Counseling Compact Non-Member States and What They Mean for You

Eleven states are not members of the Counseling Compact as of October 2026, and they include three of the four most populous: California, Texas and New York. The territories are outside it as well. For counselors that cuts two ways.

Who is out

• Alaska (LPC)
• California (LPCC)
• Hawaii (LMHC)
• Idaho (LCPC, with an LPC tier below it)
• Illinois (LCPC, with an LPC tier below it)
• Massachusetts (LMHC)
• Michigan (LPC), where a compact bill has passed one chamber
• New Mexico (LPCC)
• New York (LMHC)
• Oregon (LPC)
• Texas (LPC)
• Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the other territories

Every other state, plus the District of Columbia, has enacted the compact, though most are not yet issuing privileges. The compact overview has the live list.

If you live in a non-member state

You cannot use the compact at all. The Commission's FAQ says your home state must be a member for you to practice in other states through it, and your home state is where you primarily reside. Holding a license from a member state does not change this: a Texas resident with an Oklahoma LPC cannot use that Oklahoma license to get privileges, because Oklahoma is not her home state.

Your options for reaching clients in another state are the ones counselors have always had:

• A license by endorsement in each state you need, where the state offers one. See which states offer a real endorsement route.
• A full application where it does not.
• A temporary or limited-practice provision, where a state has one, for short continuity-of-care situations. Our colleagues cover those in temporary practice rules by state.

If you need to reach a non-member state

A privilege cannot take you there. Living in Arizona with every privilege the compact offers does not let you see a client located in California, because California does not grant privileges. You need that state's license. Several of these states are among the harder ones to enter:

• Texas says outright that it does not offer reciprocity, licensure by endorsement or temporary licensure. Out-of-state counselors meet the full Chapter 503 requirements, including 3,000 supervised hours and the Texas jurisprudence exam. Joining the compact would take legislation. More in Texas LPC for out-of-state counselors.
• California licenses out-of-state counselors as LPCCs but still requires California-specific coursework and its Law and Ethics Exam. See California LPCC for licensed counselors.
• New York offers endorsement to counselors with five years of licensed practice in the ten years before applying, and accepts only the NCMHCE. Details in New York LMHC by endorsement.
• Massachusetts requires three years of continuous full-time licensed practice (or part-time equivalent) and a passing NCMHCE score for its reciprocity route.
• Illinois waives proof of education and supervised experience for counselors licensed at the independent level elsewhere for five consecutive years without discipline.

Will any of them join?

Michigan is the nearest. House Bill 4591, which would enter Michigan into the compact, passed the Michigan House 83 to 23 on October 29, 2025, and went to the Senate Health Policy Committee. It had not become law as of October 2026. We would not plan a practice around any of them joining soon, and even after enactment, the implementation steps described in enacted but not live usually take a year or more.

Practical takeaways

1. If you live in a non-member state and plan to stay, think in terms of licenses, not privileges.
2. If you are deciding where to move, note that living in a live member state is what makes the compact work for you.
3. If your caseload includes California, Texas or New York clients, budget for those as full applications with long lead times.

We prepare endorsement and full applications for every state, including the non-member ones. The state guides list each board's route, and pricing shows what a full application costs with us.