Education

• Since June 30, 2005, licensed professional counselors applying for licensure in Missouri have been required hold a master's degree in counseling, or in clinical psychology, school psychology, counseling psychology, or counseling and guidance. The degree must consists of at least 48 semester hours. Online hours are acceptable if students were able to be verbally and visually interactive with the instructor during the course.
  
  

Experience

• Missouri licensed professional counselors must be experienced in the field before being licensed. Experience hours must be completed under the supervision of another licensed professional counselor with at least two years of experience. As of 2005, counselors must complete at least 3,000 hours and 24 months of counseling experience within five years. During the experience phase, new counselors must work or be otherwise engaged in counseling duties at least 15 hours per week. A minimum of 1,200 hours must be made up of direct individual client contact or group therapy. Supervisors must provide at least one hour of face-to-face contact per week. This can be done electronically if the communication is interactive.
  
  

National Counselor Examination

• Missouri requires that licensed professional counselors take and pass the National Counselor Examination, which is given by the National Board for Certified Counselors. The exam consists of 200 multiple choice questions concerning group work, professional practice issues, assessment, research, human growth and development, and ethics. The exam takes around four hours to complete. Scores on the exam are automatically sent to the state Committee for Professional Counselors. As of 2010, the NCE exam was administered only in Springfield and St. Louis.
  
  

Continuing Education

• Missouri requires that all licensed professional counselors complete 40 hours of continuing education before their licenses expire. Self-study is allowed, but no more than 20 of these hours can be gained through it. A minimum of 20 hours of continuing education must be obtained in a formal academic way. Acceptable formal credits include taking post-graduate courses, being published in books or professional journals, attending professional seminars or workshops where attendance is taken, or working as a faculty member at an approved educational institution.