Licensure

Professional Endorsements and Licensure

Courses in the department are often used for educational endorsements and for state licensure by professional regulatory boards such as the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health Professions Board of Counseling and other licensing agencies. Students with master’s degrees seeking endorsements in School Counseling, needing specialized courses or seeking to enroll in supervised clinical practica or internships in community counseling leading to licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor, must complete the following advanced level course sequence prior to enrolling in any of the department’s clinical internships.

Sequence of Required Courses

  • COED 641 (Practicum: Individual Counseling Techniques) and COED 642 (Practicum: Group Counseling Techniques).
  • COED 641 and COED 642 must be completed in the department prior to enrolling in any counseling internship offered in the department.
  • Other courses offered by the department can be taken for the purpose of professional endorsement certification or licensure with approval of the chair.

Specialized Endorsements and Licensure Features

School Counseling (K-12)

Graduates of the school counseling program are eligible to obtain licensure by the state at the kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) level. Licensure as a Virginia school counselor requires the candidate have a master’s degree from a state approved program in counseling.

Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC)

We provide academic course work that meets degree requirements established by the Virginia Board of Counseling for licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor.

Licensure for Professional Counselor in Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Health Professions Board of Counseling is the state agency that determines licensure for professional counselors in Virginia. The state of Virginia requires that the applicant for licensure shall have completed 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours of graduate study in the following core areas, with a minimum of 3 semester hours or 4.5 quarter hours in each of the areas identified as follows:

  • Professional identity, function and ethics;
  • Theories of counseling and psychotherapy;
  • Counseling and psychotherapy techniques;
  • Human growth and development;
  • Group counseling and psychotherapy, theories and techniques;
  • Career counseling and development theories and techniques;
  • Appraisal, evaluation and diagnostic procedures;
  • Abnormal behavior and psychopathology;
  • Multicultural counseling, theories and techniques;
  • Research;
  • Diagnosis and treatment of addictive disorders;
  • Marriage and family systems theory; and
  • Supervised internship of 600 hours to include 240 hours of face-to-face client contact.

Our department has identified courses which may be taken to satisfy the core areas listed above. Students wishing to pursue licensure in Virginia should consult with their advisor in planning their program of study.