- National Counselor Examination
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- National Certified Counselor Benefits
- NCC vs. State License
- Recertification
- Publicizing Your NCC credential
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- Counselor Certification
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Counselor Certification
Counselor certification differs from state licensing in that it is not mandatory in a lot of instances. Voluntary certifications from independent professional certifying organizations have been created to establish a way to recognize those practitioners who have met the minimum standards of education and supervised clinical experience as decided by the profession. These exist for counseling and a host of specializations within the counseling profession.
Not all counselor certifications are done at the state level. There are a few national certifications that are accepted in several states, in lieu of the individual state certification. These national programs are offered by independent companies, licensed by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) as being qualified to offer counselor certification. For example, the National Board for Certified Counselors offers the National Certified Counselor (NCC) program. Counselors should check with their individual state licensing boards to see if a national certification will be accepted.
Beyond the general counselor certification, there are several more specific certifications that apply only to certain subsets of counseling. The National Board for Certified Counselors offers three specialty certifications:
- The Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CCMHC)
- The National Certified School Counselor (NCSC)
- The Master Addictions Counselor (MAC)
All counselor certifications require that the practitioner has the NCC credential first, and then has other qualifications on top of it. For example, the MAC also requires a minimum of 12 semester hours of graduate coursework in the area of addictions, and three years' supervised experience as an addictions counselor. The CCMHC requires a minimum of 60 semester hours of graduate coursework in the field, a documented 100+ hours of counseling supervision, 3,000 hours of clinical patient contact, a taped clinical counseling session and a passing score on the National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Examination (NCMHCE).
In addition to the National Board for Certified Counselors, the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) offers counselor certification that is accepted by at least half of the states in the U.S. and part of Canada. Counselors who earn the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) certificate must demonstrate that they are of good moral character, that they meet the standards of quality in their practice and have the necessary education and professional experience. With all of these certifications, some form of continuing education is required to maintain the certification, and counselors are usually required to get recertified every five years.