Hawaii licenses Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC) through DCCA. Since July 1, 2026, people still building post-graduate hours hold an Associate Mental Health Counselor provisional license. 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.
Hawaii at a glance
License
Exam
What it takes
Associate Mental Health Counselor (provisional, from July 1, 2026)
None to start
Practice only under a Hawaii-licensed clinical supervisor while you finish post-graduate hours.
LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor)
NCE
48 semester hours of graduate counseling coursework, a 300-hour practicum, 3,000 post-graduate hours with 100 hours of face-to-face supervision over 2 to 4 years.
Hawaii, step by step
Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing (Mental Health Counselor program)
Education: at least 48 semester hours (72 quarter) of graduate counseling coursework covering the listed subject areas, plus at least two academic terms of supervised mental health practicum (6 semester hours) with at least 300 hours of supervised client contact.
Associate license: from July 1, 2026, Hawaii offers an Associate Mental Health Counselor provisional license for practice under a Hawaii-licensed clinical supervisor during the post-graduate hours; supervised hours earned before that date still count.
Post-graduate experience: at least 3,000 hours in mental health counseling with 100 hours of face-to-face clinical supervision, completed in no less than two and no more than four years, all finished before you file the license application.
The exam: the NCE. Once DCCA finds you eligible, it mails exam and fee information.
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.