(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (c) and (d) of this section, an applicant for a license as a professional counselor shall submit evidence satisfactory to the commissioner of having: (1) (A) Earned a graduate degree in clinical mental health counseling as part of a program of higher learning accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, or a successor organization, or (B) (i) completed at least sixty graduate semester hours in counseling or a related mental health field at a regionally accredited institution of higher education that included coursework in each of the following areas: (I) Human growth and development; (II) social and cultural foundations; (III) counseling theories; (IV) counseling techniques; (V) group counseling; (VI) career counseling; (VII) appraisals or tests and measurements to individuals and groups; (VIII) research and evaluation; (IX) professional orientation to mental health counseling; (X) addiction and substance abuse counseling; (XI) trauma and crisis counseling; and (XII) diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders, (ii) earned from a regionally accredited institution of higher education a graduate degree in counseling or a related mental health field, (iii) completed a one-hundred-hour practicum in counseling taught by a faculty member licensed or certified as a professional counselor or its equivalent in another state, and (iv) completed a six-hundred-hour clinical mental health counseling internship taught by a faculty member licensed or certified as a professional counselor or its equivalent in another state; (2) acquired three thousand hours of postgraduate experience under professional supervision, including a minimum of one hundred hours of direct professional supervision, in the practice of professional counseling, performed over a period of not less than two years; and (3) passed an examination prescribed by the commissioner. The provisions of subparagraphs (B)(i)(X) to (B)(i)(XII), inclusive, (B)(iii) and (B)(iv) of this subsection shall not apply to any applicant who, on or before July 1, 2017, was a matriculating student in good standing in a graduate degree program at a regionally accredited institution of higher education in one of the fields required under subparagraph (B) of this subsection.

(b) An applicant for a license as a professional counselor associate shall submit to the Commissioner of Public Health evidence satisfactory to the commissioner of having (1) earned a graduate degree in clinical mental health counseling as part of a program of higher learning accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, or a successor organization, or (2) (A) completed at least sixty graduate semester hours in counseling or a related mental health field at a regionally accredited institution of higher education that included coursework in each of the following areas: Human growth and development; social and cultural foundations; counseling theories; counseling techniques; group counseling; career counseling; appraisals or tests and measurements to individuals and groups; research and evaluation; professional orientation to mental health counseling; addiction and substance abuse counseling; trauma and crisis counseling; and diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders, (B) completed a one-hundred-hour practicum in counseling taught by a faculty member licensed or certified as a professional counselor or its equivalent in another state, (C) completed a six-hundred-hour clinical mental health counseling internship taught by a faculty member licensed or certified as a professional counselor or its equivalent in another state, and (D) earned from a regionally accredited institution of higher education a graduate degree in counseling or a related mental health field. The provisions of subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, of subdivision (2) of this subsection shall not apply to any applicant who, on or before July 1, 2022, earned a graduate degree at a regionally accredited institution of higher education in counseling or a related mental health field and has accumulated at least three thousand hours of experience under professional supervision, as defined in § 20-195aa.

(c) An applicant for licensure by endorsement shall present evidence satisfactory to the commissioner that the applicant is licensed or certified as a professional counselor or professional counselor associate, or as a person entitled to perform similar services under a different designation, in another state or jurisdiction whose requirements for practicing in such capacity are substantially similar to or higher than those of this state and that there are no disciplinary actions or unresolved complaints pending.

(d) An applicant who is licensed or certified as a professional counselor or its equivalent in another state, territory or commonwealth of the United States may substitute three years of licensed or certified work experience in the practice of professional counseling in lieu of the requirements of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section, provided the commissioner finds that such experience is equal to or greater than the requirements of this state.