Rhode Island licenses Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associates and Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors (LCMHC) through RIDOH. The exam is the NCMHCE. 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.
Rhode Island's exam is the NCMHCE. RIDOH's application names the National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Exam, and RIDOH registers you with NBCC once your application is complete. Counselor Ticket is written to the NCE, so it covers the shared knowledge but not the NCMHCE's case-study format; use NBCC's own NCMHCE materials for that.
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.
Rhode Island at a glance
License
Exam
What it takes
Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate
None
60 graduate semester credits in mental health counseling (or an allied field with the core), 12 credits of practicum and a 600-hour internship. $70.
LCMHC (Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor)
NCMHCE
Two years and 2,000 hours of post-degree direct client contact, 100 hours of supervised case work over two years. $70.
Rhode Island, step by step
Rhode Island Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists (Rhode Island Department of Health)
Degree (216-RICR-40-05-11, 11.3.2): a master's, CAGS or doctorate in mental health counseling (or an allied field with the core curriculum) totaling 60 semester credits, with 12 credits of practicum and a one-year internship of at least 600 hours. The 60 credits must be done before your post-degree hours start counting.
Associate license: apply for the Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate license ($70) while you collect hours.
Experience (11.3.3): at least two years of postgraduate experience including 2,000 hours of direct client contact, and at least 100 hours of post-degree supervised case work spread over two years with a board-approved supervisor.
The exam: the NCMHCE. RIDOH registers you with NBCC after it receives your complete application; NBCC sends results to RIDOH.
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.