New York · NYSED Office of the Professions
Verified: Sept 2026
This guide covers the standard path to LMHC: completing the full licensure process in New York, including degree, limited permit, supervised hours, and the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE).
Mental health counselors in New York are licensed by the New York State Education Department (NYSED), through its Office of the Professions, not by a standalone counseling board as in most states. Your degree must be either registered with NYSED as license-qualifying or accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the national accreditor for counseling programs. Before you are licensed, a limited permit is the temporary credential that lets you practice under supervision while you accrue your hours.
NYSED contact information
Mental Health Practitioner Unit: 518-474-3817 ext. 592, or [email protected]
All forms referenced in this article can be found here: https://www.op.nysed.gov/professions/mental-health-counselors/application-forms
A detailed description of each form's purpose is located in a table at the bottom of this article.
Prerequisites
Earn a bachelor's degree in any major: New York sets no undergraduate major requirement for LMHC licensure. Psychology, social work, human services, sociology, and education are the common feeders and make graduate applications read naturally, but any bachelor's degree qualifies you to apply.
Two things to do while you are still an undergraduate:
Pull the prerequisite lists for the master's programs you are considering. Several require undergraduate statistics, abnormal psychology, or developmental psychology.
Complete a 60-credit master's in counseling from a qualifying program. Your degree must be at least 60 semester credits in mental health counseling, and must include a 600-hour supervised internship or practicum completed for academic credit.
You can verify your program qualifies if it appears on one of these two lists:
NYSED Inventory of Registered Programs. Choose "Search for programs leading to a professional license," select "MEN HLTH COUNSL," and submit:
ℹ️ You can still qualify with a program on neither list, but NYSED will review your transcript individually against its required content areas. That review is covered in Step 4, it happens after you have paid, and it is the slowest part of the process.
Step 1
Allow ~2 hours to complete.
Complete the child abuse identification and reporting training through a NYSED approved provider listed here.
ℹ️ The curriculum was recently updated. Approved providers were required to begin offering the updated version on September 1, 2025. If you completed the training before that date, you may need to take it again. To confirm whether your course included the updated curriculum, contact the provider who issued your certificate.
If you have already taken this course, contact the provider who issued your certificate. You must confirm that you have taken the updated version of this course. The contact information for the provider of your course is on the certificate, or on NYSED's approved provider list.
ℹ️ If you graduated from a NYSED-registered program, this may already be covered in your coursework. Ask your program's registrar or licensing coordinator before paying for it, since there is no public list of which programs include it.
You will report your completion when you file your application in Step 2. Either you upload a certificate from a provider on NYSED's approved list, or that provider reports it to NYSED directly. Ask whether your provider reports electronically. If not, keep your certificate and upload it with your online application.
ℹ️ If you have already submitted your application, upload your certificate here instead: https://eservices.nysed.gov/professions/addl-doc/ using your Application ID and date of birth.
→ Continue to Step 2.
Step 2
Allow 30–45 minutes to complete. $371.
File Form 1 online. This is the application for licensure itself, submitted along with the $371 fee covering licensure and your first registration. Answer every question and provide all requested information, since an incomplete application delays review.
Every other form in this article is supporting documentation attached to this one.
ℹ️ If you need to pause your application partway, you can resume within 30 days using your Application ID, Social Security number, and DOB.
Once Form 1 is filed, you can start Steps 3 through 6 at the same time; none of them depends on another.
→ Continue to Step 3.
Step 3
Allow 15 minutes to request, plus school processing time.
Form 2: your school certifies your degree. Fill in Section I, sign and date it, then send the entire form to your school's registrar along with any fee they charge. The registrar fills in Section II, confirming your program and the date your degree was awarded, and mails both pages to NYSED in an official school envelope.
It will not be accepted if you submit it.
If you cannot find the right process on your school's site, call the registrar and say you need a licensure certification form completed for a state licensing board.
ℹ️ NYSED must receive and approve your Form 2 before it will issue your limited permit in Step 6, so your registrar's turnaround gates when you can start working.
→ If your masters program was not on either list in the prerequisite step, continue to Step 4.
→ If your program was on one of the lists, skip to Step 5.
Step 4
Allow 30 minutes to request, plus school processing time.
Only do this step if your program was not NYSED-registered or CACREP-accredited.
NYSED's Bureau of Comparative Education reviews your coursework against New York's required content areas. Your school sends extra material along with Form 2: your official transcript, course syllabi, and Form 2INT from your program director.
Your school will send everything directly to the Office of the Professions, either by mail to the address printed on the forms or by email to [email protected]. None of it is accepted if it comes from you.
Ask specifically that syllabi be included, since they are not part of a standard transcript request. Call the registrar rather than using an online request form. If you attended more than one graduate school, each sends its own set.
→ Continue to Step 5.
Step 5
Allow 30 minutes to request, 1–4 weeks for boards to respond.
Verify every license or certificate you hold or have ever held, to practice any profession from those listed here, in any jurisdiction.
You do not need to request anything if your license was issued by NYSED or for Mental Health Counseling licenses issued by the following states:
Alaska
Colorado
Indiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Ohio
Oklahoma
South Dakota
For all other professions and states you will need to contact the relevant licensing authority that issued the license and request a license verification. Most boards will not complete another state's verification and will send their own document instead. NYSED accepts these.
Electronic verifications can be sent directly to [email protected].
Mailed verifications are sent in jurisdiction-sealed envelopes to:
New York State Education DepartmentOffice of the Professions
Division of Professional Licensing Services Mental Health Counseling
Unit89 Washington Avenue Albany, NY 12234-1000
For boards that do not have their own verification, send them Form 3 instead:
Fill in Section I
Sign and date item 10
Send the entire form to the licensing authority along with any fee they charge. They complete Section II and return both pages directly to NYSED.
ℹ️ Whichever route applies, the verification is not accepted if it comes from you. It must come directly from the issuing board.
→ Continue to Step 6.
Step 6
Allow 30 minutes, plus supervisor response time. $70.
The limited permit is what makes it legal to practice while you accrue hours in New York. File Form 5 online, and submit Form 5CS alongside it. Your supervisor completes Section II, then you submit it. This is the one form NYSED expects from you rather than directly from the third party.
Before you can file, you need two things in place.
A qualified supervisor: They must be licensed and registered in New York State to practice mental health counseling, medicine, psychology, clinical social work, or as a physician assistant, registered professional nurse, or nurse practitioner, and be competent in mental health counseling. No supervisor may supervise more than five limited permit holders at one time.
A qualifying setting: All employers and practice sites must be located in New York State. Your application must include the operating certificate, corporate waiver certificate, authorization letter, or certificate of incorporation showing the setting is authorized to employ licensed professionals and provide mental health counseling services in New York. Ask your employer for this document before you apply, since a missing one delays review.
Permits are issued for one specific supervisor at one specific site. Change either and you file the Limited Permit Change Form for an amended permit. There is no fee for the amendment, but you need a new Form 5CS for each new supervisor.
The permit expires. It is valid 24 months from the date it is issued, and can be extended for up to two additional 12-month periods at NYSED's discretion, to a maximum of 48 months. To extend, file a new Form 5 and another $70 before your current permit expires.
ℹ️ If your permit expires before you are licensed, your hours and application stay on file, but you cannot legally practice in New York until you are licensed, except in an exempt setting.
Exempt settings include entities with an operating certificate under the Mental Hygiene Law or Public Health Law, programs run or funded by state agencies such as the Office of Mental Health or the Department of Health, entities holding a corporate practice waiver from NYSED, federally authorized facilities, and college counseling centers. Private practices and most for-profit companies are not exempt.
Once you have used your initial permit and both 12-month extensions, NYSED will not issue another one for a different supervisor or site, so changing jobs does not restart the clock. Your remaining option is to finish your hours in an exempt setting. If you are approaching 48 months and are still short, call NYSED rather than assuming.
→ Continue to Step 7.
Step 7
Accrue 3,000 supervised hours. ~2 years
You need 3,000 clock hours of supervised mental health counseling, all earned after your degree is complete. At least 1,500 of those must be direct, face-to-face contact with clients. The rest can be indirect, meaning supervision, record keeping, case management, research, and professional development.
ℹ️ Hours earned in another jurisdiction transfer toward the 3,000. NYSED will evaluate them to determine whether the equivalent requirements were satisfied in a legal manner, and the limited permit requirement applies only to experience earned in New York. Your direct hours transfer the same way, counting toward the 1,500 total.
For hours earned in New York, the work must be in the setting named on your limited permit, under the supervisor named on that permit. Your supervisor must provide an average of one hour per week, or two hours every other week, of in-person individual or group supervision, reviewing your assessment and treatment of each client.
The setting cannot be a private practice you own or operate. If any experience was completed in a setting other than your permit setting, you must submit an operating certificate or certificate of incorporation showing that entity is authorized to employ licensed professionals.
Keep two separate counts from day one: total hours and direct hours. Reaching 3,000 without 1,500 direct will not qualify you, and working out the split years later, across multiple employers, is what most often holds up applications at Step 8.
There is no NYSED tracker, so you keep your own log. Record date, hours worked, hours of direct client contact, setting, and supervisor. Have your supervisor confirm the totals at each supervision session, since in Step 8 they will certify these hours. Some employers track this for you; most do not.
→ Continue to Step 8.
Step 8
Allow 30 minutes, plus supervisor response time.
Form 4: your experience record. Complete it, sign and date item 9, and submit it yourself. If you applied for licensure online, submit it at https://eservices.nysed.gov/professions/wf/document. Otherwise email it to [email protected].
Form 4B: your supervisor certifies the hours they oversaw. Fill in Section I, then hand them the form along with Appendix A, the supervision requirements sheet that tells them the standard they are certifying against. They send it directly to NYSED, by emailing it to [email protected]. This form is not accepted if it comes from you.
Three employers across your 3,000 hours means three Form 4Bs, each sent to NYSED separately by that supervisor. For New York experience, the supervisor has to be the one named on your limited permit.
→ If you already passed the NCMHCE, continue to Step 9.
→ If you have not passed the NCMHCE, continue to Step 10.
Step 9
Allow 10 minutes.
Send your NCMHCE score to NYSED.
To order an official copy of your scores for state licensure or a third-party agency, log in to your NBCC Credentialing Gateway account and select Score Verification Request under NCC Options.
If you are unsure if you have any missing documents, you can log in or email [email protected]. All past-due fees must be paid before score verification can be sent.
ℹ️ If you took the NCMHCE under non-standard conditions, such as extra time or a translating dictionary for applicants whose primary language is not English, you must retake the exam under standard conditions.
→ Continue to Step 10.
Step 10
No published processing time.
NYSED evaluates your education, license verification, and supervised experience.
NYSED does not publish a processing time for this stage. The most common causes of delay are a verification still in transit, a Form 4B a supervisor has not returned, and transcript evaluation if your program was not CACREP-accredited or NYSED-registered
→ NYSED approves your file, you need to pass the NCMHCE. Continue to Step 11.
→ NYSED approves your file, you already passed the NCMHCE. Skip to Step 12.
→ NYSED requires additional coursework. Complete the missing coursework, have
your school send an updated transcript, and return to this step.
Step 11
Allow a few days to schedule. Allow 4 hours on exam day. $275.
Only do this step if you need to pass the NCMHCE.
NYSED notifies the exam administrators once your education and application are approved, who will then email you once you are cleared.
To register, create or log in to a Credentialing Gateway account at my.nbcc.org, complete the registration, and pay the $275 fee. You will then receive an Authorization to Test email from Pearson VUE, which is what lets you schedule.
You can take the exam at a Pearson VUE test center or remotely through their OnVUE platform, and you can schedule online or by calling Pearson VUE at 866-904-4432.
You are allowed 3 hours and 45 minutes. Your Authorization to Test gives you a set window to sit the exam, and the length will be stated in your authorization email. If you miss it or do not pass, you can retake after a 30-day waiting period, and the $275 fee applies each time you register.
→ Once you pass, continue to Step 12.
Step 12
Once NYSED has your education, experience, and passing score on file, the license is issued.
A New York license is valid for life. What you renew is your registration, every three years.
Keep your address current with NYSED.
Costs
Item | Cost |
Child abuse training | Varies by provider |
Application and first registration (Form 1) | $371 |
Limited permit (Form 5) | $70 |
Permit extension, if needed | $70 each, up to 2 |
Form 2 school fee | Varies by school |
Form 3 verification fee | Varies by state board |
NCMHCE exam fee | $275 |
Tuition and clinical supervision are not included above. If you are not in a job that provides supervision, that cost can exceed everything in this table combined.
Time Estimates
NYSED does not publish a processing SLA at any stage, so there is no official benchmark for the application steps.
Everything else depends on a third party you cannot file for: your school on Form 2, another state's board on Form 3, and your supervisor on Form 4B. Follow-up is the only lever you have.
One sequencing consequence worth planning around: Form 2 must be approved before your permit is issued, and the permit is what lets you start the two-year clock. A slow registrar delays everything downstream.
Forms
Form | What it is | Who sends it |
Your application for licensure ($371) | You, online | |
Your school certifying your degree | Your registrar | |
Your school certifying your internship | Your program director | |
Another state's board verifying a license you hold | That licensing board | |
Your log of supervised hours | You | |
Your supervisor certifying those hours | Each supervisor | |
Application for a limited permit ($70) | You, online | |
Your supervisor's qualifications for the permit | You, after they fill it in | |
The supervision requirements sheet you hand your supervisor | Not submitted |
Sources
NYS Mental Health Counseling: License Requirements — NYSED
NYSED FAQs: Limited Permits
NYSED FAQs: Education Requirements
NYSED Continuing Education FAQs
Application Forms for Mental Health Counselors — NYSED
Child Abuse Identification and Reporting Training — NYSED
Exam Registration — NBCC