One Board, Three Licensed Paths
Georgia licenses psychotherapy and counseling practice through the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists (the Board), under O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 10A and Chapter 135 of the Board's rules. A Georgia counseling license is not one credential: the Board issues three separate license tracks, and each one sets its own degree, its own pre-license credential, and its own supervised experience requirement.
The Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) track starts with an Associate Professional Counselor (APC) license. The Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) track starts with a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW), a full license in its own right. The Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) track starts with an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT) license. The APC and AMFT licenses are both capped at five years (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(c), 43-10A-13(c)), which the Board's FAQ counts from the date of initial issuance; the LMSW carries no such cap.
LPC, LCSW and LMFT Side by Side
Every figure below traces to the statute or a specific rule subsection. Where a Board rule has not caught up with a statute amendment, the statute column reflects the current law.
| Dimension | LPC (from APC) | LCSW (from LMSW) | LMFT (from AMFT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree | Master's or higher in clinical counseling or counseling psychology, at least 60 semester or 90 quarter hours (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(a)(1)(A)), with a 600-hour practicum (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 135-5-.01(b)1). | Master's degree in social work from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-12(a)(1)). | MFT master's, an equivalent program, or a COAMFTE-accredited program (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(a)), plus a one-year practicum (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(b)). |
| First license, 5-yr limit | Associate Professional Counselor (APC). Capped at five years (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(c); Rule 135-5-.01(c)2), from initial issuance per the Board FAQ. | Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW), a full license. No five-year cap. | Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT). Capped at five years (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-13(c); Rule 135-5-.05(3)(b)), from initial issuance per the Board FAQ. |
| Experience required | Two years of post-degree experience under direction and supervision, each year at least 1,000 hours (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(a)(2)(B); Rule 135-5-.02(a)7(v)), all within the 60 months before applying (Rule 135-5-.02(a)7(vi)). | 3,000 hours post-MSW supervised experience over no less than 36 and no more than 108 months, the first 2,000 hours under supervision and direction (Rule 135-5-.04(2)(b)1). | 1,500 hours of direct clinical experience, completed within not less than two and not more than five years (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-13(a)(2)(A)). |
| Supervision | 35 hours per 12-month year of directed experience (Rule 135-5-.02(a)8(v)). | 120 hours; no more than 50% group; at least 50% from a duly qualified LCSW (Rule 135-5-.04(2)(b)1). | 100 hours: at least 50 individual, no more than 50 group (Rule 135-5-.06(2)(a)2(ii)), with at least 5 supervision hours for each 100 hours of direct clinical experience (Rule 135-5-.06(2)(a)2(iii)). |
| Exam timing | Before the APC license issues, an exam prescribed by the Board (Rule 135-5-.01(b)3); not retaken for the LPC (Rule 135-3-.03(2)(b)2). | Before the LMSW license issues (Rule 135-3-.03(2)(c)1); the clinical social work exam is scheduled after LCSW application approval, and supervised practice continues until it is passed (Rule 135-3-.03(2)(d)1; 135-5-.04(4)). | Before the AMFT license issues, following Board review (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(d)); not retaken for the LMFT (Rule 135-5-.06(2)(a)3). |
| Renewal | September 30 of even-numbered years, for every license on every track, including associate licenses (Rule 135-6-.03(1)). | ||
Associate Professional Counselor to Licensed Professional Counselor
The degree comes first: a master's or higher in clinical counseling or counseling psychology, at least 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours, from a regionally accredited program (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(a)(1)(A)), with a 600-hour practicum for programs after September 30, 2018 (Rule 135-5-.01(b)1). To become licensed as an Associate Professional Counselor in Georgia, the applicant also registers an acceptable contract, the Directed Experience Under Supervision Contract, and passes the competency examination the Board prescribes (Rule 135-5-.01(b)2, (b)3).
The APC then practices "only under direction and supervision, and only for a period not to exceed five years while obtaining the post-master's experience" (Rule 135-5-.01(c)2). Direction is the ongoing administrative overseeing of the counselor's work by an employer or superior; supervision is the direct clinical review of the counselor's work with clients, and it may be provided pro bono or for a fee (Rule 135-5-.02(a)2, (a)4). The two roles are tracked separately on the contract affidavit. Independent private practice is not an acceptable work setting for directed experience under supervision.
The rule's three-to-four-year matrix is no longer current. Georgia's statute changed effective July 1, 2022, and again July 1, 2024. For applications received on or after July 1, 2022, the LPC experience requirement is two years of post-degree experience under direction and supervision (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(a)(2)(B)). Rule 135-5-.02(b)-(f) still prints an older schedule by degree level; the statute controls, and Board Policy VIII confirms it, including for APCs licensed before July 1, 2022 who meet the current education requirement.
One year of directed experience is at least 1,000 hours acquired in not less than a twelve-month period, and one year of supervision is at least 35 hours obtained during that same twelve-month period (Rule 135-5-.02(a)7(v), 8(v)). Both the experience and the supervision must fall within the 60 months before the application (Rule 135-5-.02(a)7(vi), 8(vi)). Eligible supervisors are a licensed Professional Counselor, Clinical Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist, Psychologist, or Psychiatrist (Rule 135-5-.02(a)5), and individual supervision means one supervisor meeting with a maximum of two supervisees, while group means a maximum of six (Rule 135-5-.02(a)4(i), (ii)).
Any change in the contract, including a change of site or supervisor, has to be reported to the Board within 14 days (Rule 135-5-.01(b)2). Separately, the first APC license does not issue until the contract affidavit is received and approved, even after the exam is passed. The full LPC path is in Georgia LPC requirements.
Licensed Master Social Worker to Licensed Clinical Social Worker
The social work track has no associate tier. After the Master of Social Work degree, an applicant must pass the required master's social work licensing examination before applying for licensure (Rule 135-3-.03(2)(c)1). A graduate practicing under direction and supervision while preparing for that exam may do so for up to one year after the degree is granted (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)). From July 1, 2026, students may sit for the exam in their final semester (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-9(b)).
Passing the exam brings the LMSW in Georgia, a full license with no five-year cap and no associate designation. "The first two years of practice after the issuance of the Master of Social Work license shall be under direction and supervision" (Rule 135-5-.03(1)(b); O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-12(b)).
The 60-day rule is narrower than it sounds. After the first two years, an LMSW may enter private practice, but "a master's 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)). To continue that kind of private practice, the licensee "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)). The rule applies to continuing counseling or psychotherapy in private practice, not to every LMSW.
The LCSW requirement itself is stated as one figure: "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," with 120 hours of supervision documented, no more than 50% of it group, and at least 50% "provided by a licensed clinical social worker who meets requirements to be a duly qualified supervisor" (Rule 135-5-.04(2)(b)1). The eligible supervisor pool is the same list as the LPC track: a licensed Clinical Social Worker, Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist, Psychologist, or Psychiatrist, with at least 2,000 clock hours of practice in their specialty over a minimum of 2 years post-licensure (Rule 135-5-.04(5)(e)). There is no stated direct client-contact minimum on this track.
At upgrade, the applicant applies first, then schedules the clinical social work exam directly with the testing authority once the Board approves the application (Rule 135-3-.03(2)(d)1), takes the first scheduled sitting, and keeps working under supervision until it is passed, with three attempts allowed (Rule 135-5-.04(4)). The Board does not offer the CSW license by endorsement or reciprocity. The full hour breakdown and supervisor rules are in Georgia LCSW requirements.
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist to Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
The AMFT license requires an MFT master's degree, an equivalent program, or a COAMFTE-accredited program (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(a)), plus a one-year practicum (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(b)), and Board approval of a Contract for Post-Graduate Experience and Supervision (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(c)). An applicant not yet employed updates that contract within 30 days of securing employment or beginning supervision, and any later change has to be submitted within 30 days for approval (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(c)1, (c)2). Hours obtained without Board approval "may not be applied toward licensure as a marriage and family therapist" (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(c)4). Like the APC, the AMFT license is capped at five years (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-13(c); Rule 135-5-.05(3)(b)).
The current hour requirement, under the statute, is "a minimum of 1,500 hours of direct clinical experience and 100 hours of supervision" completed "within a period of not less than two years and not more than five years" (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-13(a)(2)(A)). Direct Clinical Experience is defined as time spent in client contact as therapist or co-therapist, in supervision, in case staffing, or in case consultation (Rule 135-5-.06(1)(h)). Of the 100 supervision hours, at least 50 must be individual and no more than 50 may be group, with at least 5 supervision hours required for each 100 hours of direct clinical experience (Rule 135-5-.06(2)(a)2(ii), (iii)). Rule 135-5-.06 still prints an older figure; the statute controls. Supervisors may not supervise family members (Rule 135-5-.05(1)(n)1), and the same bar applies to directors (Rule 135-5-.05(1)(i)1).
To finish, the AMFT registers and sits for the Examination in Marital and Family Therapy following Board review (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(d)) and does not retake it for the LMFT (Rule 135-5-.06(2)(a)3). The full hour and supervision breakdown is in Georgia LMFT requirements.
What Every Georgia Track Shares
Despite the different hour counts, the three tracks run on the same administrative rules. Applications are filed online through the Board's GOALS portal; the Board no longer accepts paper applications. Every license, including every associate license, expires "on September 30th of even numbered years" and is renewed on that same date (Rule 135-6-.03(1)). Each two-year renewal cycle requires 35 hours of continuing education, including at least 5 ethics hours obtained through synchronous activities, for every license type covered on this page (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(a), (2)(b)). The full renewal and CE cycle, including how it interacts with the APC and AMFT five-year cap, is covered in Georgia license renewal and CE requirements.
The record-keeping standard is also the same everywhere in Chapter 135-5: "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" (Rule 135-5-.02(a)4, repeated in 135-5-.01(a)4, 135-5-.04(2)(b)2, 135-5-.05(1)(n), and 135-5-.06(1)(o)). And every track defines supervision session size the same way: "Individual Supervision means one supervisor meeting with a maximum of two supervisees," and "Group Supervision means one supervisor meeting with a maximum of six supervisees" (Rule 135-5-.02(a)4(i), (ii); parallel definitions at 135-5-.01(a)4, 135-5-.04(5)(d), and 135-5-.06(1)(k), (l)).
How the Three Tracks Differ, Rule for Rule
The clearest structural difference is the five-year cap. The APC and AMFT are both licenses with a five-year limit; the LMSW is a full license from day one and carries no cap at all, though it limits what an LMSW can do independently until the clinical experience and supervision requirements are met.
The hour totals differ too, and so does what counts inside them. The LPC track counts directed-experience hours broadly, with no direct-contact or indirect split stated in the rule. The LCSW track sets no direct client-contact minimum either, only the 3,000-hour total with 2,000 of it under supervision and direction. The LMFT track is the only one of the three that sets a minimum of direct clinical experience hours, 1,500 of them, and it is also the only track that sets a required supervision pacing rate tying supervision hours to direct hours as they accrue.
A contract requirement is another point of difference. The APC works under a contract registered with the Board and the AMFT under a Board-approved contract, with a 14-day or 30-day window to report changes; unapproved AMFT hours are explicitly excluded from counting toward licensure. The LMSW track has no equivalent contract; the direction-and-supervision requirement runs from the date the MSW license issues.
Common Mistakes Across the Three Georgia Tracks
Treating the LPC rule's old year matrix as current
Rule 135-5-.02(b)-(f) still prints a three-to-four-year schedule by degree level. The statute has required two years of post-degree experience since applications received on or after July 1, 2022 (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(a)(2)(B); Board Policy VIII).
Confusing direction and supervision on the LPC track
Direction is the administrative overseeing of the counselor's work by an employer or superior; supervision is the direct clinical review of the counselor's work with clients. The two are separate roles on the contract affidavit (Rule 135-5-.02(a)2, (a)4).
Assuming the LMSW carries the same five-year cap as the APC and AMFT
The five-year limit applies only to the APC and AMFT (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(c), 43-10A-13(c)). The LMSW is a full license and does not carry it.
Logging AMFT experience before the post-graduate contract is Board-approved
Post-graduate experience or supervision obtained without Board approval "may not be applied toward licensure as a marriage and family therapist" (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(c)4).
Using the rule's older LMFT hour figure
Rule 135-5-.06 has not caught up with the statute. The current requirement is 1,500 hours of direct clinical experience (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-13(a)(2)(A)).
Applying the LMSW 60-day rule to every LMSW
The 60-day filing rule applies only to an LMSW continuing a private practice that includes counseling or psychotherapy, not to LMSWs generally (Rule 135-5-.03(1)(d)).
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Related Georgia Licensure Guides
Georgia LPC Requirements
The full APC to LPC hour breakdown, supervision rules and application steps.
Associate Professional Counselor in Georgia
What the APC license is, the contract it requires and its five-year term.
Georgia LCSW Requirements
The 3,000-hour LCSW requirement, the 36 to 108 month window and supervisor rules.
LMSW in Georgia
The full social work license that starts the LCSW track, with no associate cap.
Georgia LMFT Requirements
The 1,500-hour AMFT to LMFT requirement and the post-graduate contract rules.
Georgia License Renewal and CE Requirements
The September 30 renewal date, the 35 CE hours, and how the five-year associate cap fits in.
FAQ: How to Become a Therapist in Georgia
How do I become a therapist in Georgia?▾
Georgia licenses therapists through the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists on three tracks: Associate Professional Counselor to Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Master Social Worker to Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and Associate Marriage and Family Therapist to Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Each starts with a graduate degree, moves through a pre-license credential and a supervised experience requirement specific to that track, and finishes with an application filed in the Board's GOALS portal.
How do I become a licensed therapist in Georgia?▾
The steps are the same shape across all three Georgia tracks: earn the graduate degree the track requires, obtain the pre-license credential (APC, LMSW, or AMFT), complete that track's supervised experience within its rules, pass the track's exam, and apply for the full license in GOALS. The hour totals, supervision totals, and exam timing differ by track, which is why the Board issues LPC, LCSW, and LMFT as three separate licenses rather than one general therapist license.
How do I become a licensed counselor in Georgia?▾
A Licensed Professional Counselor starts as an Associate Professional Counselor, registering a Directed Experience Under Supervision Contract with the Board and passing the Board's prescribed competency examination (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 135-5-.01(b)2, (b)3). From an application received on or after July 1, 2022, the statute requires two years of post-degree experience under direction and supervision, each year at least 1,000 hours with 35 hours of supervision, all within the 60 months before applying for the LPC (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(a)(2)(B); Rule 135-5-.02(a)7(v)-(vi), 8(v)-(vi)).
How do I become a counselor in Georgia?▾
The Associate Professional Counselor (APC) is Georgia's entry license for professional counseling. It requires the graduate degree, a Board-registered contract, and the Board's prescribed exam before it issues (Rule 135-5-.01(b)2, (b)3), and it only allows practice under direction and supervision for up to five years while the post-master's experience is earned (Rule 135-5-.01(c)2). Independent private practice is not an acceptable work setting for that directed experience.
What is a Georgia counseling license?▾
A Georgia counseling license is issued by the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists under O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 10A. The entry license is the Associate Professional Counselor (APC), also styled a licensed associate professional counselor in statute (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(c)); the full license is the Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). Both are separate from Georgia's social work and marriage and family therapy licenses, which the same Board issues under different statute sections and rules.
What's the difference between an LPC, LCSW, and LMFT in Georgia?▾
All three come from the same Board but set different hour totals and different pre-license terms. The LPC track requires two years of directed experience within 60 months and a 35-hour annual supervision minimum (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-11(a)(2)(B); Rule 135-5-.02(a)8(v)). The LCSW track requires 3,000 hours over 36 to 108 months and 120 supervision hours (Rule 135-5-.04(2)(b)1). The LMFT track requires 1,500 direct clinical hours over 2 to 5 years and 100 supervision hours (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-13(a)(2)(A)). The pre-license APC and AMFT licenses cap at five years; the pre-license LMSW does not.
What license does a marriage and family therapist need in Georgia?▾
A marriage and family therapist starts as an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT), practicing under a Board-approved Contract for Post-Graduate Experience and Supervision (Rule 135-5-.05(2)(c)). The AMFT completes 1,500 hours of direct clinical experience and 100 hours of supervision, at least 50 of them individual, within not less than two and not more than five years, then registers for the Examination in Marital and Family Therapy and applies for the LMFT (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-13(a)(2)(A); Rule 135-5-.05(2)(d); 135-5-.06(2)(a)2(ii)).
Requirements verified against Chapter 135 of the Board's rules (current through rules filed September 2, 2026) and O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 10A, current as of September 24, 2026. Statutes, rules and fees can change. Confirm current requirements at the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists before making decisions about your licensure path. This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or professional advice.