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Graduate Program of Study in Counseling
Becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor in Louisiana

The following information is a synopsis of the Louisiana Mental Health Counselor Licensing Act and the Board rules on licensure. Before one can make application for license one must have obtained a graduate degree in mental health counseling, a minimum of 3,000 hours of supervised mental health counseling experience over a minimum two year post graduate degree period, and have passed the National Counselors Examination.

Licensing Requirements

  1. Twenty-one (21) years of age or older;
  2. Good moral character;
  3. A citizen of the United States or has legally declared his intentions of becoming such;
  4. Resident of the State of Louisiana or is in the act of establishing residency in the State of Louisiana;
  5. Not in violation of any of the provisions of R.S. 37:1101-1115 and the rules and regulations adopted herein;
  6. Has received a graduate degree the substance of which is professional mental health counseling in content from a regionally accredited institution of higher education offering a master's and/or doctoral program in counseling that is approved by the board and has accumulated at least forty-eight (48) graduate semester hours as part of the graduate degree plan containing the eight required areas, the supervised mental health Practicum and supervised Internship in mental health counseling (as defined by rules adopted by the Board).

Specific Academic Course Requirements

The following eight (8) areas are required to have at least one semester course:

Loyola Courses

    1. Counseling/Theories of Personality EDGR 830 Counseling Theories
    2. Human Growth and Development EDGR 725 Developmental Psychology
    3. Abnormal Behavior EDGR 855 Diagnosis and Treatment
    4. Techniques of Counseling EDGR 835 Counseling Practice
    5. Group Dynamics, Processes and Counseling EDGR 840 Group Counseling
    6. Lifestyle and Career Development EDGR 841 Vocational Counseling
    7. Appraisal of Individuals EDGR 776 Measurement and Assessment
    8. Ethics EDGR 846 Ethics in Counseling

The following two areas are encouraged for inclusion in graduate training:

  1. Substance Abuse EDGR 845 Substance Abuse
  2. Marriage and Family Studies EDGR 850 Intro. to Family Counseling
  1. Has declared special competencies and demonstrated professional competence therein bypassing the National Counselor Examination;
  2. Can document a minimum of 3,000 hours of supervised experience during a minimum of two years of post-master's degree experience in professional mental health counseling under the supervision of a licensed professional counselor. Five hundred hours of supervised experience may be gained for each 30 graduate semester hours earned beyond the master's degree, provided that such hours are clearly related to the field of mental health counseling and are acceptable to the board provided that in no case the applicant has less than 2,000 hours of supervised experience.

Note: Those persons beginning their supervised counseling experience on or after January 1, 1993 must comply with the supervision requirements outlined in Part II and register their supervision with the Board office prior to beginning their experience.

Updated July 13, 2004