LMSW vs LCSW in Michigan: Why Michigan Has No LCSW

Michigan Has No LCSW

Where many states place their clinical social work credential under the title Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Michigan's Public Health Code builds the license differently. Part 185 defines one full license above the limited license: "licensed master's social worker," an individual licensed to engage in the practice of social work at the master's level (MCL 333.18501(1)(c)). That LMSW license can then carry a clinical practice designation (R 338.2953), a macro designation (R 338.2951), or both.

As of September 23, 2026, LARA's active-license counts show 23,421 LMSWs and 7,140 limited master's social workers (LLMSW) statewide. None of them are labeled LCSW, because that title does not exist in Michigan's statute or rules. The credential that answers the same question the LCSW answers in other states is the LMSW with a clinical practice designation, and the counts report does not separate how many of those 23,421 LMSWs hold the clinical designation versus the macro designation.

What the Clinical Designation Permits

The statute spells out the clinical designation in its own words: "the application of specialized clinical knowledge and advanced clinical skills in the areas of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, conditions, and addictions. Treatment methods include the provision of advanced social work case management and casework and individual, couple, family, or group counseling and psychotherapy whether in private practice or other settings" (MCL 333.18501(1)(g)(iii)).

That single sentence carries the psychotherapy and diagnosis work. The clinical designation is earned through practice in exactly those activities (R 338.2953(b)(iii)); the macro designation is earned through macro practice instead (R 338.2951).

How the Clinical Designation Is Earned

The path runs through the limited license first. A person holds an LLMSW, then accrues "at least 4,000 hours of post-degree supervised work experience accrued over not less than 2 years" (R 338.2949(1)(b)), earned only while the LLMSW is current (R 338.2949(3)(a)), in the clinical activities R 338.2953(b)(iii) lists: assessment, treatment and psychotherapy, case management for complex cases, advocacy, forensic functions, and clinical supervision among them. The supervisor has to be a Michigan LMSW who holds the clinical designation (R 338.2949(2); R 338.2953(b)(ii)).

Supervisory review runs on a rate, not a total: "at least 4 hours per month with at least 2 hours" conducted individually between the applicant and the supervisor (R 338.2949(3)(c)). The rule also sets an average weekly window of 16 to 40 hours of supervised work experience and a 2,080-hour cap in any 12-month period (R 338.2949(3)(d), (e)). As arithmetic, not a stated rule, 4,000 hours at the 40-hour weekly ceiling would arrive in about 100 weeks, but the 2,080-hour annual cap means it cannot finish in under about 23 months.

The work itself has to happen in an approved setting: "an agency, health facility, institution, or other entity approved by the board pursuant to section 18506," which the board defines broadly as any entity "where a master's social worker engages in the practice of social work at the master's level" (R 338.2947(3)).

Once the hours are complete, the applicant sits the ASWB Clinical examination, passing at the score ASWB sets (R 338.2925; R 338.2953(a)).

The Macro Designation, by Contrast

An LMSW can also carry a macro designation instead of, or alongside, the clinical one (R 338.2951). The hours structure mirrors the clinical path, 4,000 hours over not less than 2 years with the same monthly supervisory review, but the practice activities are macro rather than clinical, and the exam is the ASWB Advanced Generalist examination rather than the ASWB Clinical examination (R 338.2951(a)). The macro designation is not earned through clinical practice; the clinical designation is.

Renewing the LMSW

The full LMSW license runs a 3-year term. Renewal requires 45 continuing education contact hours completed in that period: 5 hours of ethics, 2 hours of pain and symptom management, and 2 hours of human trafficking training, with at least half the total hours live or synchronous (R 338.2961; R 338.2963(1)). That CE load is specific to the LMSW; Michigan's counseling and marriage and family therapy licenses carry no continuing education requirement beyond the implicit bias and human trafficking training every licensee owes (LARA licensing guides, rev. 1/26/2026).

Already Hold an LCSW Elsewhere?

Michigan has no LCSW for an out-of-state license to endorse into directly, but the LMSW clinical designation has its own endorsement path. The Supervisor's Verification of Social Work Experience for Master's Social Worker License form (LARA/BPL-SOCIALWORKMASTERSVERIF, Rev. 10/24) records an endorsement section for applicants who currently hold licensure in another state or Canadian province: those actively licensed at the master's level for 10 or more years certify one way, and those with fewer than 10 years certify a second way if they can have 4,000 supervised hours certified. Neither path changes the fact that the destination license is the LMSW with a clinical designation, not an LCSW.

An out-of-state LCSW title has no direct Michigan equivalent. Applicants comparing states should look at what the credential permits, the clinical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment authority in MCL 333.18501(1)(g)(iii), rather than at the title on their existing license.

Common Mistakes

Related Michigan Social Work Guides

FAQ: LMSW vs LCSW in Michigan