Are Non-Competes Enforceable for Therapists and Behavioral Health Staff in Arkansas?

Arkansas runs employee non-competes through a statute: Act 921 of 2015, now codified at Arkansas Code § 4-75-101, makes a covenant tied to employment enforceable if you have a protectable business interest and the covenant is limited in time and scope to no more than necessary to defend it.

The twist is who it covers.

The statute does not apply to anyone holding a professional license under Arkansas Code Title 17, Subtitle 3 — the Medical Professions subtitle — which takes psychologists, social workers, nurses (including APRNs) and physicians outside its rules.

Counselors and MFTs sit in the Nonmedical Professions subtitle, so the statute applies to them by its terms.

Physicians carry an extra rule: a 2025 Arkansas law voids a covenant not to compete that restricts a physician's right to practice within their scope of practice — relevant if you employ or contract with psychiatrists.

For where Arkansas sits in the bigger picture, see our guide to non-competes nationally.

For the employees it covers, the governing law is a statute: Act 921 of 2015 (SB 998, approved April 1, 2015), enacted originally as Arkansas Code § 4-70-207, amended by Act 232 of 2025 and now codified at Arkansas Code § 4-75-101.

Two features matter most in hiring.

Enforceability: the employer must have a protectable business interest, and the covenant must be limited in time and scope to no more than necessary to defend it.

Consideration: an employee's continued employment is sufficient consideration, so a raise, bonus or promotion is not needed to support one introduced mid-employment.

The most consequential Arkansas rule for a behavioral health practice is who the statute leaves out.

Arkansas Code § 4-75-101(j)(2) says it does not apply to a person holding a professional license under Title 17, Subtitle 3 — Medical Professions, Chapters 80 to 107; Subtitle 2 is Nonmedical Professions, Chapters 10 to 79.

Act 232 of 2025 (SB 139, approved March 4, 2025) added § 4-75-101(k): a covenant not to compete restricting a physician's right to practice within the physician's scope of practice is void.

The act defines "physician" only as a person authorized or licensed to practice medicine under the Medical Practices Act or osteopathy — so it covers psychiatrists but not psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists, counselors or social workers.

It is not a ban on non-competes for therapists.

Two open questions.

For licensees outside the statute — psychologists, social workers, nurses and physicians among them — the statute's presumptions and reformation rule are not part of the analysis, and the standard Arkansas courts apply to their covenants is outside this page's scope; have employment counsel review those agreements.

The chapter licensing behavior analysts was not confirmed here either, so this page cannot say whether it reaches BCBAs — ask counsel.

For staff the statute covers — counselors, MFTs and employees holding no Subtitle 3 professional license — the statute fixes the tests.

Protectable interest.

The statute lists them: trade secrets, customer lists, goodwill with customers, confidential business information, and the training and education of the employer's employees — for a practice, your client list, goodwill with clients, your confidential business information, and the training and education of your employees.

Time.

A post-termination restriction of two years is presumptively reasonable in length unless the facts clearly show otherwise.

Area.

The lack of a specific geographic restriction does not by itself make a covenant overbroad, and reasonableness considers whether the restriction is limited to a specific group of customers — for a practice, clients.

Overbreadth.

If a covenant is broader than necessary, the court shall reform it to make it reasonable and enforce it as reformed.

Overbroad is not automatically dead — but draft to what you can defend rather than counting on a rewrite.

The statute polices non-competes; it does not govern everything that restricts a departing clinician.

Agreements not to solicit, recruit or hire employees, confidentiality agreements and NDAs sit outside it, and common-law standards continue to apply to those.

Read the carve-out closely, though: it names employee non-solicits, recruitment and no-hire agreements — not client non-solicits.

Do not assume a clause barring a departing counselor from taking clients sits outside the statute the way an employee non-solicit does.

Confidentiality agreements and NDAs remain on the table whatever you conclude about a non-compete; our guide to non-solicitation clauses covers how they work for clinicians.

Six moves to consider:

1. Sort your roster by license first: the same covenant text can sit under different rules for an LPC and a psychologist at the same practice — have counsel map each role to its licensing chapter.
2. For covered staff, draft to the statute: name the protectable interest you actually have, keep the term within the two-year presumption, and decide whether a defined client group does the job better than a geographic line.
3. Pair the covenant with confidentiality agreements and NDAs, which the statute does not govern, and with an employee non-solicit if staff might follow a departing clinician.
4. Protect training investments directly: if you are funding a license, supervision hours or a credential, a training repayment agreement is a narrower tool than a non-compete — read our guide to training repayment agreements before you write one.
5. If you employ or contract with psychiatrists, treat practice-restriction covenants as void under Arkansas's 2025 law and build the retention case on the role itself.
6. Plan client transitions for every departure — notice, reassignment and a clear message to clients — so continuity of care does not rest on a covenant.