Tennessee is live in the Counseling Compact as of September 1, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. ET. It is the ninth state to begin issuing privileges. Eligible Tennessee LPC-MHSPs can now apply to practice in eight other operational states, and eligible counselors from those states can apply for a Tennessee privilege. A Tennessee privilege currently costs $210, and Tennessee requires its own jurisprudence exam. This page explains who qualifies, what a privilege allows, and how to apply.
Is Tennessee in the Counseling Compact?
Yes. Tennessee became the ninth operational Counseling Compact state on September 1, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. ET. “Operational” means the state has completed the technical and regulatory work needed to issue and receive privileges through CompactConnect.
As of September 8, 2026, the nine operational states are Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wyoming. A state can enact the Compact without being operational, so counselors should check the Commission’s current list before relying on membership alone.
For a broader explanation of interstate counseling privileges, see our complete guide to the Counseling Compact.
What Does a Counseling Compact Privilege Let You Do in Tennessee?
A Tennessee privilege is legal authorization to practice professional counseling in Tennessee without obtaining a separate full Tennessee license. Under the Counseling Compact statute, a privilege to practice is legal authorization to provide counseling services in a remote state, issued while the counselor’s home-state license remains their only license of record.
The privilege can cover in-person or telehealth services, but Tennessee law governs services provided to a client physically located in Tennessee. A privilege holder must follow Tennessee’s scope-of-practice, reporting, consent, and professional conduct rules. The privilege does not become a multistate license, and it does not authorize practice in a state where the counselor has not received a privilege.
Who Qualifies for a Tennessee Counseling Compact Privilege?
To qualify, a counselor must hold an active, unencumbered, independent professional counseling license from the counselor’s home state, which is the state of primary residence. The license must permit independent assessment, diagnosis, and treatment at the state’s highest professional counseling level.
The Compact’s eligibility process also includes applicable education and examination standards and an FBI-authorized criminal background check process. Applicants must pay the required fees and complete any jurisprudence requirement imposed by the remote state. The Commission’s criminal-background-check rule requires member states to use FBI record-search results when reviewing applicants for initial privileges.
For Tennessee residents, the eligible home-state credential is Licensed Professional Counselor with Mental Health Service Provider designation, or LPC-MHSP. Tennessee’s fee page specifically lists LPC-MHSP as the eligible license type.
An independently licensed counselor from another operational state may hold a differently named credential and still qualify. Indiana uses the Licensed Mental Health Counselor, or LMHC, title. Minnesota and Ohio use Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, or LPCC. What matters is whether the home-state credential permits independent professional counseling and satisfies the Compact’s eligibility requirements.
Who Does Not Qualify?
Counselors practicing under student, associate, provisional, or other supervised credentials do not qualify. The Compact requires independent practice authority. Tennessee’s eligible license type is specifically listed as LPC-MHSP, so a Tennessee LPC without the MHSP designation is not the credential currently listed for participation.
Licensed marriage and family therapists and licensed clinical social workers are also generally outside the Counseling Compact’s professional license category. Those professions follow separate state licensing processes and, where applicable, their own interstate systems. Social workers may be eligible for interstate practice through the separate Social Work Licensure Compact, and psychologists through PsyPACT. Marriage and family therapists currently have no equivalent interstate compact.
A counselor whose graduate degree is in a closely related field rather than counseling itself is not automatically disqualified. The Compact allows this if the counselor meets all home-state LPC requirements and satisfies the education and examination standards in Compact Sections 3 and 4.
Does Tennessee Require a Jurisprudence Exam for the Compact?
Yes. Tennessee requires counselors seeking a Tennessee privilege to complete the Tennessee Jurisprudence Examination for Professional Counselors. The Compact’s official jurisprudence table lists Tennessee as requiring the exam, and the Tennessee Board links the examination under Rule 0450-01-.08.
The jurisprudence exam measures familiarity with Tennessee laws and regulations that govern professional counseling practice. It is separate from the national counseling examination used in the counselor’s licensing pathway. Passing the National Counselor Examination, National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination, or another board-approved national exam does not replace Tennessee’s jurisprudence requirement.
Which States Can Tennessee Counselors Practice In Through the Compact?
A Tennessee LPC-MHSP who lives in Tennessee can currently apply for privileges in Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wyoming. Each destination state requires its own privilege application and fee.
The arrangement also works in the other direction. Eligible counselors whose home states are one of those eight operational jurisdictions can request a Tennessee privilege. Title differences do not automatically exclude them. What matters is whether the home-state license permits independent professional counseling and meets Compact requirements.
A privilege in one state does not give the counselor authority in every operational state. A Tennessee counselor who wants to practice in both Ohio and Minnesota must apply and pay separately for an Ohio privilege and a Minnesota privilege.
How Much Does a Tennessee Counseling Compact Privilege Cost?
A Tennessee privilege costs $210 total as of September 8, 2026. The official fee table breaks that amount into a $180 Tennessee state fee and a $30 Compact administrative fee. Based on the current nine-state fee table, only Arizona and Wyoming have higher total privilege fees.
| Fee component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tennessee state fee | $180 |
| Compact administrative fee | $30 |
| Total Tennessee privilege fee | $210 |
The $210 total applies when a counselor from another operational state requests authority to practice in Tennessee. A Tennessee LPC-MHSP applying to another state pays that destination state’s fee plus the $30 administrative fee. Counselors must pay separately for every state requested.
Any jurisprudence examination fee is collected by the state’s exam vendor, separately from the Compact Commission. Applicants should review the current Tennessee examination page before registering.
How Does Telehealth Work Under a Tennessee Privilege?
Telehealth authority follows the client’s physical location. A counselor needs a license or privilege in the state where the client is located during the session.
For example, an Ohio LPCC seeing a client located in Tennessee needs a Tennessee privilege before providing telehealth services. A Tennessee LPC-MHSP seeing a client located in Minnesota needs a Minnesota privilege. The counselor must follow the remote state’s laws even when the counselor is physically sitting in Tennessee.
The Compact does not create a general right to see clients across all state lines. Both states must be operational, and the counselor must receive the correct privilege before serving a client in the remote state.
How Do You Apply for a Tennessee Counseling Compact Privilege?
Counselors apply through CompactConnect, not by submitting a standard license application directly to the Tennessee Board. Applications are processed through the Compact’s shared data and application system.
The general sequence is:
- Confirm that your home state is operational and is your primary state of residence.
- Confirm that your home-state license is active, unencumbered, and eligible for independent practice.
- Complete the required federal criminal background-check process.
- Complete Tennessee’s jurisprudence examination if you are seeking a Tennessee privilege.
- Select Tennessee in CompactConnect and pay the $210 total privilege fee.
- Wait until the Tennessee privilege number appears on your dashboard before practicing.
The Commission says a privilege number should appear almost immediately after a successful transaction and verification. Do not begin serving Tennessee clients until the privilege number is visible on your dashboard.
What Should You Check Before Relying on a Privilege?
A valid Tennessee privilege provides legal practice authority, but it does not guarantee that an employer, telehealth platform, malpractice carrier, or insurance payer will accept it. The Commission tells applicants to check organizational, platform, and payer policies before purchasing a privilege.
Know your home-state license expiration date before applying. A privilege expires on the expiration date attached to the home-state license when the privilege is issued. Renewing the home-state license does not automatically extend the privilege. After the state reports the new expiration date, the counselor must renew the privilege separately in CompactConnect and pay the applicable fees again.
Clients and employers can verify an issued privilege through the CompactConnect public verification search.
For Tennessee licensing questions, counselors may contact the Tennessee Board for Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marital and Family Therapists, and Licensed Clinical Pastoral Therapists at Unit1HRB.Health@tn.gov or (615) 741-5735.
My Take
In my work with counseling standards, prevention, and behavioral health systems, I have seen how easily people confuse a state license with a Compact privilege. The privilege is real legal authority, but it is tied to a specific remote state and depends on the counselor maintaining an eligible home-state license.
For Tennessee, I would pay particular attention to three details before applying: whether your license is the qualifying independent credential, whether you have completed Tennessee’s jurisprudence exam, and when your home-state license expires. Those checks can prevent a counselor from paying for a privilege that lasts only a short time or discovering too late that a platform will not accept it.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Tennessee’s jurisprudence examination is a separate state-law assessment. Passing the NCE, NCMHCE, or another national examination does not satisfy the Tennessee requirement for a privilege. Complete the jurisprudence step identified by the Compact and Tennessee Board before applying.
A Tennessee privilege depends on an active, unencumbered home-state license. The privilege expires based on the home-state license’s expiration date, and an encumbrance can affect continued eligibility. Stop relying on the privilege and contact the home-state board and Compact Commission promptly if the license lapses or becomes restricted.
Yes, but only after you have legal authority in Tennessee. If your home state is operational and you meet Compact requirements, you can apply for a Tennessee privilege before continuing services after the client relocates. The client’s physical location controls which authorization is required.
The privilege expires on the same date as your home-state license at the time it is issued. After renewing the home-state license, wait for the new expiration date to appear in CompactConnect, then renew the Tennessee privilege separately. It does not update automatically.
No. The Compact is limited to counselors who can practice independently without supervision. Students, associates, assistants, and other provisionally licensed counselors are not eligible until they obtain the qualifying independent license.
Yes. CompactConnect offers a public verification search for privileges issued through the Counseling Compact. The search displays privilege details after the user selects the counselor’s name, allowing clients, employers, and other organizations to confirm current authority.
Disclaimer
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Counseling Compact operational status, fees, and requirements change on a rolling basis. Before applying for or relying on a privilege, confirm current details directly with the Counseling Compact Commission and with both your home state board and the Tennessee Board for Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marital and Family Therapists, and Licensed Clinical Pastoral Therapists.
Sources
- Counseling Compact Commission. Tennessee Will Become Ninth State. https://counselingcompact.gov/tennessee-will-become-ninth-state/
- Counseling Compact Commission. Fees, Jurisprudence Exam, and Contact Information. https://counselingcompact.gov/fees/
- Counseling Compact Commission. Application Information. https://counselingcompact.gov/application/
- Counseling Compact Commission. Frequently Asked Questions. https://counselingcompact.gov/faq-2/
- Counseling Compact Commission. Apply or Verify. https://counselingcompact.gov/apply-or-verify/
- Counseling Compact Commission. Verification. https://app.compactconnect.org/Search
- Counseling Compact Commission. Rule on Implementation of Criminal Background Check. https://counselingcompact.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Rules-Chapter-6-Rule-on-Implementation-of-CBC.pdf
- Tennessee Department of Health. Board for Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marital and Family Therapists, and Licensed Clinical Pastoral Therapists. https://www.tn.gov/health/health-program-areas/health-professional-boards/pcmft-board.html
- Center for Credentialing & Education. Tennessee Jurisprudence Examination for Professional Counselors. https://academy.cce-global.org/jurisprudence/tennessee