Becoming a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Colorado: Expert Guide

Do you want to think about becoming a licensed therapist in Colorado? You’re learning about a career path with important growth potential. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects this field to grow 14% from 2023 to 2033, which is much faster than average for all occupations during the same period.

Colorado’s need for qualified mental health professionals is critical right now. Statistics show that 19.55% of Colorado’s residents live with some form of mental illness—the third-highest rate nationwide. Mental Health America ranks Colorado 40th among all states that provide mental health services, especially when it comes to children.

Licensed professional counselors in Colorado enjoy both professional fulfillment and competitive pay. Substance abuse and mental health counselors make an average of $57,900 annually, while educational and vocational counselors earn around $59,010. Boulder’s professionals can earn up to $87,030 for substance use and mental health counseling roles.

Colorado’s mental health counseling license requirements might look complex at first. This detailed guide will show you each step of the process—from education and licensure to job opportunities and keeping your credentials current.

Types of Licensure in Colorado

Colorado offers several distinct paths to become a licensed mental health professional. Each specialization has its own requirements. Your first step to a successful career in mental health counseling starts with understanding these different license types.

The state recognizes five main licensed designations for mental health professionals:

• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC): Providing counseling and psychotherapy to individuals, groups, couples, and families
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW): Focusing on social work interventions
• Licensed Addictions Counselor (LAC): Specializing in substance use disorders
• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT): Working specifically with relationship dynamics
• Licensed Psychologist (PSY): Offering psychological services and assessment

Each designation has its own path to full licensure based on specific training requirements and standards. To cite an instance, future LPCs must first get a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate (LPCC) designation. The Licensed Social Worker (LSW) designation serves as a stepping stone to becoming an LCSW.

People seeking addiction counseling credentials advance through Certified Addictions Counseling (CAC) levels I, II, and III before reaching LAC status. Marriage and Family Therapist Candidates (MFTC) and Psychologist Candidates (PSYC) represent early stages in their respective paths.

Colorado’s counselor licensing system has three main categories:

1. Professional Counselor Candidate: The entry-level designation that needs completion of a master’s degree in counseling or a related field
2. Provisional Licensed Professional Counselor: A transitional license after completing education requirements while gathering supervised practice hours
3. Licensed Professional Counselor: The full professional license awarded after meeting all education, supervision, and examination requirements

Licensed mental health professionals must keep their status active through Continuing Professional Competency (CPC) requirements. LPCs must meet these requirements right after getting their license to renew, reinstate, or reactivate it.

LPCs can meet their CPC requirements in three ways:

1. The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program requires:
   • Completing a Professional Survey and Self-Assessment
   • Creating learning goals with a Learning Plan
   • Getting 40 Professional Development Hours (PDH) that match the Learning Plan
2. Deem Status if you participate in formal professional development programs within a Colorado state department
3. Active Duty Military Exemption available to those called to federally-funded active duty for more than 120 days

New licensees need 1.66 PDH hours per month from when their license starts until it expires.

The Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) handles various applications through their online system. This includes initial licensure (by examination or endorsement), license renewal, and bringing back expired licenses. Paper forms are available to reactivate inactive licenses or change to inactive status.

These licensure types and requirements are the foundations of your trip toward becoming a licensed mental health professional in Colorado. The next sections will explore deeply into the specific educational, examination, and supervised experience requirements you need to get your chosen credential.

Earn Your Degree

Your counseling career starts with the right academic credentials. A master’s degree in counseling or related field is the base of mental health professionals in Colorado.

The path demands significant time commitment. The complete trip takes about 8-9 years. This includes a four-year bachelor’s degree, 2-3 years of master’s program, and two years of post-master’s supervised training for Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) and Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs). Students pursuing doctoral programs need an additional 2-5 years after their master’s degree.

Master’s programs in counseling require 60 credit hours, though some need up to 64 credits. These programs align with Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies’ licensure requirements. Professionals with doctoral degrees need only 18 months of post-degree supervised experience instead of two years.

CACREP accreditation is a vital consideration while choosing a program. Colorado requires students to graduate from a CACREP-accredited program or equivalent to become licensed counselors. This accreditation will give a degree that meets national counseling education standards.

A typical master’s program has:

• Core counseling curriculum (48 credits)
• Clinical practicum (100 hours)
• Internship experience (600 hours)
• Specialization courses and electives

Colorado schools offer multiple program formats that fit different priorities. Students can choose from online options, in-person programs, and hybrid formats. In spite of that, online programs often need some in-person attendance. To cite an instance, Colorado Christian University’s online program requires three in-person residencies.

Several Colorado schools provide CACREP-accredited counseling programs with varied specializations:

Colorado State University in Fort Collins offers a Master of Arts in Counseling and Career Development ($15,856 per academic year for residents, $32,058 for non-residents).

University of Colorado Denver runs a 63-credit program with evening classes (3:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.) and weekend options. Students get supervised experience in their on-campus Student and Community Counseling Center.

Adams State University provides a 60-hour online program with two one-week in-semester lab residencies on campus. Colorado residents pay approximately $280 per credit hour for on-campus classes and $444 per credit hour for online courses.

Colorado Christian University’s 60-credit CACREP-accredited program comes in multiple formats: fully online or hybrid, with locations in Lakewood and Colorado Springs. Most students finish the program in 30 months while working full-time.

The master’s program prepares you for the National Counselor Exam – a requirement for Colorado licensure. After graduation, you can pursue licensure as a professional counselor, school counselor, or other mental health professional based on your specialization.

The programs accommodate working professionals with evening and weekend classes. Students get flexible completion timeframes up to six years from signing their degree plan.

Get Licensed

The path to becoming a licensed therapist in Colorado starts after you complete your master’s degree. You’ll need to follow several important steps through the licensure process that includes supervised practice, examinations, and formal application procedures.

Your first step is to register as a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate (LPCC) through Colorado’s Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). You must do this before you can start counting any post-degree hours. The original application will cost you $70.

Once you get your LPCC designation, you need to complete 2,000 hours of post-degree supervised practice over at least two years. You must spend 1,500 of these hours in direct client contact through individual therapy, couples therapy, family therapy, and intake assessments. You’ll also need 100 hours of supervision, with about 50 supervision hours needed for every 1,000 practice hours.

Your supervisor needs to meet specific qualifications under the “3-3-4 Rule”:

• Three years OR 3,000 hours of post-degree clinical expertise
• Three Professional Development Hours specific to clinical supervision each renewal period
• One of four qualification options (graduate-level supervision course, Approved Clinical Supervisor certification, doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision, or specialized training covering seven core content areas)

The supervision must happen alongside your experience hours—you can’t do it retroactively.

Colorado requires you to pass two tests:

1. The National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE) administered by the National Board for Certified Counselors
2. The Colorado Mental Health Jurisprudence Examination ($18 fee) that covers state laws and regulations

Your exam scores stay valid for five years. Make sure you complete your supervised hours within this time to avoid retaking the NCE.

After you meet these requirements, submit your LPC application through DORA’s online portal with a $70 fee. Your application package should have:

• Official transcripts showing your qualifying degree
• Passing examination reports
• Completed Post-Degree Experience and Supervision Form(s)
• Any name change documentation if needed

Your application stays active for one year. If you don’t complete everything in this time, you’ll need to submit a new application and meet current requirements.

Colorado offers licensure by endorsement if you’re licensed in other states. You’ll need to verify your existing license(s) and prove equivalent qualifications.

Your LPC credential expires on August 31 of odd-numbered years. You need 40 professional development hours per cycle to renew, with no more than 20 hours in any single activity. You get a 60-day grace period after expiration to practice while completing your renewal.

The Counseling Compact launches September 30, 2025. This will give Licensed Professional Counselors unique mobility opportunities across participating states. Getting appropriate malpractice insurance that covers all jurisdictions where you practice becomes more important as the counseling field changes.

Find Employment

Licensed mental health counselors will find great career prospects in Colorado. The employment outlook looks promising, with jobs for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors set to grow by 21.2% from 2022 to 2032. This is a big deal as it means that the national average and will create about 3,000 new positions over the next decade.

The state’s job market has expanded due to better mental health awareness, broader insurance coverage for counseling, and population growth. Colorado expects around 1,260 counseling positions to open yearly during this period. These openings come from both new positions and staff turnover.

New licensed counselors can work in various settings across the state. Most graduates start at community mental health centers, hospitals, or group practices where they get supervision to build their clinical hours. UCHealth runs facilities throughout Colorado, with locations in Northern Colorado, Southern Colorado, Metro Denver, and UCHealth Medical Group.

You can now work from home too. To cite an instance, Brightside Health gives telehealth jobs to Licensed Professional Counselors with pay between $83.00 and $95.00 per hour. Headway also offers remote work at $120.00-$131.00 hourly.

The benefits packages in Colorado are attractive. Vivent Health’s package shows this well – you get 6 weeks of paid time off in year one, 12 paid holidays, 401k with full employer match up to 5%, 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and subsidized medical, dental, and vision coverage.

Community mental health centers like Health Solutions West have positions in Grand Junction and the Western Slope for those who prefer office work. AllHealth Network hires clinical staff including counselors and has been a Denver Post Top Workplace for four straight years.

Schools and universities need counselors too. Naropa University’s Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling department in Boulder employs Clinical Support Professionals. University counseling centers regularly look for licensed counselors.

Your specialized skills as a licensed mental health counselor will serve you well in Colorado. The state ranks 40th in mental health service provision, so your work will make a real difference while advancing your career.

Remain Compliant

Your Colorado counselor license requires continuous compliance with state regulations after completing the licensure process. The moment you receive your license, you must start meeting Continuing Professional Competency (CPC) requirements to practice legally in the state.

Licensed Professional Counselors must show CPC through one of three pathways to renew, reinstate, or reactivate their license:

1. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program
   This popular option requires:

• A Professional Survey and Self-Assessment
• Learning goals with a matching Learning Plan
• 40 Professional Development Hours (PDH) that line up with your Learning Plan
• Documentation of all completed activities

2. Deem Status
   This applies when you join a formalized professional development program within a Colorado state department that meets CPC definition requirements.
3. Active Duty Military Exemption
   You qualify if federally-funded active duty exceeds 120 days for war, emergency, or contingency purposes.

New licensees need 1.66 PDH hours monthly from issuance through expiration. LPC licenses expire on August 31 of odd-numbered years, and renewals open 4-5 weeks before expiration. Professional Counselor Candidate’s licenses expire every three years on December 31.

Licensed counselors must report Colorado mental health statute violations when they have direct knowledge. Written reports need submission within 60 days with violation details and supporting documentation.

Ethical standards remain crucial throughout your career. Board investigation details about potential violations, complaints, or disciplinary proceedings stay confidential until the Board’s original consideration. The Board holds regular meetings and extra sessions as needed yearly, following Colorado’s Open Meetings Law for announcements and proceedings.

Compliance audits happen after renewal periods. You must keep accurate records of all professional development activities because requirement failures could affect your right to practice in Colorado.

Next Steps

Becoming a licensed mental health counselor in Colorado brings both challenges and great rewards. The educational path, licensure process, and professional development prepare you for a career field that will grow 14% through 2033. This growth rate surpasses most other professions. Colorado desperately needs qualified mental health professionals, as the state ranks 40th nationwide in mental health services despite having the third-highest rate of residents with mental illness.

Licensed counselors can look forward to financial stability. Mental health and substance abuse counselors earn around $57,900 yearly, while educational counselors make about $59,010. Boulder’s metropolitan area offers even better pay opportunities.

You’ll need to choose your licensure path wisely. Colorado’s five main designations—LPC, LCSW, LAC, LMFT, and PSY—each need specific educational backgrounds and supervised practice. CACREP-accredited master’s programs are an important part of your education, typically requiring 60 credit hours plus clinical experience, whatever specialty you choose.

After completing your degree, you’ll focus on getting an LPCC designation before gathering 2,000 supervised practice hours over two years. This phase ends with two key exams: the National Counselor Examination and Colorado Mental Health Jurisprudence Examination. Then you can apply for full licensure.

Licensed counselors find many job opportunities in a variety of settings. Community mental health centers, hospitals, telehealth providers, and educational institutions actively seek qualified counselors. Many positions come with attractive benefits packages and competitive pay, recognizing your specialized skills in a field that needs more professionals.

Maintaining your license requires attention to Continuing Professional Competency requirements—40 Professional Development Hours each renewal cycle. These activities help you stay current with new best practices and therapeutic approaches.

A career as a licensed mental health counselor represents both personal achievement and meets a vital community need. This blend of purpose and practicality makes counseling a rewarding career choice in Colorado for years ahead.