Virginia Requirements for Licensed Professional Counselors



The quality of training requirements for Virginia Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) is unrivaled.  The Commonwealth of Virginia has strict standards to become an LPC. All LPC's have a master's degree in a counseling field.  There are coursework requirements as well as supervision requirements, followed by a national board exam. Here are the details for Virginia LPC's:

Coursework requirements - 60 graduate credits to include the following :


1.         Professional identity, function and ethics
2.         Theories of counseling & psychotherapy
3.         Counseling & psychotherapy techniques
4.         Human growth & development
5.         Group counseling and psychotherapy, theories and techniques
6.         Career counseling and development theories and techniques
7.         Appraisal, evaluation & diagnostic procedures
8.         Abnormal behavior and psychopathology
9.         Multicultural counseling, theories and techniques
10.       Research
11.       Diagnosis and treatment of addictive disorders
12.       Marriage and family systems theory
13.       Supervised internship of 600 hours to include 240 hours of face-to-face direct client contact.


Supervision/Residency requirement:


4,000 hour supervised residency in counseling practice with various populations, clinical problems and theoretical approaches in the following areas:

  • Counseling and psychotherapy techniques
  • Appraisal, evaluation, and diagnostic procedures
  • Treatment planning and implementation
  • Case management and record keeping
  • Professional identity and function
  • Professional ethics and standard of practice

**  2,000 hours of direct client contact must be documented within this 4,000 hour residency.


Board Exam:

Passing score on the National Clinical Mental Health Counselors Examination (NCMHCE)


Continuing Education Units:

20 CEU's (continuing education units) required annually for licensure maintenance, which must include credits in ethics.

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