New York LMHC Requirements

The 3,000-Hour LMHC Requirement at a Glance

New York's LMHC track runs on one number split two ways. An applicant needs at least 3,000 clock hours of supervised experience providing mental health counseling in an acceptable setting, and at least 1,500 of those hours must be direct client contact (8 NYCRR 79-9.3(a)). The remaining 1,500 is not a separate requirement stacked on top of the 3,000; it is whatever is left once the direct floor is met.

The rule comes from Education Law Article 163, Section 8402, and 8 NYCRR Subpart 79-9, administered by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) Office of the Professions through the State Board for Mental Health Practitioners. Hours count only after the graduate degree is finished, and experience in New York is gained under a limited permit.

About 15,252 people held an active LMHC license as of July 2026, and NYSED issued 1,768 new LMHC licenses in 2025 (NYSED license statistics). What rarely gets explained in plain terms is the mechanics behind those numbers: a two-part hour split, a weekly supervision rate instead of a fixed total, and forms NYSED will and will not accept directly from an applicant.

The LMHC Hours Breakdown

The rule describes the remainder as activities that "do not involve direct client contact, including but not limited to, recordkeeping, case management, research, supervision and professional development" (8 NYCRR 79-9.3(a)). Nothing on that list carries its own minimum or maximum; it simply has to add up, alongside the 1,500 direct hours, to 3,000.

Read the 1,500-hour direct figure carefully: it is included inside the 3,000, not additional to it. An applicant who logs 1,500 direct hours and 1,500 hours of the other activities above has exactly the 3,000-hour total, not 4,500.

No Pre-Degree Hours, and a Limited Permit for New York Experience

Hours only start counting after the applicant finishes the graduate program required for licensure; New York credits no pre-degree hours on the LMHC track (8 NYCRR 79-9.3(b)). A practicum or internship completed as part of the degree does not add to the 3,000.

Any experience gained in New York must be performed while the applicant holds a limited permit issued by the Department (8 NYCRR 79-9.3(b)(1)). The rule allows only limited exceptions, at the Department's discretion, for experience obtained without a permit in an authorized setting under an eligible supervisor, so plan on having the permit in hand before counting New York hours.

Supervision Runs as a Weekly Rate

Supervision on the LMHC track is set as a rate, not a total hour count. A supervisor must provide an average of 1 hour per week, or 2 hours every other week, of face-to-face individual or group supervision (8 NYCRR 79-9.3(c)(1)). Unlike the 3,000-hour experience requirement, no fixed total appears anywhere in the rule; the standard is the average held over time.

Face-to-face supervision may use "technology acceptable to the Department, including secure video conferencing to protect confidentiality" (8 NYCRR 79-9.3(c)(3)), so the rate does not require both people in the same room every session.

Eligible Supervisors and the Five-Permit Cap

A supervisor must be licensed and registered in New York in mental health counseling, medicine, as a physician assistant, psychology, licensed clinical social work, or as a registered professional nurse or nurse practitioner, or hold equivalent qualifications (8 NYCRR 79-9.3(c)(2)).

One supervisor may not oversee more than five limited permit holders at one time (8 NYCRR 79-9.4(a)(2)(ii)). Confirm that number before starting, particularly in a group practice with several limited permit holders sharing one supervisor.

Acceptable Settings, and No Applicant-Owned Private Practice

Experience has to be gained in one of a defined list of settings (8 NYCRR 79-9.3(d)(1)): a professional service corporation, registered limited liability partnership, or professional limited liability company authorized for the scope of services; a sole proprietorship owned by a licensee; a professional partnership; a program operated, regulated, funded or approved by a state agency (such as the Office of Mental Health or the Department of Health) or a local governmental unit; an entity holding a waiver under Education Law 6503-a or 6503-b; a program authorized under federal law; or another exempt or authorized entity.

One setting is off the list entirely: a private practice owned or operated by the applicant (8 NYCRR 79-9.3(d)(3)). A limited permit holder can work inside someone else's practice, but not run their own while accruing hours toward the license.

The Limited Permit: Term, Extensions, and Forms

The limited permit is valid for not more than 24 months. It can be extended twice, up to 12 months each time, at the Department's discretion if the holder shows good-faith effort toward finishing the requirements, for a 48-month maximum across the permit and both extensions (8 NYCRR 79-9.4(a)(3); Educ. Law 8409(2)). Each permit and each extension costs $70 (Educ. Law 8409(3)).

Two forms carry the permit itself. Form 5, filed online, is the limited permit application, at $70. Form 5CS, the Certification of Supervisor for Limited Permit (Rev. 2/22), is completed by the supervisor, not the applicant.

The full permit rules are in the LMHC limited permit guide.

The Exam Is the NCMHCE

The national exam required for LMHC licensure in New York is the NCMHCE. The NCE is explicitly not acceptable for licensure. Confirm which exam a study plan targets before registering; the two exams are not interchangeable for a New York application.

Form 1, Form 4, and Form 4B: Who Files What

Form 1, the Application for Licensure, is filed online by the applicant, with a $371 total fee. Form 4, the Applicant's Experience Record, is also completed by the applicant.

Form 4B, the Certification of Supervised Experience (Rev. 10/24), works differently. It is filed directly by the supervising licensed professional and is never accepted from the applicant. One Form 4B exists per supervisor, so an applicant who worked under two supervisors needs two separate forms, each submitted independently.

Because Form 4B comes from the supervisor's own records, the practical move is keeping a personal per-supervisor total of hours and dates from week one. That record does not replace the form NYSED requires, but it gives an applicant something to check a completed Form 4B against before it is submitted.

Triennial Re-Registration, and the Diagnostic Privilege

Once licensed, an LMHC re-registers every three years and completes 36 hours of continuing education per period, up to 12 of which may be self-study (Educ. Law 8412(1)-(2)).

A separate, optional credential lets an already-licensed LMHC diagnose and develop treatment plans: the diagnostic privilege (Educ. Law 8401-a, effective June 24, 2024). It requires 2,000 hours of supervised direct client contact, on top of the license already held, plus a $175 fee, and it is a post-licensure step, not part of the 3,000-hour requirement covered on this page. See the LMHC diagnostic privilege for the full requirements and the grandfather deadline.

How to Become an LMHC in New York

The path in order, from degree to license.

A Worked Example: Reconciling 1,500 Direct Plus 1,500 Other

Consider a limited permit holder logging 25 hours a week: 15 direct and 10 other. The 1,500-hour direct floor closes at week 100 (15 × 100 = 1,500). By that same week, the other category has reached only 1,000 hours (10 × 100 = 1,000), 500 short of what the 3,000-hour total needs.

At the same 10-hours-a-week pace, those last 500 hours take 50 more weeks (10 × 50 = 500), for a finish around week 150. The two categories land on 1,500 direct plus 1,500 other, exactly 3,000 total, but they do not close on the same week. An applicant tracking only a single combined number cannot see that the two categories finish at different times.

Common Mistakes That Delay LMHC Licensure

These are common errors in LMHC hour records, every one of them avoidable with tracking that starts on day one.

Related New York LMHC Guides

FAQ: New York LMHC Requirements