Counseling License from California to Indiana: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board (Indiana Professional Licensing Agency): Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) ↗
A counseling license transfers from California to Indiana by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board (Indiana Professional Licensing Agency): Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), verify your California license, and meet Indiana's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken if the applicant passed the NCMHCE or an equivalent state-constructed exam at the same or higher level for the other-state license. NBCC sends the official NCMHCE score report to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. The NCE is NOT equivalent to the NCMHCE, so NCE-only licensees must take the NCMHCE in Indiana. Other exams are reviewed for equivalency by the Board. The Board's current LMHC reciprocity checklist lists no jurisprudence exam..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Indiana is operational in the Counseling Compact, but California is not, so there is no home-state license here to anchor a privilege. Once you hold an Indiana license and live in Indiana, it can anchor privileges into the other operational states. The route is endorsement through the Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board (Indiana Professional Licensing Agency): Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC): your California license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Indiana's own exam rule, and Indiana applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Indiana tier corresponds to your California license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What changes, California → Indiana
| California (current) | Indiana (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | Counseling Compact member — compact privilege to practice |
| Application fee | $125 (LPCC License Application fee under the Board's temporary 50% fee reduction for payments made 2026-07-01 through 2030-06-30 (statutory base in BPC 4999.120 is $250; applications paid before 2026-07-01 paid $250). Separate: initial license issuance fee $100 (reduced from $200), California Law and Ethics Exam fee $75 (reduced from $150), fingerprint (Live Scan / DOJ-FBI) fees not reduced and paid separately. California has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so no privilege route exists.) | $50 (LMHC reciprocity application fee, paid by card online; nonrefundable. Criminal background check paid separately to the vendor; other-state verification fees may apply; NBCC score-report fee separate. NOT the Counseling Compact privilege fee (Indiana charges a $50 state fee + $30 commission administrative fee = $80 for a privilege; no jurisprudence exam required for the privilege).) |
| Processing time | the Board's Path A guide gives no timeframe for the licensure application itself; it states only 'allow up to 30 days' for processing the Request for Initial License Issuance after the exam is passed. Board processing-time pages could not be read (bbs.ca.gov refused connections on 2026-09-27). | the Board publishes no processing timeframe for LMHC reciprocity applications |
| Licensing authority | California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS), Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) | Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board (Indiana Professional Licensing Agency): Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Indiana sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Indiana's current requirements on the Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board (Indiana Professional Licensing Agency): Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board (Indiana Professional Licensing Agency): Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold an active mental health counselor license of equal level in another state.
- Have license verification completed by each issuing state (license cards are not accepted).
- Have NBCC send an official NCMHCE score report to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency.
- Complete a criminal background check.
- Apply online with the $50 application fee.
- Pay the fees ($50 (LMHC reciprocity application fee, paid by card online; nonrefundable. Criminal background check paid separately to the vendor; other-state verification fees may apply; NBCC score-report fee separate. NOT the Counseling Compact privilege fee (Indiana charges a $50 state fee + $30 commission administrative fee = $80 for a privilege; no jurisprudence exam required for the privilege).)) and allow the Board publishes no processing timeframe for LMHC reciprocity applications.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Indiana accept a California counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from California to Indiana by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board (Indiana Professional Licensing Agency): Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), verify your California license, and meet Indiana's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken if the applicant passed the NCMHCE or an equivalent state-constructed exam at the same or higher level for the other-state license. NBCC sends the official NCMHCE score report to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. The NCE is NOT equivalent to the NCMHCE, so NCE-only licensees must take the NCMHCE in Indiana. Other exams are reviewed for equivalency by the Board. The Board's current LMHC reciprocity checklist lists no jurisprudence exam..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from California to Indiana?
National exam is not retaken if the applicant passed the NCMHCE or an equivalent state-constructed exam at the same or higher level for the other-state license. NBCC sends the official NCMHCE score report to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. The NCE is NOT equivalent to the NCMHCE, so NCE-only licensees must take the NCMHCE in Indiana. Other exams are reviewed for equivalency by the Board. The Board's current LMHC reciprocity checklist lists no jurisprudence exam.
What does the move cost?
$50 (LMHC reciprocity application fee, paid by card online; nonrefundable. Criminal background check paid separately to the vendor; other-state verification fees may apply; NBCC score-report fee separate. NOT the Counseling Compact privilege fee (Indiana charges a $50 state fee + $30 commission administrative fee = $80 for a privilege; no jurisprudence exam required for the privilege).)
How long will it take?
the Board publishes no processing timeframe for LMHC reciprocity applications.
Will an Indiana license get me into other compact states?
Yes, once Indiana is your home state. Indiana is operational, so an active, unencumbered Indiana license held while you live there can anchor privileges into the other operational states through CompactConnect.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Indiana PLA: Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Information (LMHC Reciprocity checklist, exam policy, Counseling Compact); Internet Archive capture 2026-07-08 ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Counseling Compact: state privilege fees and jurisprudence requirements ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California BPC 4999.60 (LPCC licensure for out-of-state licensees, Path A) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California BPC 4999.61 (out-of-state education and experience, Path B; clinical exam waiver) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California BPC 4999.120 (LPCC statutory fees) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BBS Guide to Licensure Requirements, LPCC Out-of-State and Out-of-Country Applicants, rev. 10/2024 (Internet Archive copy of official BBS PDF, captured 2026-04-15) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BBS Temporary Fee Reduction FAQ, effective 2026-07-01 (Internet Archive copy of official BBS PDF, captured 2026-05-20) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BBS LPCC applicant page (Internet Archive copy, captured 2026-09-03) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]