Nevada CPC Intern Requirements

1. Who Issues the CPC License

The Nevada Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors (the MFT/CPC Board) licenses clinical professional counselors under NRS 641A, with its rules in NAC 641A. The same board issues the CPC-Intern license that comes first. Applications, supervisor approvals and reports all run through the Board's online licensing system, and the Board's forms are listed on its intern forms page.

Nevada's title is Clinical Professional Counselor, not LPC. The statute is NRS 641A.231, and the intern title is "clinical professional counselor intern" (NRS 641A.288; NAC 641A.035(3)). Nevada does not use LPC as a license title. A counselor looking up Nevada LPC requirements is looking for the requirements for the Nevada CPC license on this page. The two names are compared in CPC vs LPC in Nevada. The marriage and family therapy track runs on the same board and the same hour structure; its degree and exam differ, as set out in Nevada MFT intern requirements.

2. The CPC-Intern License

A person "must obtain a license" as a clinical professional counselor intern before beginning the supervised experience (NRS 641A.288(1)). To qualify, the applicant is at least 21, is of good moral character, holds a graduate degree in counseling from an accredited college or university approved by the Board that required the completion of a practicum or internship, and has entered into a supervision agreement with an approved supervisor (NRS 641A.288(2)).

Degree routes. The Board will consider a degree from a CACREP-accredited program, accredited at the time the degree was conferred, as fulfilling the educational requirements for licensure as an intern (NAC 641A.085(7)(a)). The Board's CPC qualifications page lists a CACREP degree in mental health counseling or community counseling, or an acceptable degree with a concurrent practicum or internship supervised by a licensed mental health professional (NRS 641A.231(3)).

Coursework. NAC 641A.085(2) lists the required subjects, with the number the rule gives for each: human development (2), individual counseling theories (1), techniques and practice (1), lifestyle and career development (1), group dynamics, counseling and consulting (1), ethics and professional studies (1), supervised practice (3), diagnosis and assessment (1), social and cultural (1), research and evaluation (1), substance use disorders (1), couples counseling (1), family systems (1), crisis or trauma (1), and grief or loss (1). The Board's required courses worksheet for degrees conferred after 8.30.2023 prints "TOTAL MINIMUM CREDITS REQUIRED = 60" and says each of your courses can be used once.

Application. The application goes on the Board's forms with official graduate transcripts, a government ID and fingerprints (NAC 641A.065(1)). It also needs a proposed plan for the internship and the supervision agreement with the names of the proposed supervisors (NAC 641A.156(1)(b)). The Internship Proposal and Primary Supervisor Contract and the Secondary Supervisor Contract are submitted with the application before it can be approved (Board primary and secondary supervision pages). Fingerprints take a waiver, an FD-258 card and a $40 certified check or money order payable to the Department of Public Safety, effective October 1, 2026 (Board Background Check Procedure). The Board's internship application page says the background check takes 8 weeks. The Board acts at scheduled meetings, and a completed application must be filed at least 10 business days before the meeting (NAC 641A.065(2)).

Intern applicants who are active military, a spouse, a veteran or a surviving spouse pay one-half of the application and issuance fees (NAC 641A.105(2)). The same application is used for the full license when the internship is finished (NAC 641A.065(6)).

3. Hours Count After the License Is Issued

Because the intern license must be held before the supervised experience begins (NRS 641A.288(1)), supervised hours accrue on or after the date the license is issued. The only hours earned earlier are the three kinds of credit the rules allow: practicum client contact inside the related-work bucket (NAC 641A.146(5)(c)(1)), prior experience the Board approves (NAC 641A.146(6)), and credit for active-duty military members and their spouses (NAC 641A.146(7)). Sections 4 and 6 cover them. A new intern should start the weekly log on the issue date.

An internship also needs a plan behind it. It must be outlined in a supervision agreement with an approved primary supervisor, approved by the Board, and completed within 3 years after the Board approves it (NAC 641A.146(1)). An intern may perform clinical professional counseling only under supervision and in accordance with the supervision agreement (NAC 641A.186).

4. The 3,000-Hour Structure

The statute requires at least 3,000 hours of supervised experience in professional counseling, including at least 1,500 hours of direct contact with clients, and at least 2 years of postgraduate experience (NRS 641A.231(4)(a), (b)). NAC 641A.146(5) builds the 3,000 from three separate buckets.

The rule does not state a 3,000 sum. That figure is arithmetic: 1,500 + 300 + 1,200 = 3,000.

The statute also states a floor of its own: at least 100 hours of counseling under the direct supervision of an approved supervisor, of which at least 1 hour per week was completed for each work setting at which the applicant provided counseling (NRS 641A.231(4)(b)(2)). For interns the regulation sets the supervised figure at 300 hours (NAC 641A.146(5)(b)), so the 300 is the number to track. Because the statute counts the weekly hour for each work setting, an intern with more than one work setting should note the setting beside each supervision hour.

Worked arithmetic. Suppose an intern ends with 1,500 hours of direct client contact and 300 supervised hours, split as 180 with the primary supervisor and 120 with secondary supervisors. Both splits clear the 160 and 40 minimums (180 + 120 = 300). For the 1,200 related-work hours, the intern logged 500 hours of client contact in the graduate program, 400 hours leading groups, 150 hours of personal therapy and 150 hours of approved training. That is 500 + 400 + 150 + 150 = 1,200, and each type is at or under its cap. The total is 1,500 + 300 + 1,200 = 3,000. The same intern could not reach 1,200 with personal therapy alone, because that type stops at 150.

5. The Two-Year Minimum and the Three-Year License

The full license requires at least 2 years of postgraduate experience in professional counseling (NRS 641A.231(4)(a)). The Board's final report page says the final report is submitted once at least two years have passed from the intern license issue date, the minimum hours are acquired and a passing exam score is in hand. So hitting 3,000 hours in less than two years does not finish the requirement.

The intern license is valid for 3 years and may be renewed not more than once (NRS 641A.2882). If the internship is not complete in 3 years, the intern must request a renewal. The Board grants only one 3-year renewal, and an intern who is still short after it must give reasons and reapply for a new license (NAC 641A.146(4)). That works out to 3 years plus one 3-year renewal. The renewal is requested on the Internship Renewal Request form, signed by the intern and the primary supervisor, which states that an intern whose expiration date has passed must stop practicing until the Board has considered the request.

The license also ends when the supervision agreement ends. Each party to a supervision agreement must notify the Board in writing not more than 5 days after termination (NRS 641A.2888). On the Board's Internship Dissolution form (Form 9), the intern agrees not to see clients or practice after the effective date until a new primary supervisor and a new internship proposal are approved by the Board. Whether hours from a lapsed internship carry over to a new license is not published.

6. Credit for Experience Before the Intern License

The Board may approve credit for experience gained before applying for the intern license: not more than 750 hours of direct contact with clients and not more than 150 supervised hours, with any number of hours for related work (NAC 641A.146(6)). Any number of hours may be approved for an active member of the Armed Forces or a spouse (NAC 641A.146(7)). The request is made at the time of application (NAC 641A.146(8)). Practicum hours from the graduate program are handled separately. They go inside the related-work bucket, capped at 500, and are documented on Form #7, the Practicum Internship Report from University Supervisor, which can be submitted with the initial application or at any time during the internship.

7. Two Supervisors Before You Start

Before beginning an internship, each intern must have at least two supervisors approved by the Board, a primary and one or more secondary (NAC 641A.178(1)). The primary supervisor "shall meet with the intern for at least 160 hours, which must include at least 1 hour per week," and must document any variation from that weekly schedule. The secondary supervisor or supervisors meet with the intern for a combined total of at least 40 hours (NAC 641A.178(1)). A supervisor may have not more than 10 interns at one time unless the Board authorizes more (NAC 641A.178(2)). Seminars, workshops and classes do not count as supervision time, except as the training type in the related-work bucket (NAC 641A.178(4)).

Each supervisor must hold an active license from the Board, have been licensed for at least 3 years, carry liability insurance covering the supervision, be approved by the Board, and not be related to the intern "by closer than the fourth degree of consanguinity" (NAC 641A.182(3)). The supervisor must also "have never professionally provided mental health therapy to the intern", which bars a supervisor who has treated the intern. For a primary supervisor, NAC 641A.182(4)(b) lists a current NBCC Approved Clinical Supervisor credential as one route. Supervisors are covered in Nevada MFT and CPC intern supervision.

8. March 15 and September 15 Reports

The intern must solicit the primary supervisor's written evaluation and submit it, with cumulative hours and the hours from the preceding 6 months, on or before March 15 and September 15 of each year (NAC 641A.146(2); NAC 641A.178(5)). The Board's intern information page says that if there are no hours to report in a six-month period, the intern completes the forms, lists the hours as "0" and submits. The Board may revoke the license of an intern who fails to file a written report (NAC 641A.146(3)). For the form, see the Nevada six-month internship report guide. The report carries cumulative hours and the hours from the preceding 6 months, so keep running totals from the first week.

9. Disclosure, Advertising and Independent Practice

Before providing a service, the intern must tell the client that he or she holds a license as a clinical professional counselor intern and is practicing under the supervision of an approved supervisor, and must give the client the supervisor's name (NRS 641A.2886). The intern must also tell each client that he or she is not licensed to engage independently in the practice, and must state intern status on all forms of advertising, including business cards, directory listings and brochures (NAC 641A.196(2), (3)).

The statute says an intern "shall not engage in the practice ... independently" (NRS 641A.2884(2)). Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, an intern may practice privately only at facilities that have a licensed marriage and family therapist, clinical professional counselor, clinical alcohol and drug counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist or clinical social worker available to consult, in person or by telephone, during the intern's hours of employment at the site (NAC 641A.196(1)). In extenuating circumstances, other facilities are allowed if the Board approves arrangements for supervision in emergencies (NAC 641A.196(4)). The Licensed Mental Health Professional Available for Consultation form records that arrangement.

10. The NCMHCE and the Final Hours Application

The licensing exam is the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination, administered by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NRS 641A.231(4)(c)). The Board's CPC testing page says "Licensed CPC-Interns are eligible to sit for the National NCMHCE exam after receiving their license and before the expiration of their licensed Internship." The Board's CPC testing page says requests go to the Board office in writing with an original ink signature at least 30 days before the test window. The internship exam page says to upload the form to the Testing Request step in the portal. The Board's authorization is valid for one year, and the NBCC retake wait is at least 3 months from the original test date (Board CPC testing and internship exam pages).

The last step is the CPC final hours application in the Board's portal: a six-month report covering the period since the last reporting date, a final hours report spanning the entire internship, and a copy of the passing test scores (Board final report page). Form #6, the CPC Final Internship Report from Primary Supervisor, is signed by the primary supervisor and lists the same categories as section 4.

11. Renewing the Full CPC License

A full CPC license expires on January 1 of each even-numbered year (NRS 641A.235(2)). Biennial renewal is $450 (NAC 641A.105(1)(a)), and a licensee needs at least 40 hours of continuing education during each licensing period (NAC 641A.131(1)). No continuing education requirement for interns is published. Dates, hour breakdowns and the late-renewal rules are in Nevada license renewal and CE requirements.

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