What Is The Counseling Compact?

If you’re a licensed professional counselor who’s ever lost a client to a state-line move, turned down a referral because the person lived one state over, or spent months chasing a second license just to keep seeing someone via telehealth, the Counseling Compact was built for you. It’s the first unified system that lets LPCs and LPCCs carry their credentials across participating states without starting the licensure process over from scratch. Below, we break down how the Compact works, who qualifies, what it costs, and which states are currently issuing privileges.

TL;DR

The Counseling Compact is an interstate agreement that lets licensed professional counselors practice in other member states without getting a separate license. Instead of navigating each state’s individual reciprocity process, counselors apply through a single online portal called Compact Connect, complete an FBI background check, and receive a “privilege to practice,” which is a credential that carries the same authority as a local license in that state.

As of early 2026, 39 states and Washington, D.C., have enacted the Compact. Three states are operationally live: Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio. The remaining states are working through technical and administrative steps to begin issuing privileges, with the Counseling Compact Commission estimating full implementation across all member states within 24 to 36 months.

To qualify, you must hold an independent, unencumbered license in the state where you legally reside. The current fee is $55 per privilege. The Compact covers telehealth, meaning you can see clients across state lines without relocating. The application takes minutes, and once your privilege appears on your Compact Connect dashboard, you can begin practicing in that state immediately.

Origins Of The Counseling Compact?

The Counseling Compact was created in 2019 through a partnership between the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the Council of State Governments (CSG) to address issues of portability of licenses across state lines. Due to the history of bureaucratic fragmentation of interstate professions, it has been historically difficult for counselors and other healthcare professionals to take their essential work to people and communities outside of their home state. Legislation established both the Compact and the Compact Commission, which is the governing body of the Compact. It is composed of one member from each state’s licensing board that is a part of the Compact itself. Though it was created in 2019, it did not convene until 2022 (due to COVID and other obstacles) and began issuing “privileges” for the first time in 2025. These privileges are the key contribution of the Compact, as they are awarded to those counselors who go through the process to transport their license across state lines.

Though it is governed by the Compact Commission, the Compact itself has many players behind it, including state legislation and the Council of State Governments. However, a notable supporter for the Compact is the American Counseling Association (the ACA) itself, allotting $1.8 million towards these efforts and offering sustained support, according to their website.

An essential task and potential challenge for the Compact to address is disciplinary action and reporting on license-holders when they are functioning within their privileges across state lines. Who is responsible for reporting infractions? Who is responsible for addressing them? And so on. To address these concerns, the Compact has created the Coordinated Database and Reporting System, which is a digital platform that tracks not only which license-holders are included within the privileges but also allows reporting to be made and tracked. Increased transportability beyond immediate geographical constraints means increased need for virtual accountability.

How Does The Counseling Compact Work?

The Counseling Compact works by granting a “privilege to practice” to counselors who apply through the Compact Connect portal. You maintain your home state license, complete an FBI background check, submit your application, and receive a privilege that lets you practice in other member states, typically within minutes. The privilege is an additional status on a license, not an entirely separate license itself.

To acquire the privilege to practice in the Compact, you must first acquire an independent license in your home state (the state in which you reside), complete the Compact Connect application, and complete an FBI background check. The application is streamlined, quick, and easy. To do the application, you simply create an account, upload the documents it requests, and fill out the application as directed online, then submit. If you are a licensed professional counselor, you are likely familiar with license expirations, and it is no different with the privilege to practice. Thankfully, your privilege to practice expiration date is linked up with your home state license expiration, so make sure to renew both at the same time, as it does not auto-renew!

Early data from the Counseling Compact Commission shows the system is already in use. In its first months of operation, Minnesota issued 189 privileges to Arizona-licensed counselors, while Arizona issued 13 privileges to Minnesota-licensed counselors.

Who Is Eligible For The Counseling Compact?

To qualify for The Counseling Compact, you must hold an independent, unencumbered license to practice professional counseling in the state where you legally reside, and that state must be a Compact member. License title doesn’t matter: LPC, LPCC, LCPC, and equivalent designations all qualify, as long as your scope includes, the authority to independently assess, diagnose, and treat behavioral health conditions.

There are, of course, limitations around who is eligible for the Compact at all. To make it simple: only professional counselors who reside and are licensed in their home state may be eligible for the Counseling Compact. What does this mean? You can only apply for the Counseling Compact if you are fully licensed (i.e., have completed the NCE and have full licensure without supervision needs) in the state in which your legal residence is. For instance, if I reside in Colorado but am licensed in Ohio, I am not eligible. Or, if I am a social worker who lives in Arizona, I am also ineligible. If I am a licensed professional counselor who is licensed in and resides in Ohio, I am eligible.

Who Is Not Eligible?

If you’re a counseling student or recent graduate mapping out your path to Compact eligibility, there’s one upcoming change worth building into your timeline. The Counseling Compact applies specifically to licensed professional counselors. If you hold a different behavioral health license, the Compact does not cover you, but you may have options through other interstate compacts designed for your profession.

Recent graduates under supervision are not eligible. If you have not completed your supervised hours and still require oversight to practice, you do not hold an independent license. You cannot apply until you do.

Marriage and family therapists, social workers, psychologists, and expressive arts therapists (art, music, dance therapy) are each covered by separate interstate compacts or pathways, not The Counseling Compact.

If you are a counseling student who has not graduated yet, the Compact is not available to you, but it is worth knowing about as you plan your career. Beginning January 1, 2027, the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) will require graduation from a CACREP-accredited program to obtain the National Certified Counselor (NCC) credential.

Which States Are In The Counseling Compact?

There are currently 39 states that have passed legislation to be included in the Compact, but only three are “operationally live,” meaning that the Compact only actively applies to those three states, with the other 36 states underway.

Here is a list of the 39 states that have passed legislation: AL, AZ, AR, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MN, MD, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NC, ND, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY, and Washington, DC. Of these, only three are operationally active: Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio.

It takes time for each state to move from passing the legislation to becoming operational in the Compact, and this timeline varies from state to state. The process depends on several factors, including setting up adequate administrative capacities like developing IT and training staff, allotting budgets and deciding on fees, FBI background checks, and testing procedures. According to the Counseling Compact Commission, it is estimated that all states will be operationally active in 24-36 months.

If you are a professional counselor whose home state is not in the Compact, but you are interested in joining the Compact, there are two options: move your residence and license to a state listed above, or simply wait and stay updated on your state’s processes to join the Compact. It is still relatively new (founded in 2019) and it is likely that more states will join in the future.

How Much Does The Counseling Compact Cost?

The fee for the Counseling Compact privilege will vary state to state depending on the jurisdiction of that state.

For instance, in Ohio, the fee is $55 per license privilege. But there is something to note about the timing of applying. Because there are two possible ways to apply, and they will have different price tags on them. Let’s keep using this Ohio example and keep in mind that the privilege expires on the same date your home state license expires, regardless of when you acquired the privilege.

The first way to do this is to apply for the privilege and pay the $55 fee whenever you want to start using your license in Ohio. But then, when you inevitably have to renew your license in your home state (let’s say it’s also $55), you will have to pay that separately. So you’ve ended up paying $110 total for the privilege on, say, May 12th and then renewing your license on August 12th.

The other way to go about this, and neither way is more correct than the other as long as you are aware of each option, is to wait until you have to renew your home state license (pay the $55 fee for that on August 12th) and the Compact privilege will automatically renew. In the end, you only pay $55 total for both the home state license and the privilege to practice in Ohio.

While we’re on the topic of fees, let’s address another important aspect of the Compact. Some states require a jurisprudence exam, (a test of that state’s specific counseling laws and regulations), to be passed before you practice in that state. A whole list of each state’s requirements for the exam can be found on their website.

Finally, because it’s an FAQ on the Compact Connect homepage, let’s address the topic of wall certificates here. As practitioners, we go through a great deal of schooling and post-graduate training, and we want to adorn our office walls with these achievements, which is understandable. However, a privilege license in another state does not come in the form of a hanging. Everything is managed and accessed digitally on the portal.

Does The Counseling Compact Cover Telehealth?

Yes. Counselors who hold a privilege to practice through The Counseling Compact can provide telehealth services to clients in any state where they hold an active privilege. This is the Compact’s biggest practical benefit, a permanent solution to the cross-state telehealth access problems that surfaced when COVID-era waivers expired.

Unless you’re looking to commute from your home state in Arizona to see your privilege-license clients in Ohio, you’re probably looking at utilizing telehealth to see those clients. And that’s really the purpose and strength of the Compact, especially in our post-COVID world. During COVID, temporary waivers allowed cross-state telehealth. When those waivers expired, counselors lost the ability to see clients who had moved or were traveling out of state. The Compact provides the permanent fix, making it easier to see clients via telehealth across the country.

As with all things healthcare and licensing, it is crucial to consult each state’s laws around telehealth and counseling in general to ensure that you are working within the scope of legality and ethics within each state. Do not assume that telehealth regulations, informed consent requirements, or scope of practice rules work the exact same way in Arizona as they do in Ohio.

FAQs About The Counseling Compact

Can My Entire Group Practice Gain Privilege?

No. Only individual licensed professionals can gain access to privilege to practice. If you own or work in an agency or group practice, the entire body itself cannot gain entry into the Compact’s privilege to practice.

When Can I Start Practicing After Getting a Privilege?

The process for application and acquiring the privilege is speedy. The Compact homepage claims it takes only minutes to go through the entire process and be awarded the privilege. Once it’s confirmed in the portal, you’re all set and can start practicing in that other state.

Can I Advertise Services in States Where I Have a Privilege?

Yes. The Compact itself does not regulate advertising, however, so you will need to acquaint yourself with the advertising laws specific to the state you are marketing in.

What Happens If I Move To Another Compact State?

Life changes and people move. However, you must notify the Commission within 60 days and convert your privilege to a home state license in your new state; this is called License by Conversion.

Is The NCE (National Counselor Examination) Required For The Compact?

The Compact Commission has designated a nationally recognized exam as a requirement, which typically means the NCE or an equivalent accepted by your home state board. But there isn’t anything in the Compact rules themselves that names the NCE specifically.

How Is The Counseling Compact Different From Licensure Reciprocity?

Reciprocity can be incredibly cumbersome and allows each state to have their own requirements for allowing different licenses to practice within their jurisdiction. This creates numerous bottlenecks and specific procedures not generalizable to other states. For instance, a counselor from Colorado may have to go back to supervised hours if they want to work in New York, or may have to take a different class to work in California. But the Compact universalizes this process, making each state privilege the same process as the next.

Do School Counselors Qualify For The Counseling Compact?

The Compact requires licensure to independently assess, diagnose, and treat behavioral health conditions. School counselor licenses typically do not include this scope, so school counselors are generally not eligible.

Closing

The Counseling Compact is still in its nascent years. Established in 2019, it did not actually start issuing privileges to practice until 2025! And within that time frame, 39 states (plus Washington DC) have begun the process to be included, and three are now fully included in the Compact. In terms of professional counseling as a field, that’s remarkably fast movement. The Compact is gaining momentum as the profession reckons with uneven access to mental health care, with some regions drawing more practitioners than others. Some areas, such as rural and underserved communities still struggle to connect people with the care they need. The necessity of the Compact in our modern world is increasingly recognized by states, so check your state’s status and where you want to expand your services to next.