Rhode Island requires the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) for its full counselor licence, which state law calls clinical mental health counselor and most people search for as LMHC. You do not book the exam yourself: once the Department of Health receives your completed application, it registers you with NBCC for the next scheduled exam. The application fee is $70.
- Is the NCMHCE required in Rhode Island?
- Yes. Rhode Island’s licensing rule requires applicants to pass the NCMHCE or another examination the board approves, and the Department of Health’s application states plainly that the NCMHCE is the exam required for licensure. Counselors already licensed in another state may qualify through the endorsement route instead.
- Is the licence really called LMHC in Rhode Island?
- Not in the state’s own documents. The statute and rules use clinical mental health counselor and clinical mental health counselor associate, and the Department of Health’s forms say mental health counselor. NBCC’s state board directory lists the same licence as Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), the name most people search for.
- How do I sign up for the NCMHCE in Rhode Island?
- Through your licence application. When the Department of Health receives it complete, the department registers you with NBCC for the next scheduled exam, and NBCC sends your admission details about ten days before the test. Results go to the department rather than to you, in roughly six weeks, and the department forwards them on.
- How much supervised experience does Rhode Island require?
- At least two years of postgraduate experience including 2,000 hours of direct client contact, plus a minimum of 100 hours of supervised case work spread over two years with a board-approved supervisor. The hours only start once your 60 graduate credits are complete, and observing others, record keeping and role plays are not counted as direct service.
- What degree does Rhode Island require?
- A master’s or higher from a CACREP-accredited program, or a graduate degree in mental health counseling or an allied field with coursework equal to a mental health counseling master’s, including 30 credits across eight core categories. Either way, 60 semester or 90 quarter credit hours must be finished before post-graduate experience begins.
- What does it cost, and how long does the associate licence last?
- The application fee is $70, renewal is $50 every two years and a re-examination costs $70. The associate licence, also $70 to apply, expires three years after it is issued and cannot be renewed, although the board may grant a one-year extension for a $50 fee.