Does Louisiana accept the NCMHCE for the LPC?

Yes. The board names the NCE and the NCMHCE as the only tests it currently accepts for LPC licensure, so passing either one meets the requirement. An official passing score report has to reach the board before it approves a full LPC licence.

Do I need to pass the exam before becoming a PLPC?

No. You can apply for the provisional licence without having taken either exam. Once you hold it, though, you must attempt the NCE or the NCMHCE at least once in every PLPC renewal period until you pass, and the board must have your unofficial score before you submit the renewal application.

How many supervised hours does Louisiana require?

3,000 hours of post-master’s experience under a board-approved supervisor: at least 1,900 direct client hours, 1,000 indirect hours and 100 hours of face-to-face supervision, of which at least 50 must be individual. The experience must take no less than two years and no more than six from the date your supervision was first approved.

Can hours count before my PLPC is approved?

No. Every supervision arrangement needs board approval before it starts, and Louisiana’s rules say you cannot accrue any supervised experience hours, supervision hours included, until you are approved as a PLPC. Applicants coming from another state may transfer up to 2,500 hours that meet Louisiana’s own requirements.

What can I call myself while I am a PLPC?

Only provisional licensed professional counselor, or PLPC. The board’s rules forbid PLPCs from using any other title — including licensed, LPC or even counselor — and a PLPC may not practise independently or receive direct payment for services.

What does it cost, and who registers me for the exam?

The LPC application fee is $200 ($300 from out of state) and the PLPC application is $100 ($150 from out of state); renewal every two years is $170 for an LPC and $85 for a PLPC. The board offers no exam registration of its own: you register with NBCC directly and have NBCC send your official score to the board.

How to Become an LPC in Louisiana

Louisiana’s Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners accepts two exams for the LPC: the National Counselor Examination (NCE) and the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE). Neither is needed to become a Provisional Licensed Professional Counselor (PLPC), but a PLPC must attempt one in every renewal period until passing, while completing 3,000 supervised hours over two to six years.

Written and reviewed by the LexPort exam-prep team, led by our Founder & Exam-Prep Lead. LexPort builds certification practice questions — this is exam-preparation material, not medical advice. Last reviewed October 2026.

Does Louisiana accept the NCMHCE for the LPC?: Yes. The board names the NCE and the NCMHCE as the only tests it currently accepts for LPC licensure, so passing either one meets the requirement. An official passing score report has to reach the board before it approves a full LPC licence.
Do I need to pass the exam before becoming a PLPC?: No. You can apply for the provisional licence without having taken either exam. Once you hold it, though, you must attempt the NCE or the NCMHCE at least once in every PLPC renewal period until you pass, and the board must have your unofficial score before you submit the renewal application.
How many supervised hours does Louisiana require?: 3,000 hours of post-master’s experience under a board-approved supervisor: at least 1,900 direct client hours, 1,000 indirect hours and 100 hours of face-to-face supervision, of which at least 50 must be individual. The experience must take no less than two years and no more than six from the date your supervision was first approved.
Can hours count before my PLPC is approved?: No. Every supervision arrangement needs board approval before it starts, and Louisiana’s rules say you cannot accrue any supervised experience hours, supervision hours included, until you are approved as a PLPC. Applicants coming from another state may transfer up to 2,500 hours that meet Louisiana’s own requirements.
What can I call myself while I am a PLPC?: Only provisional licensed professional counselor, or PLPC. The board’s rules forbid PLPCs from using any other title — including licensed, LPC or even counselor — and a PLPC may not practise independently or receive direct payment for services.
What does it cost, and who registers me for the exam?: The LPC application fee is $200 ($300 from out of state) and the PLPC application is $100 ($150 from out of state); renewal every two years is $170 for an LPC and $85 for a PLPC. The board offers no exam registration of its own: you register with NBCC directly and have NBCC send your official score to the board.

Test yourself: 3 NCMHCE practice questions

Tap an answer for instant feedback and the full rationale. The full simulator has 4,000+, timed and scored.

Question 1

Weighing everything Devon and his mother have described, which working impression is best supported at this point, and on what grounds?

▸ Why B is the answer

The picture that best fits is a first-episode psychosis that has now persisted past a month: fixed persecutory delusions, voices, some disorganization, and functional collapse building over roughly one to two months. That duration and picture point toward the schizophreniform range rather than a briefer disturbance, but it stays explicitly provisional because substance and medical contributors have not yet been ruled out. Naming it this way captures both what is most supported and what still must be excluded, which is exactly the honest working impression at intake.

Question 2

Devon made a passive 'easier not to be here' remark and is hearing voices. How do you best assess his safety right now?

▸ Why C is the answer

Two channels of risk are live at once in psychosis. The passive suicidal remark must be assessed directly for intent, plan, and means. And the voices themselves carry risk that a suicide-only screen would miss: you need to know whether any command him toward harm, how compelling they are, and how able he feels to resist, alongside whether his disorganization is leaving him unable to keep himself safe or fed. Holding both together is what a real safety assessment in psychosis looks like.

Question 3

You are a counselor at the university counseling center facing what looks like a first-episode psychosis. What does staying within your scope of competence call for?

▸ Why D is the answer

Competence here means knowing both your limits and your role. A young person in a first psychotic episode needs a psychiatric and medical evaluation, to assess medication, rule out medical and substance causes, and set a level of care, which is beyond what counseling alone provides. But recognizing the limit is not the same as walking away: you arrange and coordinate that referral promptly and stay in the supportive relationship, which is precisely the counselor's job.

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How to Become an LPC in Louisiana

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