Become a Counselor in South Carolina

Below are basic guidelines for those wishing to earn their counseling certification in Maine. Most of these requirements, such as earning your Master’s degree, completing 3000 hours of supervised experience and passing the NCE examination, are likely to continue to be mandatory in the Maine counseling licensure process. However, it is wise to contact the South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors at (803) 896-4658 to make sure you are on the right track.

I’m a High School Graduate

A high school graduate with motivation should consider starting to earn credit towards a college degree. South Carolina counseling certification requires candidates to have completed a minimum of a master’s degree. If South Carolina counseling is your goal, it’s important to enroll in an undergraduate college degree program as a stepping stone on that path.

Click on the links below to browse schools offering associate or bachelor’s degree programs in psychology or counseling.

Once you have enrolled in a program, take advantage of your school’s career services department and learn how you can find employment or volunteer opportunities that are related to the counseling career path.

Already Received Bachelor’s Degree

Once you have your bachelor’s degree, you will need to find a school offering a master’s or doctoral degree program in counseling. Request information from additional schools offering counseling programs in South Carolina to get started.

Step One:

Apply for a preliminary intern license by submitting the appropriate application and required fees to the South Carolina Board of Examiners.

You can download the South Carolina preliminary counseling intern license application off the following South Carolina Department of Labor webpage.

Step Two:

When your education experience has been approved by the Board, you should be sent an examination registration packet for either the National Counselor Examination or the National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Examination. Both are administered by the National Board for Certified Counselors.

Information about the examinations is available on the NBCC website.

Step Three:

When the Board has approved you for an internship license, you can begin earning the required 3000 hours of supervised clinical experience for full professional counseling licensure. 1500 of these hours need to be completed after your degree has been earned.

More details and information about qualifying supervisors can be found in the South Carolina Code of Regulations.

Step Four:

Next, you can submit the South Carolina counseling application for full licensure. Download the application and submit it to the Board along with all supporting documents and fees.

You can download the application off the following South Carolina Department of Labor webpage.

Step Five:

The Board should receive your exam scores from the exam administrator. Upon approval of those scores and your application, you should be notified of your licensure status.

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