How to Become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Oregon

Oregon Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Requirements

1. Complete an accredited master’s degree in counseling, such as:

   • Master’s in clinical mental health counseling
   • Master’s in marriage, couple and family counseling
   • Master’s in school counseling

   The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) is the gold standard for counseling accreditation, though it is not the only acceptable option. If you do not choose a CACREP-accredited counseling program, be sure to familiarize yourself with the standards that your program must meet in order to be licensed in Oregon.

2. As a part of your master’s degree, you’ll complete a one-year (three-semester) clinical placement, consisting of an introductory clinical placement semester called “practicum” and a two-semester clinical placement called “internship.”
   

   The clinical placement year requires that you undergo supervised clinical work at an approved site, and is intended to build skills in intake, assessment, diagnosis, treatment and consultation. 

   Each university sets its own clinical-year expectations, but generally CACREP-accredited programs require students to:

   • Complete a minimum of 280 direct client counseling hours
   • Present a series of video case presentations of actual counseling sessions
   • Conduct psychosocial assessments and collate a summary of each assessment in formal written reports
   • Participate in weekly individual supervision at their clinical site, and weekly group supervision on campus (remote or in person) with their faculty supervisor 

   While most practicum and internship sites only agree to supervise unpaid, volunteer practicum and internship students in exchange for training and supervision, some sites do offer paid positions. 

   A counseling program cannot pre-approve a clinical site until the student has met all knowledge, skill and professional disposition requirements to enter their clinical year, and the site has successfully completed the university’s application process for the academic year in which the student will be completing their clinical experience.

3. After graduation, apply to become a registered associate with the OBLPCT. You must provide the board with transcripts verifying your graduation. You will pay a fee, complete a background check and be fingerprinted.
4. The application to become a registered associate also requires you to identify the licensed professional(s) who will supervise your clinical work as an associate. If the identified supervisor is not already approved by the OBLPCT, then this supervisor will need to complete an application to become approved. 
   

   Frequently, for graduates who begin work in an agency or clinic after graduation, a work supervisor or other licensed provider at the site serves as their supervisor for postgraduate clinical experience.

5. Complete 1,900 hours of post-graduation supervised clinical experience (typically completed within two to three years after graduation). Postgraduates are often in high demand for paid positions within agencies, and Oregon allows associates to open their own counseling practice. Thus, the majority of associates are paid for their clinical services. 
6. Complete a two-part Oregon licensing exam:

   • Take and pass a board-approved competency exam. There are different exams that can be taken to qualify for LPC licensure, and these options are different from the exam options for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) licensure. Also, students enrolled in a CACREP-accredited degree program can take this exam prior to or anytime after they complete their degree.
   • Take and pass the Oregon law and rules exam. Once the applicant completes all registered associate tasks, and the OBLPCT verifies this completion, the board allows the applicant to take the Oregon law and rules exam.
7. Once all registered associate tasks are completed, the applicant submits a licensure application and pays a non-refundable license application fee. Once this application is reviewed, verifying that all associate tasks have been completed, the board then allows the applicant to take the Oregon law and rules exam.
8. Once the applicant has passed both exams (as described above), the state then issues the applicant their LPC and/or LMFT.