer's supervisor with not less than four hours of supervision per month and not fewer than two supervision meetings per month, of which a maximum of two hours per month may be group supervision (65-6611(g)(5)).

A temporary licence holder may practise only in a licensed or certified alcohol and other drug abuse program, under the direction of a person licensed by the board at the clinical level or a person licensed to practice medicine and surgery (65-6611(e)) — worth confirming before accepting a placement that is supposed to bridge you to the exam.

Independent clinical authority starts at the top rung: at the clinical level of licensure, addiction counseling includes independent practice and the diagnosis and treatment of substance use disorders, under the DSM edition the board designates by rule (65-6608(a), (e)).

The LAC's practice is limited to substance use disorders and must occur in a state-licensed or certified alcohol and other drug treatment program — a statutory setting, not a preference — or in completing a Kansas domestic violence offender assessment for participants in a certified batterer intervention program (65-6608(d)).

The LMAC sits between: it may diagnose substance use disorders only under the direction of an LCAC, a licensed psychologist, a physician, or an independent mental-health licensee whose licensure allows diagnosing and treating substance abuse disorders or mental disorders (65-6608(f)).

The act leaves out other BSRB-licensed professions, registered nurses and social workers performing services within their training and ethics, so long as they do not represent themselves as being an addiction counselor (65-6616(d)) — those professionals need no addiction licence unless they hold out under those titles.

Substantial equivalence alone qualifies an out-of-state counselor at the LAC (65-6613); at the master's and clinical levels the equivalence route also requires completion of at least a master's degree (65-6613(b)(1), (c)(1)).

The alternative route, at every level, requires at least 12 months of similar-scope practice immediately before applying, no serious disciplinary actions, and the degree — baccalaureate for the LAC, master's for the LMAC and LCAC; the clinical level adds two of: board-approved coursework or a national clinical exam, three years of clinical practice with diagnosing or treating experience, or an attestation of competence.

There is no IC&RC counselor-level member board in Kansas (directory, retrieved 2026-09-24), so an IC&RC credential is simply a credential for the board to evaluate.

The 65-6612 temporary permit covers only licensees authorised for independent clinical practice at the clinical level in another jurisdiction, in good standing with two years of practice: not more than 30 days per year, on a permit expiring one year after issuance, extendable once for one more year under emergency circumstances.

Every licence expires 24 months from the date of issuance (65-6614(b)).

For renewal the rule requires 30 hours of documented and approved continuing education during each two-year renewal period, including three hours of professional ethics, and hours accumulated in excess of the requirement do not carry over (K.A.R.

102-7-9(a)).

The diagnosis-and-treatment requirement is where the sources disagree: the rule still requires each LCAC to complete six related hours, but the statute says on and after July 1, 2025 an LMAC or LCAC needs not less than three — the statute (2023 amendment) post-dates the rule (2012 base), so plan around three and confirm with the board.

A licensee who falls short may request up to three additional months on a request made at least 30 calendar days before expiration, but the request must show extenuating circumstances and a plan to complete the remaining hours, and the board may deny it; it is not available in consecutive licence periods (65-6614(c)).

L.

2023, ch. 90 amended six sections of the act — K.S.A.

65-6608, 65-6610, 65-6611, 65-6613, 65-6614 and 65-6618 — effective July 1, 2023, so the definitions, education routes, temporary licences, reciprocity terms and renewal rules on this page carry that amendment.

The change with a dated future effect is the continuing-education cut: diagnosis-and-treatment CE for the LMAC and LCAC drops from six hours to not less than three on and after July 1, 2025 (65-6614(b)).

K.A.R.

102-7-9(b) has not been amended to match, so a guide that quotes the rule's six hours is quoting the superseded figure.