Transfer Your Counseling License to Massachusetts: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)

Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) ↗

Massachusetts has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so no privilege reaches it and an incoming counselor applies to the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) for a license by endorsement. How Massachusetts treats your NCE or NCMHCE score is in the exam question below. Fee: $117 (non-refundable LMHC application fee paid online (LMHC Application Guide); + $155 license fee paid after staff find the application complete and eligible. Massachusetts has not enacted the Counseling Compact.). Processing: no processing timeframe published; if the application is incomplete, staff re-review it 30 days after notifying the applicant and close it if still incomplete.

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Verdict

Licensure by endorsement

Massachusetts has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so the planning is simple, if slower. There is no compact privilege to fall back on, including for telehealth: you cannot lawfully counsel a client located in Massachusetts until Massachusetts authorizes you, which for most counselors means a license from the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) (check the notes below for any telehealth-only registration). Start the application before you need the income.

Massachusetts' single counselor license is the Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), the independent tier. 262 CMR 2.03(2) grants licensure by 'reciprocal recognition' to holders of an equivalent license from another state. The other state's standards must be substantially equivalent to or exceed Massachusetts', the applicant must have passed the NCMHCE and be in good standing, and must have 3+ years of continuous full-time (or equivalent) licensed practice. Reciprocity applicants skip the pre- and post-master's experience forms, so the 3,360-hour post-master's experience is not re-counted. The 60-credit education standard is still checked through transcripts. This is credential-based endorsement, not full reciprocity, and there is no published reciprocal-state list. Statutory authority is M.G.L. c. 112, ss. 163-172. Massachusetts has NOT enacted the Counseling Compact. compact_member and compact_status are assembler-provided. mass.gov returned HTTP 403 to all automated requests on 2026-09-27, so the regulation and Board documents were read from Internet Archive captures of the official mass.gov URLs.

Massachusetts requirements at a glance

Out-of-state counseling license transfer requirements for Massachusetts, verified 2026-09-27
Exam	National exam is not retaken, but the NCMHCE is the only exam accepted ('no other exam will be accepted'); an NCE-only licensee does not qualify. The applicant must show an NCMHCE pass either as part of the original license requirements or within the previous five years (262 CMR 2.03(2)(c)), with an official NBCC score report. No Massachusetts jurisprudence exam.
Additional requirements	Hold an independent-level (unsupervised) mental health counselor license or equivalent in another state, in good standing, whose standards are substantially equivalent to or exceed Massachusetts' Show at least 3 years of continuous full-time (or part-time equivalent) licensed practice in the issuing state Show a passing NCMHCE score via an official NBCC score report Have a final graduate transcript sent showing 60 semester (80 quarter) credits and the required coursework Have official license verification sent from every jurisdiction where you hold or held a license Submit a signed, notarized CORI form and complete Board-approved domestic and sexual violence training
Fees	$117 (non-refundable LMHC application fee paid online (LMHC Application Guide); + $155 license fee paid after staff find the application complete and eligible. Massachusetts has not enacted the Counseling Compact.)
Processing time	no processing timeframe published; if the application is incomplete, staff re-review it 30 days after notifying the applicant and close it if still incomplete

Step by step

Confirm Massachusetts's current requirements on the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) website — rules change.
Submit the endorsement application to the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) (application linked on this page).
Arrange license verification from your current state.
Hold an independent-level (unsupervised) mental health counselor license or equivalent in another state, in good standing, whose standards are substantially equivalent to or exceed Massachusetts'.
Show at least 3 years of continuous full-time (or part-time equivalent) licensed practice in the issuing state.
Show a passing NCMHCE score via an official NBCC score report.
Have a final graduate transcript sent showing 60 semester (80 quarter) credits and the required coursework.
Have official license verification sent from every jurisdiction where you hold or held a license.
Submit a signed, notarized CORI form and complete Board-approved domestic and sexual violence training.
Pay the fees ($117 (non-refundable LMHC application fee paid online (LMHC Application Guide); + $155 license fee paid after staff find the application complete and eligible. Massachusetts has not enacted the Counseling Compact.)) and allow no processing timeframe published; if the application is incomplete, staff re-review it 30 days after notifying the applicant and close it if still incomplete.

Official links

Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) ↗Massachusetts application ↗

Coming from a specific state?

Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into Massachusetts:

California → Massachusetts Florida → Massachusetts Georgia → Massachusetts Illinois → Massachusetts Michigan → Massachusetts New York → Massachusetts North Carolina → Massachusetts Ohio → Massachusetts Pennsylvania → Massachusetts Texas → Massachusetts

Nearby states

Counseling license transfer into the states bordering Massachusetts:

Massachusetts for other professions

Frequently asked questions

Does my counseling license transfer to Massachusetts?

Do I have to retake the NCE or NCMHCE to get licensed in Massachusetts?

National exam is not retaken, but the NCMHCE is the only exam accepted ('no other exam will be accepted'); an NCE-only licensee does not qualify. The applicant must show an NCMHCE pass either as part of the original license requirements or within the previous five years (262 CMR 2.03(2)(c)), with an official NBCC score report. No Massachusetts jurisprudence exam.

How much does a Massachusetts counseling license cost by endorsement?

$117 (non-refundable LMHC application fee paid online (LMHC Application Guide); + $155 license fee paid after staff find the application complete and eligible. Massachusetts has not enacted the Counseling Compact.)

How long does Massachusetts take to process the application?

no processing timeframe published; if the application is incomplete, staff re-review it 30 days after notifying the applicant and close it if still incomplete.

Is Massachusetts in the Counseling Compact?

No. Massachusetts had not enacted the compact as of 2026-09-27. No privilege reaches Massachusetts, including for telehealth, so a Massachusetts license is required to counsel clients located there.

Sources

Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.

Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27

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