General Information

• If you hold a current Professional Counselor of Mental Health license in another jurisdiction (state, the District of Columbia or U.S. territory), follow the instructions for applying by reciprocity.
  
  
• If you do not hold a current Professional Counselor of Mental Health license in another jurisdiction and you are currently certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), the Academy of Clinical Mental Health Counselors (ACMHC) or other national mental health specialty certifying organization, follow the instructions for applying by certification.

Requirements for All Applications

• Submit completed, signed and notarized Application for Professional Counselor of Mental Health Licensure.
  
  
• Enclose the processing fee by check or money order made payable to the "State of Delaware."
  
  
• Complete the Criminal History Record Check Authorization form to request state and federal criminal background checks. Follow the instructions on the authorization form to arrange to be fingerprinted.
  
  
• Arrange for the Board office to receive verification of your examination scores and certification as follows:
  • If you are certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) or the Academy of Clinical Mental Health Counselors (ACMHC), follow the instructions for requesting score verifications on the NBCC website at www.nbcc.org .
  • If you are certified by another national mental health specialty, arrange for the Board office to receive a National Certifying Organization Certification Form sent directly from the certifying organization to the Board office. Follow the instructions on the form. Note that the organization must be acceptable to the Board. For more information on certifying organizations, see Section 2.1.1.1 of the Board's Rules and Regulations.
    
    
• Arrange for the Board office to receive a verification of licensure from each jurisdiction (state, U.S. territory, District of Columbia ) where you now hold, or have ever held, a license to practice as a mental health professional. You may use the Verification of Licensure form enclosed with the application packet to request the verification.
  
  
• If you have never been issued a U.S. Social Security Number (SSN), submit a Request for Exemption from Social Security Number Requirement.

Additional Requirements for Applications by Certification

If you are applying by certification instead of reciprocity, you must submit documentation of your mental health counseling education and post-Masters mental health counseling experience in addition to the requirements listed above. Both you and your supervisor(s) should carefully follow the instructions for completing the required forms. Incomplete or incorrectly completed forms delay processing of your application . A resume will not be accepted in lieu of or in addition to the forms.

• Arrange for the Board office to receive an official transcript showing your completed graduate degree, sent directly from the college/university to the Board office.
  
  
• If you have 30 post-Masters credit hours in the field of counseling, arrange for the Board office to receive an official transcript showing these graduate credits, sent directly from the school(s) to the Board office. You may substitute these credit hours for up to 1600 of the 3200 hours of post-Masters mental health counseling experience that are required. Click Post-Masters Mental Health Counseling Experience Requirements for more information.
  
  
• To verify the minimum 1600 hours of direct supervision, arrange for the Board office to receive one or more Direct Supervision Reference forms completed and signed by your approved clinical supervisor(s). The supervisor(s) must mail the forms directly to the Board office.
  
  
• If you do not have 30 post-Master credit hours, you must arrange for the Board office to receive one or more Counseling Experience Verification forms to verify the experience that you gained when you were not under the direct supervision of a clinical supervisor.
  • For experience while you were employed, arrange for your clinical or administrative supervisor(s) to complete and mail one or more Counseling Experience Verification-Employment forms directly to the Board office.
  • For experience while you were self-employed, arrange for a professional colleague, supervisor or other individual who has personal knowledge of your professional practice while self-employed to complete and mail one or more Counseling Experience Verification-Self-Employment forms directly to the Board office. The person who attests to your experience while self-employed cannot be related to you as a spouse, former spouse, parent, step-parent, grand-parent, child, step-child, sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin or in-law.
  • All Counseling Experience Verification forms must clearly state the total number of post-Master's mental health counseling hours that you have provided. Providing only the dates of your employment or self-employment is not sufficient.
  • When combined, the mandatory 1600 hours verified on the Direct Supervision Reference forms added to the hours verified on all of the Counseling Experience Verification-Employment and Counseling Experience Verification-Self-Employment forms must total at least 3200 hours. All of these hours must span a period of not less than two but no more than four years.
    

Additional Requirements for Applications by Reciprocity

Whether or not documentation in addition to that listed in the Requirements for All Applicants section above is required depends on whether you have been licensed in good standing for five years in any of the other jurisdictions where you hold a current license.

• If you have been licensed in good standing for five years in any other jurisdiction where you now hold a current license, no further documentation is needed.
  
  
• If you have been licensed less than five years in each individual jurisdiction where you are currently licensed, submit copies of the other jurisdictions' licensing statute and rules and regulations for the Board to review. The Board will determine if any of the other jurisdiction's statute/rules and regulations are substantially similar to those of Delaware .