Washington · Counseling
LMHCA to LMHC: Washington's Mental Health Counselor Hour Requirements
Last updated July 11, 2026
Washington's LMHCA is a real license — you cannot legally practice as an unlicensed associate — and moving up to the full LMHC is a cumulative-hours game with no interim paperwork. The Department of Health verifies everything once, at the end, on a single form per supervisor. Here is what the road looks like.
The hour targets
| Requirement | Hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total postgraduate experience | 3,000 | Equivalent to about 36 months full-time |
| Direct client counseling | 1,200 | Individuals, couples, families, or groups |
| Immediate supervision | 100 | Sessions where the supervisor has no more than 2 candidates at a time |
| Minimum duration | 36 months | Cannot complete faster even if the hours are met |
How supervision is measured
Washington sets a proportional floor rather than a fixed monthly minimum: at least 1 hour of supervision per 80 hours of clinical practice, per WAC 246-809. The 100-hour immediate-supervision requirement is the tighter constraint — those are sessions where your approved supervisor has no more than two candidates. General group supervision (up to 6 candidates) is allowed but does not count toward the 100-hour immediate floor.
Credits that shorten the road
- CACREP-accredited degree: once DOH receives your official transcript, you are credited with 50 hours of immediate supervision and 500 hours of direct counseling or other qualifying clinical experience — leaving 50 immediate-supervision hours to earn and 500 fewer hours toward the 3,000 total.
- SUDP experience: 3+ years as a Substance Use Disorder Professional within the past 10 years reduces the total from 3,000 to 2,700 hours.
No interim reports — then DOH 670-128
Washington has no periodic reporting windows and no birth-month deadlines during your associate period. You track your hours across the whole supervised experience, and each supervisor completes a DOH 670-128 — the Mental Health Counselor Associate Supervision and Experience Verification form, one per supervisor and per practice setting — submitted with your final LMHC application packet. The tradeoff: "no reports" means no forcing function, so if your tracking drifts, nobody notices until the end, when reconstructing hours across supervisors and settings gets painful.
The six-renewal cap
The LMHCA license can be renewed a maximum of six times before you must transition to LMHC — roughly seven years of associate practice at most, with renewals falling on your birthday each year. Each renewal carries 18 CE hours (including 6 hours of suicide assessment at first renewal, 6 hours of ethics/law every two years, and 2 hours of health equity every four years). If you are pacing part-time, map your remaining renewals against your realistic weekly clinical volume early — the cap turns "I'll get there eventually" into a real deadline. The LMHCA renewal-cap guide covers this in depth.
Exam
You must pass the NCE or NCMHCE, administered by NBCC/CCE, with scores submitted directly to DOH.
Common questions
What hours do I need to move from LMHCA to LMHC?▾
3,000 total postgraduate hours over a minimum of 36 months, including 1,200 hours of direct client counseling and 100 hours of immediate supervision — sessions where your approved supervisor has no more than two candidates at a time. You also need a passing score on the NCE or NCMHCE.
How often do I need supervision as an LMHCA?▾
Washington sets a proportional floor rather than a fixed monthly minimum: at least one hour of supervision for every 80 hours of clinical practice, per WAC 246-809. General group supervision of up to six candidates is allowed but does not count toward the 100-hour immediate supervision floor.
Does a CACREP degree reduce my LMHC hour requirements?▾
Yes. Once DOH receives your official transcript, graduates of CACREP-accredited master's or doctoral programs are credited with 50 hours of immediate supervision and 500 hours of direct counseling or other qualifying clinical experience — leaving 50 immediate-supervision hours to earn and 500 fewer hours toward the 3,000 total.
Do I file interim reports during my LMHCA period?▾
No. Washington has no periodic reporting windows. You track hours throughout your supervised experience, and your supervisor completes the DOH 670-128 Supervision and Experience Verification form — one per supervisor and per practice setting — submitted with your final LMHC application packet.
How does the six-renewal LMHCA cap affect my planning?▾
The LMHCA license can be renewed a maximum of six times before you must transition to LMHC, so you have roughly seven years of associate practice to finish your 3,000 hours and pass your exam. If you are pacing part-time, map your remaining renewals against your weekly clinical volume early.
Official sources
This guide is informational, not legal advice. Licensure rules change — always verify current requirements with your board before making decisions about your supervision plan, and flag any discrepancies to support@almostlicensed.com so we can fix them.