How to Get Your Arizona LPC License

The independent clinical license in Arizona is the LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor).

Exams named for licensure: NCE, NCMHCE and CRC. The board approves the NCE, the NCMHCE or the CRC exam. You must pass within 12 months of exam authorization, with no more than three attempts.

3,200 hours of post-degree supervised experience for the independent license.

Those hours are completed under the associate credential, the LAC (Licensed Associate Counselor).

Licensed elsewhere: Licensure by endorsement (A.R.S. 32-3274) requires a current, good-standing license at a substantially equivalent level held for at least one year, plus a master's or higher degree. Arizona residents can also use Universal Recognition (A.R.S. 32-4302).

At 3,200 hours, Arizona asks for more supervised experience than most states. Counselors licensed elsewhere on 3,000 hours should check whether endorsement waives the difference before assuming it does.

The endorsement route expects 1 year of licensure elsewhere. Count from the date your independent license was issued, not your associate license.

The 3,200 supervised hours span at least 24 months and include 1,600 hours of direct client contact (no more than 400 in psychoeducation) and 100 hours of clinical supervision.

Arizona requires its Statutes/Regulations Tutorial, not a scored jurisprudence exam, for compact privileges and at each renewal.

Supervisor attestations and verifications from other boards take the longest. Request them the week you decide to apply, not the week you file.