Utah licenses Clinical Mental Health Counselors (CMHC), with an Associate (ACMHC) license for graduates building hours. Utah's licensing 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.
Utah's licensing exam is the NCMHCE. DOPL lists the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination for its counselor licenses; it may ask graduates of non-CACREP programs for an NCE score during the education review. Counselor Ticket is written to the NCE, so it covers the shared knowledge but not the NCMHCE's case-study format.
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.
Utah at a glance
License
Exam
What it takes
ACMHC (Associate Clinical Mental Health Counselor)
None (NCE may be requested for non-CACREP degrees)
A CACREP master's or doctorate, or a 60-credit degree with required courses and a 700-hour practicum (240 direct).
CMHC (Clinical Mental Health Counselor)
NCMHCE
3,000 supervised hours: 1,200 direct client care and 100 hours of direct clinical supervision (for associates licensed since May 1, 2024). Suicide prevention training.
Utah, step by step
Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Degree: a master's or doctorate in clinical mental health counseling, clinical rehabilitation counseling or counselor education from a CACREP program, or a degree in clinical mental health counseling or an equivalent field at a CHEA-accredited institution with 60 semester credits (90 quarter) of counseling education, courses in mental status exams and psychopathology and in ethics, and a practicum or internship of at least 700 hours with 240 hours of direct therapy.
Associate license: apply for the ACMHC with official transcripts and the education worksheet; DOPL may ask for a passing NCE score if your program was not CACREP-accredited.
Supervised hours:3,000 total hours as an associate. If your ACMHC was issued on or after May 1, 2024: at least 1,200 hours of direct client care and 100 hours of direct clinical supervision, 25 with direct observation. Associates licensed earlier need 1,000 direct and 75 supervision hours.
CMHC: pass the NCMHCE (register through NBCC; scores go directly to DOPL) and show 2 hours of suicide prevention 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.