Georgia LCSW Requirements: Hours, Supervision and the Exam

Two Social Work Licenses, Not an Associate Tier

Georgia's social work license path has two stops, and neither is an associate license. The LMSW in Georgia is a full license, not a pre-license credential, and it carries no five-year cap. "The first two years of practice after the issuance of the Master of Social Work license shall be under direction and supervision." (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 135-5-.03(1)(b)). After those two years, private practice is allowed, but a licensee "whose practice includes counseling or psychotherapeutic techniques may only engage in such practice under supervision and only for such period of time as is prescribed for qualification to take the clinical social work licensing examination" (Rule 135-5-.03(1)(c)).

The LCSW is the second, advanced license, reached through the supervised experience this page covers. A separate rule keeps the two tracks connected: a licensed master's social worker who wants to keep a private practice that includes counseling or psychotherapy "must apply for a Clinical Social Work license within 60 days of meeting the experience and supervision requirements for that license" (Rule 135-5-.03(1)(d)). That 60-day rule is about continuing that kind of private practice, not a deadline every LMSW faces.

The Path From MSW to LCSW

A master's degree in social work "from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education" comes first (O.C.G.A. 43-10A-12(a)(1)). "Applicants for licensure as a Master's Social Worker must pass the required licensure examination prior to applying for licensure." (Rule 135-3-.03(2)(c)1). Graduates who are still preparing for that exam while practicing under direction and supervision "may practice for a period of up to one year following the granting of such degree" (Rule 135-5-.03(2)(b)), and must apply to take the exam within one year of graduating, with three attempts allowed (Rule 135-5-.03(2)(c)). Starting July 1, 2026, students "may sit for the master's social work licensing examination in such applicant's final semester of the program" (O.C.G.A. 43-10A-9(b)).

The LCSW requirement itself is counted from the degree, not from the license: 3,000 hours of "post social work master's degree supervised experience" over 36 to 108 months, with the first 2,000 hours under supervision and direction and 120 supervision hours documented. From there, the applicant applies through GOALS and, once the Board approves the application, schedules the clinical social work licensing examination directly with the testing authority (Rule 135-3-.03(2)(d)1).

The 3,000-Hour Requirement, Piece by Piece

Rule 135-5-.04(2)(b)1 states the entire requirement in one sentence: "The applicant must present evidence of having practiced clinical social work for a minimum of 3000 hours post social work master's degree supervised experience acquired over a period of no less than 36 months or more than 108 months, the first 2000 hours of experience must be under supervision and direction in the practice of clinical social work. Applicant must submit documentation of having acquired 120 hours of supervision during this time, no more than 50% of which may be group supervision and at least 50% must be provided by a licensed clinical social worker who meets requirements to be a duly qualified supervisor."

Four separate pieces sit inside that sentence. The 3,000 hours is the total post-MSW supervised experience. The 36-to-108-month window is how long that total can take to acquire, a floor of three years and a ceiling of nine. The 2,000 hours under supervision and direction is a subset of the 3,000, not an additional total, and it applies only for the first portion of that experience. The 120 supervision hours are acquired "during this time", with their own split: no more than 50% group, and at least 50% from a licensed clinical social worker who meets requirements to be a duly qualified supervisor.

A related statute describes the same requirement in different words: "three years' full-time supervised experience," of which "only the first two must be under direction" (Rule 135-5-.04(2)(b); O.C.G.A. 43-10A-12(a)(2)(B)). Neither the rule nor the statute states a direct client-contact minimum for the LCSW; do not treat any figure as one.

Direction Applies to the First Two Years Only

The 2,000-hour direction requirement, and the statute's parallel "only the first two" years, both stop at that point in the 3,000-hour total. The remaining 1,000 hours of supervised experience are not described as requiring direction. The 120 supervision hours are a separate figure: the rule requires them to be acquired "during this time", meaning the experience period, and does not tie them to the first 2,000 hours.

Recency, Doctoral Substitution and the Board's Extension

A recency rule sits in the statute rather than Rule 135-5-.04: "At least one year of experience shall have occurred within two years immediately preceding application for licensure as a clinical social worker or the applicant shall have met the continuing education requirement established by the board for clinical social work during the year immediately preceding application." (O.C.G.A. 43-10A-12(a)(2)(B)).

Applicants with a qualifying doctorate and a supervised clinical internship follow a shorter path: 2,000 hours acquired over 24 to 72 months, with 80 supervision hours, up to 50% of which may be group, and 50% of which must come from an LCSW (Rule 135-5-.04(2)(c)1). That substitution replaces the standard 3,000-hour, 36-to-108-month, 120-supervision-hour requirement; it does not add to it.

The Board also holds a discretionary extension: "The Board, in its sole discretion, may extend the period of time in which the applicant must have acquired supervision and/or experience with adequate showing of hardship or good cause." (Rule 135-5-.04(3)).

Who Can Supervise LCSW Experience

A supervisor for this track must be "licensed as a Clinical Social Worker, Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist, Psychologist, or Psychiatrist and must have practiced in their specialty for at least 2000 clock hours over a minimum of 2 years following licensure" (Rule 135-5-.04(5)(e)). Individual supervision means one supervisor meeting with a maximum of two supervisees; group supervision means one supervisor meeting with a maximum of six supervisees (Rule 135-5-.04(5)(d)).

For more on who may supervise and how the 120 hours split, see Georgia LCSW supervision requirements.

The Records Rule

"Both supervisors and supervisees are required to maintain a contemporaneous record of the date, duration, type (individual, paired, or group), and a brief summary of the pertinent activity for each supervision session to be submitted to the Board upon request. If there are any discrepancies in hours, contemporaneous documentation of supervision will be requested." (Rule 135-5-.04(2)(b)2). The rules define only individual and group supervision for this track; "paired" appears in this records rule without its own definition.

Forms B and C

The Board verifies LCSW experience on two forms. Form B, printed as the Social Work Directed Experience Verification Form, has its Director complete Part II, returning it to the applicant. It records the agency, the From and To dates, hours per week, and total hours, and notes that "(Unpaid or Volunteer experiences are NOT acceptable in meeting the directed work experience requirement)."

Form C, printed as the Social Work Supervision Verification Form, is completed once per clinical supervisor. It carries separate INDIVIDUAL SUPERVISION and GROUP SUPERVISION lines, each with hours per week, From and To dates, and total hours, along with the supervisor's years of experience after license issuance. The form itself instructs: "Please do not submit supervision logs unless directly requested by the Board."

The verification forms for every Georgia track are collected in Georgia supervised experience verification forms.

Applying, the Exam, and What Happens if You Don't Pass

The application comes first. Once the Board approves it, the applicant schedules the clinical social work licensing examination directly with the testing authority (Rule 135-3-.03(2)(d)1). The rules do not name the exam vendor.

The applicant must take the first scheduled exam, gets three attempts, and work stays supervised until the exam is passed (Rule 135-5-.04(4)). Endorsement is not an option for this license: "The Georgia Board currently does not offer licensure as a clinical social worker by endorsement or reciprocity." (CSW How-To Guide). That applies to the clinical social worker license only.

Renewal and CE, Briefly

Once issued, the LCSW renews on the same cycle as every Composite Board license: "All licenses shall expire on September 30th of even numbered years." (Rule 135-6-.03(1)). Each two-year cycle requires "thirty-five (35) hours of continuing education" (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(a)), including at least 5 ethics hours obtained through synchronous activities only (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(b)). For the full renewal timeline and CE breakdown, see Georgia license renewal and CE requirements.

A Worked Example: Reconciling the Supervision Split

Take a candidate who logs 60 hours of individual supervision and 60 hours of group supervision across the 3,000-hour experience period, for a total of 120 supervision hours. That total matches Rule 135-5-.04(2)(b)1's 120-hour figure. The 60 group hours are exactly half of 120, meeting the "no more than 50%" group cap. If at least 60 of those 120 hours, whether individual, group, or a mix, come from a licensed clinical social worker who meets requirements to be a duly qualified supervisor, the candidate also clears the "at least 50% must be provided by" a qualifying LCSW requirement. This is arithmetic worked from the rule's figures, not a separate rule of its own.

The same candidate still needs the 3,000 hours of experience, with the first 2,000 under supervision and direction. Reaching 120 supervision hours early does not finish the requirement; each figure has to be met on its own terms.

Common Mistakes on the Georgia LCSW Track

Related Georgia Social Work Guides

FAQ: Georgia LCSW Requirements