Washington LMHC Requirements: Hours, Supervision, Exams and Fees

The Degree Behind the Associate License

An LMHCA candidate is defined in part by the degree: a prelicensure candidate who "has a graduate degree in a mental health field under RCW 18.225.090" and is gaining the supervision and supervised experience needed to become an LMHC (WAC 246-809-010(1)). The degree can be in mental health counseling or in a behavioral science field relating to it (the rule lists counseling, psychology, social work, nursing, education, pastoral counseling, rehabilitation counseling and social sciences), and a related-field degree must show a core of study in counseling theory and philosophy, a counseling practicum or internship, and seven of seventeen listed content areas, five of them from the first eight (WAC 246-809-220(1); 246-809-221). Holding National Certified Counselor (NCC) or Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CCMHC) certification satisfies the education requirement on its own (WAC 246-809-220(4)).

Two narrower rules touch the hour count directly. A candidate completing supplemental coursework can count postgraduate experience hours earned while that coursework is underway, as long as the hours and the coursework run at the same time (WAC 246-809-220(3)). And a candidate who has held an agency affiliated counselor credential for the past year in good standing, and used it to complete at least 600 hours of supervised clinical experience, meets the counseling practicum component (WAC 246-809-220(5); DOH 670-247).

The LMHCA: What It Is and How Long It Runs

The associate license is defined as "a prelicensure candidate who is working towards full licensure in their profession, has a graduate degree in a mental health field under RCW 18.225.090 and is gaining the supervision and supervised experience necessary to become" an LMHC. An associate "may not independently provide ... mental health counseling ... for a fee, monetary or otherwise" and works under an approved supervisor (WAC 246-809-010(1); see RCW 18.225.145(2)). Applying requires a declaration that the applicant is working toward full licensure in that category (RCW 18.225.145(1)), and Washington requires no supervised postgraduate experience before someone becomes an associate (WAC 246-809-230(5)).

At the first professional contact with a client, an LMHCA discloses, on a disclosure form, that they practice as an associate under the supervision of an approved supervisor (RCW 18.225.145(3); WAC 246-809-710(2)).

The associate license runs one year and renews on its date of issuance, and there is no limit on how many times it can be renewed (WAC 246-809-990(2); RCW 18.225.145(6)(a)). A six-renewal limit applied before June 6, 2024; anyone cut off by that limit is treated as if the license had expired and can return to active status through the expired-license process (RCW 18.225.145(6)(b)).

Since October 1, 2025, an applicant may practice under a pending associate license for up to 120 days after DOH receives a completed application, under an approved supervisor, and "the 120-day period shall not be extended or renewed" (WAC 246-809-097(1),(2),(4); RCW 18.225.145(2)). DOH's FAQ states that window begins on the date the department receives every required item: the application form, official transcripts sent directly by the school, an Approved Supervisor Form submitted directly by the supervisor, and the application fee.

The Supervised Experience: 3,000 Hours or 36 Months

The total requirement is stated as "a minimum of 36 months full-time counseling or 3,000 hours of postgraduate mental health counseling" (WAC 246-809-230(3)(a)). Inside that total, at least 1,200 hours must be direct counseling with individuals, couples, families or groups, and 100 hours must be spent in immediate supervision (WAC 246-809-230(3)(b)(i),(ii)).

Every hour on that table is postgraduate; the rule sets no pre-degree credit apart from the concurrent supplemental coursework hours above. DOH's verification form, DOH 670-027, prints the same rows: immediate supervision, direct counseling, and all other hours marked "Unlimited." DOH's own guidance is to "use a separate form for each supervisor verifying your postgraduate supervision and professional experience for each practice setting" (DOH 670-027, 670-128), so a candidate with more than one supervisor, or more than one practice setting, files more than one form.

Supervision in Brief

Washington sets one supervision rate for every licensure candidate: "regular supervision, meeting at least one hour for every 80 hours of the licensure candidate's clinical practice time" (WAC 246-809-020(2)(b)). That rate is a minimum frequency, not a total, and it does not replace the 100-hour immediate-supervision figure above.

For counselors, individual-style supervision has its own name: immediate supervision is "a meeting with an approved supervisor, involving one supervisor and no more than two licensure candidates" (WAC 246-809-210(6)). Group supervision allows up to six candidates with one supervisor, face-to-face or virtual (WAC 246-809-210(5)).

An approved supervisor for this track is "a qualified licensed mental health counselor or equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner who has been licensed without restrictions for at least two years" (WAC 246-809-210(3)). An equally qualified practitioner means "a licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical social worker, licensed psychologist, licensed physician practicing as a psychiatrist, or licensed psychiatric nurse practitioner" (WAC 246-809-210(4)). The supervisor must not be "a blood or legal relative or cohabitant of the licensure candidate, licensure candidate's peer, or someone who has provided psychological services to the licensure candidate within the past two years," where a peer means "a co-worker who is not the licensure candidate's employer or supervisor" (WAC 246-809-234(2); 246-809-210(8)).

Washington LMHCA supervision requirements covers supervisor training, the declaration a supervisor files before supervision starts, and what the supervisor attests to knowing.

The Exam: NCE or NCMHCE

An LMHC candidate passes one of two exams: the National Certification Examination (NCE) or the National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Examination (NCMHCE), with scores sent directly from the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) (WAC 246-809-240). Neither exam is required to hold the associate license; the rule ties the exam to the full LMHC application, not to any stage of the supervised experience.

The Application: Packets, Forms and 36 CE Hours

Two packets bracket the path. The associate application uses DOH 670-100, the "Mental Health Counselor Associate License Application Packet" (March 2025). The full license application uses DOH 670-036, the "Licensed Mental Health Counselor by Examination Application Packet" (July 2025).

Supervised experience is verified on DOH 670-027, the "Verification of Mental Health Counselor Supervised Postgraduate Experience" form (July 2020). DOH also links DOH 670-128, the "Mental Health Counselor Associate Supervision and Experience Verification" form (December 2010), from its associate section. Before supervision begins, the supervisor completes an Approved Supervisor Declaration on DOH 670-130 (March 2025) (WAC 246-809-234(3)). For the fields each form asks for, see the Washington supervised experience verification forms.

What DOH Charges

All figures come from the fee schedule at WAC 246-809-990. The LMHCA total is $35 plus a $16 HEAL-WA fee; the LMHCA renewal total is $25 plus $16; the LMHC application total is $95 plus $80 plus $16; the LMHC renewal total is $125 plus $16. Fees are nonrefundable (WAC 246-809-990(3)).

Renewal After Licensure: Yearly on the Birthday

Once the LMHC issues, the license renews yearly on the license holder's birthday, a different clock from the associate license's date-of-issuance renewal (WAC 246-809-990(1)). Each two-year cycle requires 32 hours of continuing education: 6 hours of professional ethics and law, and 2 hours of professional roles and boundaries. A four-year cycle adds 2 hours of health equity, and a six-year cycle adds 6 hours of suicide-assessment training (WAC 246-809-630(3)).

The associate license renews on a different schedule: every year, with 16 hours of continuing education, 6 hours of professional ethics and law every two years attested at the second, fourth and sixth renewal, 2 hours of professional roles and boundaries, and 2 hours of health equity every four years (WAC 246-809-632(1) to (4)). For the associate CE cycle in full, see Washington associate license renewal and CE.

A Timeline at 30 Hours a Week

Take an LMHCA logging 30 hours a week of postgraduate counseling experience, all of it credited toward the total. At that pace, 3,000 hours arrives in 100 weeks, about 23 months. That is arithmetic, not a rule. The rule also lets the requirement be met as 36 months of full-time counseling (WAC 246-809-230(3)(a)). The 1,200 direct-counseling hours and the 100 immediate-supervision hours are separate totals inside whatever total experience a candidate claims; reaching 3,000 hours overall does not by itself satisfy either one (WAC 246-809-230(3)(b)).

The supervision rate adds its own arithmetic: 3,000 hours at 80 practice hours per supervision hour is at least 37.5 supervision hours by the rate alone, which is arithmetic, not a rule; the LMHC total of 100 hours of immediate supervision still applies (WAC 246-809-020(2)(b); 246-809-230(3)(b)(i)).

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FAQ: Washington LMHC Requirements