Georgia LPC Supervision Requirements for APCs

Direction and Supervision Are Two Different Roles

Georgia's rules define direction as "the ongoing administrative overseeing by an employer or superior of a Professional Counselor's work in the practice of professional counseling" (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 135-5-.02(a)2). The person who provides it is the director, defined as "the person who provides direction and who is either the employer of the person who receives direction or is the supervisor in the administrative chain of command to the person who receives direction" (Rule 135-5-.02(a)3).

Supervision is a separate job: "the direct clinical review, for the purpose of training or teaching, by a supervisor of a Professional Counselor's interaction with their client(s)." The rule adds that "Supervision may be provided pro bono or for a fee" (Rule 135-5-.02(a)4). The director oversees the job; the supervisor reviews the clinical work.

The APC Contract Affidavit keeps the two roles on the same document but as separate signers: the applicant, the director and the supervisor each sign their own part.

Who May Supervise an APC

Five license types are eligible to supervise directed experience: "a licensed Professional Counselor, Clinical Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist, Psychologist, or Psychiatrist" (Rule 135-5-.02(a)5). Each also needs a minimum stretch of post-licensure experience, and the minimum depends on the degree behind the supervisor's own license: three years for a supervisor licensed at the master's level, two years at the specialist level, and one year at the doctoral level (Rule 135-5-.02(a)5(i) to (iii)).

Where a prospective supervisor does not fit those categories exactly, the Board keeps some room to work with: "the Board in its discretion may approve a supervisor whose experience is substantially similar" (Rule 135-5-.02(a)5(v)). The rule does not spell out what counts as substantially similar; that judgment sits with the Board.

The ACS or CPCS Credential for LPC Supervisors

A supervisor who is already a Licensed Professional Counselor carries an added requirement the other four eligible license types do not. For supervision entered into after September 30, 2018, that supervisor "must hold either a National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) Approved Clinical Supervisor credential or a Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia (LPCAGA) Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor credential" (Rule 135-5-.02(a)5(iv)). The APC Contract Affidavit asks for that supervisor's ACS or CPCS number directly on the form, marked "required for LPC Supervisors only."

The Board's 2018 FAQ narrows the scope of that requirement in two ways: it "does not apply to other eligible licensure types," but "it would apply if the supervisor is dual-licensed and one of the licenses held is a LPC license" (2018 APC/LPC FAQ). A Clinical Social Worker or Marriage and Family Therapist supervising an APC does not need the ACS or CPCS credential; a supervisor who holds both an LPC and one of those other licenses does.

The 35-Hour Year and the Contract's Weekly Line

"One year of Supervision" is defined as "a minimum of thirty five (35) hours of supervision obtained during one twelve (12) month period of Directed Experience" (Rule 135-5-.02(a)8(v)). That figure tracks the two-year post-degree experience requirement Georgia's statute now sets, covered in Georgia LPC hour requirements (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(a)(2)(B)).

The contract affidavit is where that pacing becomes concrete: Part V states that the "Contract affidavit must specify the number of hours per week to meet the minimum thirty-five (35) hours required per year" (APC Contract Affidavit, Part V). An applicant and supervisor agree on a weekly rate up front rather than leaving the 35 hours to be reconstructed at the end of the year.

Applied across the full two-year statutory requirement, that pattern works out to at least 70 supervision hours by the end of the second year, arithmetic rather than a stated total: the rule measures supervision one 12-month period at a time, and no Georgia source prints 70 hours as its own requirement (Rule 135-5-.02(a)8(v); O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(a)(2)(B)).

Individual and Group Supervision

Georgia defines two formats. "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-.02(a)4(i),(ii)). The Contract Affidavit asks the supervisor to circle the type being provided, offering "Individual Paired Group" as the options on the form.

The location of the meeting is also unrestricted: "Supervision does not require the supervisor to be present at the work site with the supervisee" (Rule 135-5-.02(a)4). A supervisor and an APC can meet away from the work setting.

Supervision Delivered by Technology

Georgia defines and permits TeleMental Health Supervision as "the delivery of supervision via technology-assisted media by a supervisor at one site while the supervisee is located at a distant site" (Rule 135-11-.01(a)7). Before delivering it, the supervisor needs 9 hours of continuing education, including 3 hours specifically in "Supervising TeleMental Health Therapy" (Rule 135-11-.01(b)2(i)), and must "obtain verbal and written consent from the supervisee" before supervising this way (Rule 135-11-.01(b)2(iv)).

That 9-hour requirement belongs to the supervisor, and it is separate from the training a licensee needs to deliver TeleMental Health therapy directly to clients. Associate licensees need 6 hours of continuing education before delivering clinical TeleMental Health themselves, a different figure tied to the APC's own practice rather than to supervising someone else's (Rule 135-11-.01(a)3, (b)1(i)).

The Contemporaneous Record Both Sides Keep

Both sides of the supervision relationship carry the same recordkeeping duty: "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-.02(a)4). Neither Form E nor the contract affidavit itself asks for a running log broken out by session; that record is what the Board asks to see if a question comes up.

Form E: One Supervisor, One Number

The Post-Master's Clinical Supervision Verification Form, known as Form E, is filed once per supervisor: applicants "complete a separate form for each Supervisor listed in your application." The supervisor returns the completed form to the applicant, "OR submit directly to the Board office." The form carries a single "Total Number of Hours" field with From and To dates, with no individual or group breakdown, plus the supervisor's written Recommend or Do Not Recommend.

Because Form E collects one total rather than a session-by-session log, the contemporaneous record covered above is what backs that number up if the Board asks for it. For the fields on Form E and the rest of the LPC application, see Georgia supervised experience verification forms and Georgia LPC application.

Changing Supervisors: A New Contract Within 14 Days

A change of supervisor is a change to the registered contract, and Georgia puts a clock on reporting it: the applicant is "responsible for notifying the Board of any changes in the contract, by submitting a new contract within fourteen (14) days of the change" (Rule 135-5-.01(b)2). The Contract Affidavit itself is site- and supervisor-specific: "You must complete a SEPARATE CONTRACT AFFIDAVIT for EACH directed experience site and supervisor."

The rule sets the 14 days; it does not say what happens to hours earned under an unreported change, so file the new contract inside the window.

Common Mistakes on Georgia APC Supervision

Related Georgia LPC Guides

This page is part of the Georgia APC and LPC cluster. Browse all Georgia guides for the full set covering counseling, social work and marriage and family therapy licensure.

FAQ: Georgia LPC Supervision Requirements