Do Practicum and Internship Hours Count Toward Texas Licensure?

The Answer by Track

The boards use different words for the same stage of training. The LPC rules say practicum, and the application includes a Practicum Documentation Form (22 TAC 681.72(a)(6)). The LMFT rules require a supervised clinical internship inside the degree (801.114(b)(8)), and the board's form for it is titled Supervised Clinical Practicum Form. The LCSW rules say field placement (781.102(24)).

LPC: Hours Before the Associate License Do Not Count

The Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors sets the LPC Associate experience at 3,000 clock-hours under a Council-approved supervisor (22 TAC 681.92(a)). The rule on what counts is one sentence: "Hours obtained by an unlicensed person in any setting will not count toward the supervised experience requirements" (681.91(c)). The practicum is documented on the Practicum Documentation Form (681.72(a)(6)), and it does not count toward the 3,000: the supervisor must ensure the experience was earned after the Associate license was issued (681.93(f)(1)).

The Associate license expires 60 months from the date of issuance (681.91(g)), so the clock runs from issuance and not from the first day of practicum. Related pages: the 60-month LPC Associate limit and what an LPC Associate is in Texas.

The two documentation forms go in at different times. The Practicum Documentation Form is part of the Associate application (681.72(a)(6)). It records direct and indirect clock-hours, dates and setting, one form per site, and BHEC lists it on the LPC Forms and Publications page. The post-license hours are reported later, on the Supervised Experience Documentation Form, when you apply for the upgrade. See upgrading from LPC Associate to LPC and Texas LPC Associate hours requirements.

How much practicum the degree must contain is a separate question, and the answer depends on the degree. A counseling degree is "presumed to have satisfied" the course content (681.83(a)). For an applicant whose graduate degree is in a counseling-related field, the rule requires "supervised practicum experience primarily counseling in nature" of "at least 300 clock-hours, of which at least 100 hours must be direct client counseling," with credit or other acknowledgment on the official graduate transcript (681.83(b)(10)).

Rule 681.92(a)(2) sets who may supervise an Associate's internship physically completed outside Texas: a person "licensed or certified by that jurisdiction in a profession that provides counseling" with the academic training and experience to supervise, documented to the Council. Chapter 681 uses "internship" for the Associate's supervised experience after licensure (681.91(c), (d)), so this is a supervisor-qualification rule. It does not credit graduate practicum. Once the license issues, supervision is governed by the monthly rule in Texas LPC supervision requirements and the full path is in how to become an LPC in Texas.

What "Counselor Intern" Means in Occupations Code 503.052

The statute reads: "This chapter does not apply to an activity or service of a student, intern, or trainee in counseling pursuing a course of study in counseling in a regionally accredited institution of higher education or training institution if: (1) the activity or service is a part of the supervised course of study; and (2) the person is designated as a 'counselor intern.'"

This is an exemption from the LPC Act for a student in a supervised course of study who is designated a counselor intern. It is a different thing from the post-degree LPC Associate license. The LPC Associate is a license that lets a person practice counseling under a Council-approved supervisor (681.2(19)), and 503.052 creates no license. The text also does not say that practicum hours count toward the 3,000, and this page does not infer that it does.

The same two words appear on another path. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, not BHEC, registers Counselor Intern (CI) applicants on the way to the Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor credential (26 TAC Chapter 562). That is a separate agency, statute and set of forms, and it is outside this page.

LMFT: The Degree Internship and the Excess-Hours Exception

The Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists requires the degree program to include a supervised clinical internship of 12 months or nine semester hours with 300 hours of experience, at least 150 of them direct client contact, and at least 75 of those with couples and families, for programs begun on or after August 1, 2017 (22 TAC 801.114(b)(8)). Outside the provisions below, LMFT experience counts from the date the LMFT Associate license was issued or, for a later supervisor, the date BHEC staff approved that supervisory relationship (Supervised Experience Verification Form, Section IV). The Supervisory Agreement Form says: "Experience accrued without an approved SAF on file will not be accepted."

The exception is in 801.142(4). For applicants who begin the graduate degree program before September 1, 2025, staff may count graduate internship hours that exceed the 801.114(b)(8) requirements toward the 3,000 hours of supervised clinical practice. Two caps apply, and they depend on the program's accreditation.

A separate provision covers supervision hours. Up to 100 graduate internship supervision hours may be applied toward the 200 supervision hours (801.142(3)(C)). That pool is different from the exception above: the 801.142(4) hours count toward the 3,000, and the 801.142(3)(C) hours count toward the 200.

A second provision is in 801.142(9). An applicant with a master's degree that qualifies under 801.112 and 801.113 "may count any supervision and experience (e.g., practicum, internship, externship) completed after conferral of the master's degree and as part of a doctoral program" toward the requirements of 801.142. The doctoral program must lead to a degree that qualifies under 801.112 and 801.113 before the Council awards credit.

The university completes the board's Supervised Clinical Practicum Form, separately for master's-degree courses and for doctoral-degree courses, and once for each school. Post-license hours are reported per supervisor on the Supervised Experience Verification Form. The hour categories and totals are in Texas LMFT Associate hours requirements.

LCSW: Field Placement Is a Degree Requirement

The Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners has no Associate license on this track. The pre-license status is an LMSW, a Council license that renews biennially (22 TAC 883.1(a)), working under a supervision plan. The degree must be a master's or doctoral degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited program, or a doctoral degree in social work from an accredited institution the Council accepts (781.401(a)(1)(A)), with a university transcript showing a successfully completed field placement in social work (781.401(a)(1)(B)). The rule defines a field placement as "A formal, supervised, planned, and evaluated experience in a professional setting under the auspices of a CSWE-accredited social work program and meeting CSWE standards" (781.102(24)).

The LCSW experience is separate: 3,000 hours of supervised professional clinical experience over a period of at least 24 months (781.401(a)(1)(C)), with supervision running "not less than 24 full months" (781.403(b)(7)), with a supervision plan completed by the LMSW and the LCSW supervisor on a Council form or one with substantially equivalent information, signed by both (781.405(a)). Chapter 781 does not state any credit for hours before the degree. The practicum-style hours sit in the degree; the 3,000 sit under the plan.

Related pages on this track: Texas LCSW hours requirements, what counts as clinical hours for the LCSW, Texas LCSW supervision requirements, Clinical Supervision Plan and Verification Form, the Texas LMSW license, LMSW to LCSW in Texas, and how to become an LCSW in Texas.

Keep Practicum Hours Apart From Post-License Hours

Each board asks for post-license totals per supervisor. The LPC Supervised Experience Documentation Form, the LMFT Supervised Experience Verification Form and the LCSW Clinical Supervision Verification Form are each completed per supervisor, and the LMFT form needs a separate copy after a break of more than 30 days in accrual under the same supervisor. The practicum forms are separate documents: the LPC Practicum Documentation Form goes in with the Associate application, and the LMFT practicum form is completed by the university.

Record practicum and internship hours in a different place from the hours you earn after the license or plan is in place, and add an LMFT excess-hours figure to the 3,000 only if 801.142(4) or (9) applies to you and staff approve it. For changes of supervisor, see the Texas supervisor change form guide.

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Errors to Avoid With Practicum Hours in Texas

Each of these misreadings is answered by a rule cite.

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FAQ: Practicum and Internship Hours in Texas