Licensure · every state's counselor title · Oct 30, 2026
Counseling license types, one license, many names
LPC (licensed professional counselor), LMHC (licensed mental health counselor), LPCC, LCPC and LCMHC are not five professions. They are the names states give the same thing, a license for a master's-level professional counselor, and the letters you end up with depend on the board that licenses you. An LMFT (licensed marriage and family therapist) is a different license, and so is an LCSW (licensed clinical social worker).
Updated Oct 30, 2026 · Not affiliated with NBCC, CCE, AMFTRB, CRCC, ACA or AAMFT.
- jurisdictions use the LPC title30 of 51
- states license under the LMHC title8
- states test the two tiers separately11
One license, thirteen names
The counseling titles below come from our 51 state cards, built from board websites and NBCC's state board directory on Oct 30, 2026. Grouped by title:
- LPC, Licensed Professional Counselor: 30 jurisdictions, from Alabama and Arizona to Wisconsin and Wyoming. In several of them, Kansas, Minnesota and Tennessee among them, the LPC is the entry tier below a clinical title.
- LMHC, Licensed Mental Health Counselor: Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Washington. New Mexico uses the same letters for a lower tier.
- LCPC, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor: Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland and Montana.
- LPCC, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor: California, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Dakota and Ohio.
- LCMHC, the clinical mental health counselor license: New Hampshire, North Carolina and Vermont.
- One state each: LPCMH in Delaware, LPC-MH in South Dakota, LPC-MHSP in Tennessee, CMHC in Utah, CPC in Nevada, LMHP in Nebraska, LPMHC and LPCMHC in New Mexico.
The District of Columbia is the one card where we could not confirm the title, so it is left blank rather than guessed. A word with "clinical" or "mental health" in it usually marks the clinical tier in a two-tier state, but in a one-title state such as New Hampshire the LCMHC is simply the license.
Where the title tells you the exam
Table checked Oct 30, 2026 against each state board; confirm the current rule with your board before you register. Two-tier states plus Ohio, which kept two titles but dropped the second exam on Jan 1, 2026. Every state: requirements by state.
In these states the letters decide the exam. The first title is earned with the NCE, and the clinical one adds the NCMHCE: in Idaho, for example, the LPC is earned on the knowledge exam and the LCPC on the case exam. Illinois adds a third option for the first tier, the rehabilitation counseling exam behind the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) credential. Ohio still issues both titles, but since January 2026 its LPCC needs no second exam. Elsewhere one title covers everything, and the board accepts one exam or either.
Associate titles: licensed, but supervised
Before the full license, many boards register or license you under an associate title while you collect supervised hours. The cards record these:
- Associate or provisional: LPCA in Texas, LPCA in Kentucky (Licensed Professional Counseling Associate), APC in Georgia, LAC in Arizona, Arkansas and New Jersey, ALC in Alabama, LAPC in North Dakota, ACMHC in Utah, LMHCA in Indiana, LACMH in Delaware, PLPC in Missouri, P-LPC in Mississippi.
- Graduate, limited, temporary or conditional: LGPC in Maryland, LLC in Michigan, LPC-T in Kansas, LPC-C in Maine.
- Intern or registrant: RMHI in Florida, RI in Idaho and Oregon, RMHC in New Mexico.
Whether you sit the national exam before or after the associate stage is the board's call. Missouri uses the knowledge exam for both its PLPC and its LPC, and Arizona accepts either NBCC exam for its LAC as well as its LPC. Supervision rules for the associate stage: how to become an LPC.
LPC vs LMHC vs LPCC
Across states, the difference between an LPC, an LMHC and an LPCC is mostly the name. Inside one state it can be a real difference in level: a Minnesota LPC and a Minnesota LPCC are two tiers of the same license, and the LPCC is the clinical one. Read the title together with your state's row, not on its own.
What a title lets you do, diagnose independently, bill insurers or supervise others, is written into each state's law, so two counselors with the same letters in different states may not have the same scope. If you move, your title will usually change with the state, and the license itself moves by endorsement or, between member states, through the Counseling Compact.
LPC vs LMFT
An LMFT (licensed marriage and family therapist) is a separate license, not another name for the LPC. The training is a family therapy degree built on systemic, relational work; the counseling license rests on the eight CACREP content areas. The exams differ too: counselors take an NBCC exam, while MFT boards use the AMFTRB national exam in every state we could check except California, which has its own. Some states license both professions through one combined board, Ohio and Georgia among them, but they remain two licenses with two sets of hours. The family therapy route in order: how to become an LMFT.
LPC vs LCSW
An LCSW (licensed clinical social worker) is a social work license, used here only as a point of comparison; this site covers counseling exams, not social work ones.
- Degree: a Master of Social Work for the LCSW; a graduate counseling degree for the LPC.
- Exam: the clinical exam of the social work boards' association, ASWB, for the LCSW; the NCE or NCMHCE (or both, by tier) for the LPC.
- Board: a social work board, sometimes the same combined board that licenses counselors.
- Practice: both can lead to independent clinical practice; the LCSW comes from a profession that also covers case management and social services, the LPC from counseling.
If you have not chosen a degree yet, that last point matters more than the letters: the two degrees train for different jobs, and neither license accepts the other's exam.
A national credential is not a license
NCC, CCMHC and CRC are national certifications, not state licenses. They can sit next to your title ("LPC, NCC"), but none of them lets you practice on its own. What each one requires: NCC (National Certified Counselor).
Practice for the exam behind your title
NCE app
NCE practice questions with every answer explained, in a study app.
Not affiliated with NBCC, CCE, AMFTRB, CRCC, ACA or AAMFT.
NCMHCE app
NCMHCE practice questions with every answer explained, in a study app.
Not affiliated with NBCC, CCE, AMFTRB, CRCC, ACA or AAMFT.
CPCE app
CPCE practice questions with every answer explained, in a study app.
Not affiliated with NBCC, CCE, AMFTRB, CRCC, ACA or AAMFT.
MFT app
MFT practice questions with every answer explained, in a study app.
Not affiliated with NBCC, CCE, AMFTRB, CRCC, ACA or AAMFT.
CRC app
CRC practice questions with every answer explained, in a study app.
Not affiliated with NBCC, CCE, AMFTRB, CRCC, ACA or AAMFT.
Source notes
- [1]Arkansas Board of Examiners healthy.arkansas.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [2]Idaho Licensing Board of Professional Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists ibol.idaho.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [3]Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR) idfpr.illinois.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [4]Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board in.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [5]Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board ksbsrb.ks.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [6]Maine Board of Counseling Professionals maine.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [7]Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy mn.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [8]New Mexico Therapy Practice Board rld.state.nm.us · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [9]North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners ndbce.org · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [10]Ohio Counselor Social Worker Marriage and Family Therapist Board cswmft.ohio.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [11]South Dakota Board of Examiners for Counselors and Marriage & Family Therapists dss.sd.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
- [12]Tennessee State Board of Licensed Professional Counselors, Marital and Family Therapists, and Licensed Pastoral Therapists tn.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
Titles, answered
Is an LMHC the same as an LPC?
In practice, yes: both are the state counseling license, under the name the state chose. New York and Florida say LMHC, Texas and Georgia say LPC. Check the level as well as the name, because a few states use similar letters for two tiers.
What do LPCC and LCPC stand for?
LPCC is Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (California, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio). LCPC is Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Montana). Same words in a different order. In Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota and Ohio either one is the higher of two tiers.
Can I call myself an LPC if my state's title is LMHC?
No. Use the exact title your board issued: titles are protected by each state's law, and the one on your license is the one you may use. Add a national certification after it if you hold one.
Which license should I pick if I want to work with couples and families?
Counselors can see couples and families under the counseling license. If that work is the core of your career, an MFT degree and the LMFT route are built around it: how to become an LMFT.