Tennessee licenses Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) and, for clinical practice that includes diagnosis and treatment, LPCs with the Mental Health Service Provider designation (LPC-MHSP). 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.
Two NBCC exams in Tennessee. The LPC uses the NCE, the exam Counselor Ticket is written to, plus a Tennessee jurisprudence exam. The LPC-MHSP designation also requires the NCMHCE, a case-study exam our guide does not cover.
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.
Tennessee at a glance
License
Exam
What it takes
LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor)
NCE + Tennessee jurisprudence
60 graduate semester hours with a counseling major, two years of supervised post-master's experience. $200.
LPC-MHSP (Mental Health Service Provider)
NCE, NCMHCE + jurisprudence
3,000 supervised hours over 2 to 4 years (1,500 face to face), 150 hours of supervision, 9 semester hours in diagnosis and treatment. $200 (or $75 to upgrade).
Tennessee, step by step
Tennessee Board for Professional Counselors, Marital and Family Therapists and Clinical Pastoral Therapists
Education:60 graduate semester hours in a program with a major in counseling from a SACS-, CACREP- or comparably accredited institution, covering the core areas the rule lists (human behavior, abnormal behavior, counseling theories, appraisal, group work, techniques, multicultural, ethics, research, practicum or internship). The MHSP designation also needs at least 9 semester hours specifically on diagnosis, treatment and assessment of mental disorders.
Exams: pass the NCE and the Tennessee jurisprudence exam (state counselor law and the ACA Code of Ethics) before you apply; MHSP applicants also pass the NCMHCE. NBCC sends your scores to the board.
LPC experience: at least two years of supervised post-master's professional experience, at least 10 hours a week, with 50 contact hours of supervision a year.
LPC-MHSP experience: at least 3,000 hours of supervised post-master's clinical experience completed in no less than two and no more than four years, 1,500 of them face-to-face with clients and 1,500 in clinically related activities, with 150 hours of supervision. A temporary LPC-MHSP license ($150) is possible while you finish the NCMHCE and jurisprudence exam.
Fees (Rule 0450-01-.06): LPC application $200; MHSP upgrade $75; renewal $115 every two years plus a $10 state regulatory fee.
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.