How to Become a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Alaska

Ready to become a clinical mental health counselor in Alaska? The perfect time awaits as the state projects a 19% increase in counseling roles—one of the highest growth rates nationwide. Alaska’s counselors rank among the nation’s top five highest-paid, with substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health professionals earning an average of $65,090 annually.

Alaska’s mental health counselor licensing process creates a path to help the state’s 700,000+ residents, who currently receive support from just over 1,500 professional counselors. You’ll find everything about Alaska’s mental health counselor requirements helpful as you begin your experience. The field offers exceptional earning potential, and you’ll join a profession where entry-level positions start around $54,705 and experienced roles reach up to $98,894 annually. This piece guides you through each step to become a licensed clinical mental health counselor in Alaska—from education and supervised experience to examination and credential maintenance.

Types of Licensure in Alaska

Your path to becoming a mental health counselor in Alaska starts with choosing the right license. The state provides several options based on your career goals and specialty area.

The Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) credential is the main license you need to practice independently in Alaska. The Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (BPC) issues this license, which lets you counsel clients and receive payment for your services. While the LPC license covers all counseling areas, you must tell potential clients about your specific expertise and services.

The National Board for Certified Counselors also offers a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor credential. You can get this extra certification by passing the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE).

Alaska’s counseling world is about to change. The state passed House Bill 126 in 2024, which creates a new Associate Counselor license starting July 1, 2025. This gives new graduates a stepping stone toward their full LPC license. Until the new rules are set, you’ll need to get your post-graduate hours under a board-approved supervisor.

Alaska also has special credentials for specific counseling fields:

School counselors can get licensed through the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED). They need a Type C Special Services Certificate with a school counselor endorsement. This requires finishing a state-approved school counseling program and having an accredited degree. These counselors help students grow academically, professionally, and personally.

The Alaska Commission for Behavioral Health Certification (ACBHC) offers three levels of certification for substance abuse counselors: Counselor Technician (CT), Chemical Dependency Counselor I (CDC I), and Chemical Dependency Counselor II (CDC II). You don’t need a college degree for these certifications, but having one reduces your required training and experience hours.

LPCs with five years of experience can become Board-Approved Supervisors. You’ll need six hours of supervision-related continuing education from the past two years. The certification costs $350 and requires an application explaining your supervision philosophy, experience, and approach [10, 11].

Counselors licensed in other states can apply through reciprocity if their license is clean and their state’s requirements match or exceed Alaska’s standards. You must have completed 60 graduate credits in counseling, even if your original state didn’t require it.

These license options create a clear path toward your goal of becoming a clinical mental health counselor in Alaska.

Earn Your Degree

Your Alaska mental health counselor license starts with the right education. Academic requirements follow a specific structure that helps you develop skills you need to practice clinically.

You must earn a master’s or doctoral degree in counseling or a related field to qualify for licensure. Your graduate program needs minimum of 60 semester hours in counseling. If your master’s program had fewer credits, you’ll need extra qualifying coursework to meet this requirement.

The Alaska Board of Professional Counselors accepts degrees from regionally accredited institutions or programs with national accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). CACREP accreditation is valuable—it shows your program meets national standards and makes the licensure process easier.

If you have a degree in psychology, marital and family therapy, social work, or applied behavioral science, you must prove educational equivalency. You’ll need to submit an Educational Coursework Check Sheet (form #08-4910a) that shows coursework in at least eight of these ten areas:

1. Helping relationships, including counseling theory and practice
2. Human growth and development
3. Lifestyle and career development
4. Group dynamics, processes, counseling, and consulting
5. Assessment, appraisal, and testing of individuals
6. Social and cultural foundations, including multicultural issues
7. Principles of etiology, diagnosis, treatment planning, and prevention
8. Marriage and family counseling and therapy
9. Research and evaluation
10. Professional counseling orientation and ethics

Whatever your degree field, you must complete at least three semester hours of counseling ethics coursework.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) has the only CACREP-accredited clinical mental health counseling program in the state. The M.Ed. program offers digital courses both live and recorded, which gives you flexibility while maintaining high standards. Alaska residents pay between $10,500-$15,800 annually, while non-residents pay $20,600-$30,800.

UAF’s program prepares counselors to serve Alaska’s diverse populations effectively, with focus on rural clients. Students complete a field practicum and internship under licensed counselor supervision to gain hands-on experience. The program accepts students twice a year—submit by February 10 for fall admission or October 15 for spring enrollment if space allows.

You need a bachelor’s degree (preferably in a human service field), 3.0 GPA minimum, professional resume, statement of academic goals, three recommendation letters, and a faculty interview. On top of that, you must clear a national-level FBI background check before starting client interactions during practicum.

The hybrid format works well for students across Alaska’s big geography, though some campus visits are required. Many students get chances to publish research with faculty and present at professional conferences, which adds value to their education.

Get Licensed

Your journey to get an Alaska mental health counselor license starts right after your graduate degree. You’ll need to complete supervised clinical experience and pass a national exam.

The Alaska Board of Professional Counselors wants you to complete 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience across two years minimum. This experience must include at least 1,000 hours where you directly work with clients. You’ll provide counseling to individuals, couples, families, or groups. During this time, you need 100 hours of face-to-face supervision from a board-approved supervisor.

The Alaska Board of Professional Counselors must approve your supervisor before you start your supervision. Your supervisor can be a licensed professional counselor, clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, psychologist, psychological associate, physician or advanced nurse practitioner certified in mental health services.

After completing your supervised hours, you must pass one of these national exams:

• National Counselor Examination (NCE): A 200-question multiple-choice test covering eight key counseling areas, including human growth and development, social and cultural diversity, and diagnostic assessment services
• National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE): Uses clinical simulation format to test counseling knowledge
• Certified Rehabilitation Counselor Exam (CRC): Accepted as a valid alternative to the NCE or NCMHCE

The examination administrator should send your results directly to the Alaska Board. Your exam scores stay valid for three years. You’ll need to retake the exam if you don’t get your license within this timeframe, unless the Board grants an extension for good cause.

The application package costs $200 plus $250 for initial licensure. You must include official transcripts, verification of supervised experience, examination results, and two professional references.

You need to get a criminal background check from the Alaska State Troopers before submitting your application, whatever your Alaska residency status. A background check from your previous state is required if you lived elsewhere in the past year. Official state-issued reports are mandatory – government clearances or workplace background checks won’t work.

Applications usually take four to six weeks to process. You can keep practicing under supervision during this time but can’t use the LPC title until you officially get your license.

Alaska welcomes counselors licensed in other states through licensure by credentials when your current license meets or exceeds Alaska’s standards. You still need to show completion of 60 graduate credits in counseling.

Find Employment

Getting your Alaska mental health counselor license opens doors to a booming job market that just needs qualified professionals. The job outlook looks great, especially since the state faces a huge shortage of mental health providers.

Right now, 377,740 Alaskans—almost half the state’s population—don’t have enough mental health professionals in their communities. Alaska has about 660 mental health counselors as of 2020, and this number should reach 730 by 2030. You can expect around 70 job openings each year until 2030.

Your salary will depend on your experience, work setting, and credentials. Mental health counselors, including those specializing in substance abuse and behavioral disorders, earn a median of $59,190 yearly as of May 2024. Alaska Behavioral Health’s salary structure shows what you can earn:

• Senior Licensed Clinician: $85,000-$110,000 annually
• Licensed Clinician: $72,000-$93,000 annually
• Unlicensed Clinician: $60,000-$77,000 annually

Private practices tend to pay even better. Professional counselors can make $110,000-$165,000 yearly based on their caseload.

The benefits go beyond just the base pay. Alaska Behavioral Health gives licensed and senior clinicians a $10,000 signing bonus. On top of that, you can earn up to $39,000 in yearly incentives by meeting individual and organizational goals.

Mental health counselors are in high demand across Alaska’s healthcare sector:

• Community health centers, including Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
• Hospitals such as Providence Alaska Medical Center
• Private practices throughout the state
• State and local government agencies
• Outpatient care centers and child/family service agencies

The job growth rate for counselors in Alaska is growing by a lot faster than the national average—expected to hit 17% from 2024 to 2034. This rapid growth comes from better public awareness, wider acceptance of mental health services, and ongoing staff shortages.

Working in Alaska comes with unique challenges. Many clients deal with multiple issues like poverty and historical trauma, especially in remote areas. You’ll need to adapt your therapy approaches and stay culturally aware.

Starting your practicum or internship in Alaska helps you build local connections and understand job opportunities better. The state also helps professionals through programs like SHARP, which offers loan repayment if you work in underserved areas.

Remain Compliant

You need to meet several ongoing requirements to keep your Alaska mental health counselor license active. Your license will expire on October 31 of odd-numbered years, with the next renewal due on October 31, 2027. The law doesn’t allow any grace period—you can’t practice with an expired license.

Your Alaska mental health counselor requirements include completing 40 hours of approved continuing education (CE) every two years. Starting November 1, 2023, you must complete:

• At least three contact hours in professional ethics
• At least three contact hours in suicidality
• At least three contact hours in cultural competency

You can complete up to 20 CE hours through individual study. This gives you flexibility to finish half your requirements through correspondence programs, asynchronous learning, or streaming education. These programs must require registration and provide completion proof.

You should keep detailed records of your CE activities for at least three years. The board conducts random audits of renewal applications to check CE requirement compliance. You’ll need to submit your CE hour verification within 30 days if selected for an audit.

Renewal applications usually take 4-6 weeks to process. Make sure to plan ahead to avoid any breaks in your practice. The board will send you one renewal notice by email or mail at least 30 days before expiration. All the same, you’re responsible for renewal even if you don’t receive this notice.

Alaska has extra requirements if you want to provide distance professional services. You’ll need to complete six hours of CE from a board-approved provider about distance professional services before offering telehealth.

Next Steps

Beginning a career as a licensed clinical mental health counselor in Alaska brings professional fulfillment and financial stability. In this piece, you’ve learned about the detailed pathway toward licensure, from educational requirements to retaining your credentials. The process definitely needs dedication. You’ll need a 60-credit master’s degree, 3,000 hours of supervised experience, and must pass a national examination—but the rewards match this investment.

Alaska ranks among the top-paying states for mental health professionals. Entry-level positions start at $59,000, while experienced clinicians earn well over $100,000. On top of that, the projected 19% growth rate for counseling positions through 2034 is nowhere near national averages. This ensures strong job security for qualified professionals.

The state’s unique geography and diverse populations create both challenges and opportunities. Rural communities need qualified mental health professionals, which makes your services especially valuable. Programs like SHARP offer loan repayment benefits when you serve underserved areas, expanding your career options.

Note that licensing requirements continue to evolve. The Associate Counselor license introduction in 2025 creates a new intermediate step between graduation and full licensure. The Alaska Board of Professional Counselors provides vital information about regulatory changes for career advancement.

Completing 40 hours of continuing education every two years is significant to keep your license active. This ongoing professional development keeps you current with best practices and emerging therapeutic approaches.

The path to becoming a licensed clinical mental health counselor in Alaska might seem challenging. However, excellent compensation, strong job security, and a chance to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives make this profession worthwhile. Your skills will help address critical needs in a state where nearly half the population lacks proper access to mental health services. This makes your future career professionally and socially rewarding.