Arizona licenses Licensed Associate Counselors (LAC) and Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) through the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. Everything below comes from the board's own pages and rules, checked October 18, 2026. Fees and rules change, so confirm on the linked pages before you pay.
Check with your board. Counselor Ticket is a study aid. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), the Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE), the American Counseling Association (ACA), CACREP or any state counseling board; NCE and NCMHCE are NBCC's marks, used here only to name the exams. Laws on confidentiality, duty to warn, reporting and licensing differ by state; follow your state's law, your agency and your supervisor.
Arizona at a glance
License
Exam
What it takes
LAC (Licensed Associate Counselor)
NCE, NCMHCE or CRC
A qualifying counseling degree and a passing exam; no supervised experience required.
LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor)
Already met as an LAC
3,200 hours of supervised counseling over at least 24 months, 1,600 direct psychotherapy, 100 hours of supervision.
Arizona, step by step
Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners
The exam (R4-6-502): the board approves the NCE, the NCMHCE and the CRC exam. You must pass within 12 months of the board's written exam authorization, with no more than three attempts in that window, or the board closes your file (a one-time 90-day extension is possible for good cause). An active LAC in good standing is treated as having met the exam requirement for the LPC.
LAC: no supervised experience is required for the associate license; you practice under the board's limits while you build hours.
LPC experience (R4-6-503): at least 3,200 hours of supervised professional counseling in no less than 24 months, with at least 1,600 hours of direct client contact using psychotherapy (no more than 400 of them psychoeducation), no more than 1,600 indirect hours, and at least 100 hours of clinical supervision, including at least one hour in every month you see clients.
Fees (R4-6-215): application for a license by examination $250 (non-refundable), criminal history background check $40, biennial renewal $325. Confirm the current schedule with the board before you pay.
The steps that hold nearly everywhere: a counseling master's degree (usually 60 semester hours, often CACREP-accredited), your board's approval, an NBCC exam, about two years of supervised experience, then the full license. The NCE has 200 questions (160 scored) in 3 hours 45 minutes; the NCMHCE is 11 clinical case studies in the same time; either can be retaken after 30 days (NBCC/CCE candidate handbooks). The full walk-through: How to get your counseling license.