Compact License Application and Cost
To provide counseling services through the compact, counselors use the counseling license granted by their home state to apply for the privilege to practice in other member states. Counselors must have an unencumbered license, have taken a national exam, have completed a supervised professional experience, and have earned a 60 semester-hour master’s degree.
Applications are expected to open in late 2023 or early 2024. This website will have application information when it becomes available.
Your license is granted by your home state. A compact privilege to practice is granted by other compact member states after your have applied for the privilege to practice in those states through the compact.
Once applications for compact privileges open (expected late 2023), the link to the application will be available on this site. In the meantime, practitioners should ensure their home state license is in good standing. They may also want to prepare for a jurisprudence exam if such an exam is required by the state in which they plan to apply for a compact privilege.
No. Although your state passing the compact is an important step, it does not automatically approve your license for use in other states. Counselors must apply for the privilege to practice in each state through the compact. We expect applications for compact privileges to open in late 2023 or early 2024.
When it opens, the application will be linked on this website.
The Compact is not currently granting the privilege to practice in other states. Therefore, you cannot use the compact to see clients in other states. Once the compact is granting privileges, you can apply for a privilege in the client’s new state.
Counselors must have a license or a privilege to practice in the state where the client is located.
For you to practice in other states through the compact, your home state and the state in which you wish to practice must be compact members. If this is not the case, the best way for you to practice in a state is through approval via the individual state’s single-state license.
The Counseling Compact is for Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) only and does not cover licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs), licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) or psychologists. Compacts are created for specific professions. Because each of these types of providers are their own distinct profession, they need separate compacts.
If your state uses a title different than but equivalent to LPC (e.g., LMHC, LPCC), and you are a counselor who can independently diagnose, assess, and treat, then you will be able to participate in the compact.
There is a compact for psychologists (https://psypact.site-ym.com/) and there is a compact being developed for social workers (https://compacts.csg.org/compact-updates/social-work/).
Unfortunately, there is not a compact for LMFTs. If you are an LMFT interested in advocating for a compact for marriage and family therapists, please contact your national membership association.
The cost of a Compact privilege is set by each state. Once states are ready to issue privileges, more information on the exact cost of a privilege for that state will be available.
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Legislative Process
As of May 1, 2022, the Compact has been enacted in 10 states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia), and the legislation is pending in 11 others (Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina Ohio, and Tennessee). If your state is not listed, legislation has not been introduced there.
For more details and the most up-to-date information, see: https://counselingcompact.org/map/. If your state has not yet introduced legislation, contacting your state legislators is the first step. See below for how to help with this process.
Because the legislative process is unpredictable, it is impossible to guarantee a Compact bill will be introduced or enacted in a particular state. When bills are introduced or enacted, the website map is updated promptly, so you may refer to that page for up-to-date information.
If your state is listed as “not enacted” on the map, this means the bill was introduced during your state’s 2022 legislative session but did not pass. Your state may introduce the bill and try to pass it next year.
If you would like to advocate for the Compact in your state, please contact your state legislators, the state chapter of your national membership organization or your state board.
The Compact Commission is currently working to organize its first meeting. You can find more information here. At this meeting, state appointees will work to establish a governing structure to oversee compact implementation. After this process is completed, which may take 12-18 months, states will be able to issue Compact privileges.
The Compact is in effect only in states that have enacted the Compact.
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As with other compacts, and in accordance with the Counseling Compact’s Rule on Rulemaking and Section 10 of the Compact legislation, the Compact prioritizes transparency and notice to the public in the rulemaking process.
Rules are first proposed and discussed in the Rules Committee, and then the Executive Committee must approve the proposed rules for a vote of the full Compact Commission. Prior to the Commission meeting, rules are posted for a 30-day public comment period with all comments being considered. A hearing may also be requested.
Meetings of the Rules Committee, Executive Committee, and full Commission are all open to the public unless there is an item which specifically qualifies for closed session pursuant to the terms of the Compact.
Please refer to this sheet for information about the Counseling Compact and professional identity.
Additional Licensing Concerns
Only counselors who hold an unencumbered license to independently diagnose, assess, treat, and practice at the highest level in a participating state may apply for a privilege to practice in the Counseling Compact. Licensed professional counselors who do not hold degrees in counseling but in a closely related field are potentially eligible to apply for a privilege if they meet all requirements for licensure as a licensed professional counselor in their home state which is a member of the Compact and all requirements of Section 3 and 4 of the Compact are met.
Practitioners practicing through the compact must have license to practice independently. If your role requires supervision (such as student, assistant, or other type of provisional license), you are not eligible to practice through the compact.
You are able to participate in the Compact if you received a license under previous licensing requirements. The licensing requirements in the Compact ensure all member states have the same requirements for individuals entering the profession.
Practitioners only need to complete CEUs for their home state.
Practitioners do need to complete jurisprudence examinations in each state where they want to apply for a privilege to practice.