Florida's counselor license is the LMHC, reached through a registered internship.
One rule matters more than all the others: you must register as an intern <em>before</em> beginning your post-master's experience, and any time completed before you register does not count.
Not "may not count" — the statute says it does not.
That single clause has cost clinicians entire years.
Register first. Everything else is secondary
Florida requires that a person seeking licensure register as an intern in that profession before commencing the post-master's experience requirement.
The statute then removes any ambiguity about what happens if you don't: an individual who fails to comply may not be granted a license, and any time spent completing the experience requirement before registering as an intern does not count toward completion.
Read that as a clinician planning a career and the consequence is stark.
Finish your master's, take a counseling job, work a year under a licensed supervisor doing exactly the work the board requires — and if the registration was not issued first, that year is not partially credited or credited on appeal.
It is not experience for licensure purposes at all.
This is unusually blunt drafting.
Most states express the same intent through supervisor-approval rules, where an error is at least arguable.
Florida wrote the voiding into the statute, which means no board discretion is available to fix it.
It is the clearest example in this cluster of why the general advice — confirm the arrangement in writing before your first supervised hour, covered in associate vs. independently licensed — is not boilerplate caution.
The registration then carries its own clock: it is valid for five years and expires 60 months after the date it is issued.
So the window is bounded at both ends — nothing counts before it opens, and it closes.
What the license requires
Florida's education requirements are more prescriptive than most states'.
The statute sets a total, and for a degree from outside a CACREP program it also dictates the internal composition.
- The degree. A master's of at least 60 semester hours or 80 quarter hours, reached by one of two routes. The simpler is a mental health counseling program accredited by CACREP, which must include a course in human sexuality and a course in substance abuse. The statute also accepts a program related to the practice of mental health counseling that is not CACREP-accredited, provided it meets the three conditions below. Separately, for applications from July 1, 2025 the statute requires the program to be accredited by CACREP, MPCAC or an equivalent accrediting body — so the second route now means a program accredited by one of those other bodies, not an unaccredited one.
- Coursework (non-CACREP route). 33 semester hours of graduate work across eleven named content areas — counseling theories, human development, psychopathology, human sexuality, group practice, assessment, career counseling, research, cultural foundations, substance abuse, and professional ethics.
- Diagnosis specifically (non-CACREP route). At least three semester hours addressing diagnostic processes using the current diagnostic manuals — a separate requirement from the psychopathology coursework.
- Practicum (non-CACREP route). At least 700 hours of supervised clinical practicum or internship, including a minimum of 280 direct client contact hours.
- Post-master's experience. At least two years of clinical experience in mental health counseling, under a licensed mental health counselor or another supervisor the board qualifies.
- Exams. A theory and practice examination designated by board rule, plus demonstrated knowledge of the laws and rules governing clinical social work, marriage and family therapy, and mental health counseling.
That last phrase is a useful tell about how Florida is organised: one board regulates all three professions together, so the laws-and-rules component covers the whole chapter rather than counseling alone.
Which credential the letters denote in each state — and which board issues them — is mapped in LPC vs. LMHC vs. LPCC vs. LCPC.
Once licensed, the Florida LMHC is independent; there is no clinical tier above it, unlike Illinois or Ohio.
The one thing to verify before your first day
What it pays, and the premium that disappears
Florida is the first of the four states built so far to sit below national at essentially every point of the distribution, for both licenses.
Counselors: a Florida median of $56,790 against $59,350 nationally, with a 90th percentile of $84,410 against $97,590.
Marriage and family therapists: a median of $56,400 against $66,940, with a 90th percentile of $102,280 against $123,730 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The more interesting number is the gap between the two licenses.
Nationally, MFTs out-earn the counselor occupation by roughly $7,600 at the median.
In Florida that premium is gone — the two medians sit about $400 apart.
Whatever accounts for the national MFT advantage is not operating in the Florida market.
Four states in, that is the pattern worth carrying: the relationship between two licenses is not stable across states.
Texas has counselors above national and MFTs far below.
California has both at the median with a long upper tail.
New York is compressed at both ends.
Florida is uniformly below with the licenses converged.
Any single "therapist salary in [state]" figure is averaging across a relationship that changes state by state — the argument made in full on why there is no single national median.
As always, the counselor figure is a combined federal occupation pooling substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors.
No LMHC-only median is published.
Portability and planning
Florida is not currently among the states issuing Counseling Compact privileges, and a privilege requires an independent license, so a registered intern could not use one regardless.
Licensure follows where the client is located — the enacted-versus-operational distinction is in telehealth across state lines.
If you are moving to Florida mid-career, the registration rule interacts with relocation in a way worth planning for: hours accrued in another state are assessed against Florida's requirements, and Florida time accrued before your registration issues is void regardless of how well documented it is.
Register before you start, then sort out what transfers.
If you intend to supervise later, supervisor status is its own credential in most states — see can an LPC supervise an associate?
Other states' hours and exams are compared on LPC license requirements by state.
Browse open therapist roles to see which Florida employers name a registered supervisor up front.
This article is general career information, not legal, clinical, or medical advice, and it is not guidance for anyone seeking treatment. Licensure requirements are set by Florida's Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling and change over time — confirm current rules with the board before relying on them.