Louisiana licenses Provisional Licensed Professional Counselors (PLPC), who practice under board-approved supervision, and Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC), who practice independently. 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.
Louisiana at a glance
License
Exam
What it takes
PLPC (Provisional Licensed Professional Counselor)
NCE or NCMHCE (attempt each renewal period until passed)
A qualifying counseling degree and a board-approved supervisor. Renews every two years ($85).
LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor)
Passed
3,000 hours of supervised experience over at least two years. Renewal $170 every two years.
Louisiana, step by step
Louisiana Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners
PLPC: apply to the board (a fingerprint criminal records check is part of the process) and practice only under the active supervision of a board-approved supervisor. PLPCs may not practice independently or bill clients directly.
The exam: the NCE or the NCMHCE. A PLPC must attempt one of them in every two-year renewal period until passing, and NBCC sends the score report to the board (4 to 6 weeks after the exam). The board does not run the exams itself.
Supervised experience: at least 3,000 hours of supervised experience in no less than two years. Active supervision means one hour of face-to-face supervision for every 20 hours of direct client contact, or at least once every three months. PLPC and supervisor keep a detailed log.
LPC: once the hours and exam are done, apply for the LPC. LPCs renew every two years in June ($170) with continuing education.
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.