How to Become a Licensed Professional Counselor in Kansas

How Do I Become a Licensed Professional Counselor in Kansas?

In the state of Kansas, there are two levels of licensure that a professional counselor that can be obtained. The first one is Licensed Professional Counselor, also known as LPC. The second is Licensed Clinical Professional, also known as LCPC. You will need a significant amount of education that is required for both. However, with the LCPC, this license will have more in-depth coursework requirements.

What Are the Requirements to Become a Counselor in Kansas?

In order to hold a counseling license in the state of Kansas, you will need to graduate with at least a Master’s Degree and enroll in a graduate program. Kansas mandates coursework in counseling to be a minimum of 60 hours. You are required to make up any time that was missed in any content areas or in your Master’s Degree. The following programs should have been in your education plan; minimum of 45 hours:

• Helping Relationships
• Counseling theories/Practice
• Human Growth/development
• Group dynamics
• Individual Appraisal
• Career /lifestyle foundation
• Professional Orientation
• Research/Evaluation
• Supervised Practical Experiences

If you are going to try to obtain the LCPC license, you will need to have a minimum of 15 hours that are in reference to diagnosis and assessments. Two hours in Ethics and two hours in Psychopathology is mandated. Training with the newest edition of the DSM is required. In your 60 hours, you should include four max hours in writing and research, as well as a max of six hours involving independent study.

What Are the Supervised Experience Requirements to Become a Counselor in Kansas?

The reason there are two levels of licensure in Kansas is that you can go from LPC to LCPC from working with supervision. When you receive the LPC license, you will need to submit a supervision plan. This will need to be approved prior to accruing hours. You will be required to have two years of supervision.

Your supervisor will need to be an LCPC. If you cannot be supervised by an LCPC, you can be supervised by another professional; clinical social worker, licensed psychologist, family and marriage therapist, or a clinical psychotherapist.

If you hold a Master’s Degree, you are required to have 4,000 supervised experience hours.A number of hours that must be direct, face-to-face contact with the client is 1,500 hours. The clinical supervision must meet the requirement of 150 hours. For every 15 hours of any client contact, you will need an hour of clinical supervision.

You are required to have 50 hours of individual supervision. The extra 100 hours can be done in a group or individually. Each month, it is required to have to clinical supervision sessions. Every month, an individual session is needed at least once.

What Are the Examination Requirements to Become a Counselor in Kansas?

The licensing examination in Kansas will be taken through National Board for Certified Counselors. There are different exams you will be considered to take depending on the type of license and the level you are trying to obtain. The National Counselor Exam is the exam you will need to advance to the LPC level. The National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Examination is the exam you will need for the LCPC license. Either exam that you decide to take, you should try to receive approval five weeks prior to when you would like to take the exam.

Counseling Career Outlook In Kansas

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that substance abuse, mental health, and behavioral disorder counselors in Kansas have a median annual salary of $50,360. The average hourly wage is $25.23 per hour. Any annual salary or wages can change depending on the types of licensure and the type of counseling practiced. For example, the highest-earning 10% of substance abuse, mental health, and behavioral disorder counselors in the state make upwards of $72,180.

2022 US Bureau of Labor Statistics job market trends for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors are based on national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed August 2023.

Schools with Degree Programs Accepting Students from Kansas