Counseling Compact Updates
Notes from the NBCC webinar August 7, 2025
On August 7, 2025 I attended the live webinar for the Counseling Compact hosted by NBCC. The following are my notes from the event and the information I gathered from it. If you have more questions or want more information there are further links at the end of the article.
What is the Counseling Compact?
It is an interstate compact, you apply to enter in, that allows licensed counselors the privilege of practicing counseling in states that are entered in the compact without needing to be licensed in that state. This is not a license in each state, but a “privilege” to practice in each state in the compact following your current professional counseling license.
This is a voluntary service that you apply to enter in. You cannot practice in other states through the counseling compact without applying. Applications will be available this fall. It allows you to see people through telehealth or in person for the state you apply for privilege in.
For example: I am fully licensed in Minnesota and live 5 miles from the Iowa border. This would allow me to provide counseling services in Iowa, in person or telehealth, without having to be licensed there.
Current Enacted States in the Compact:
States in the dark blue are states that are already joined in the counseling compact. The states in light blue are are working towards joining the compact. The ones in grey have yet to be passed in legislation and are not available for use in the compact.
Who is eligible?
The counseling compact is for currently licensed counseling providers. You have to be licensed in counseling. This is not a compact for social worker or marriage and family therapy licenses. They have their own compacts in the work.
You have to live in the state of your “home” license. You cannot live in another state without having a counseling license and be a part of the counseling compact. You have to live in a compact state and be licensed in that compact state. This is because there is a lot of jurisdiction and laws that make up this rule. There is no exceptions. If you move to a non-compact state, your privileges are revoked.
For example: I am also licensed in North Carolina, but if I move to Tennessee, I cannot be a part of the counseling compact because I am not licensed in Tennessee. I either have to live in Minnesota or North Carolina because that is where I am licensed. If I moved to California and I was licensed in California (I’m not), I couldn’t be apart of the compact because California has not entered the counseling compact. My privileges would be revoked.
If the client is visiting or on vacation in a state where you do not have a privilege in or is part of the counseling compact, you cannot see them. You need to have the privilege in the state where the client is.
For example: I am licensed in Minnesota and hypothetically if I had privileges in Iowa and my client was visiting South Dakota, I could not see them because I didn’t apply to have privileges in South Dakota.
Further requirements include having an FBI background check completed from the state you are licensed in. You will have to have completed a national exam like the NCMHCE. You will need post graduate supervised experience. You will need 60 semester hour course work in either you master’s program or the required classes for licenses. For people who have been licensed for many years prior to the 60 semester hour course work, they will be grandfathered in. This has been a newer required change for licensing.
Things to consider:
If you are seeing clients through telehealth, you will have to ask clients where they are every time you visit. This due to the liability in case of an emergency as well as them needing to be in a state that you have privileges in.
You will need to know about what documentation is required in each state you have privileges in. If you need liability insurance in each state and/or for your practice. If you have to register your business in each state you have privileges and practice in. How taxes are filed and if you have to pay state taxes and/or provider tax to each state you have privilege in.
You will need to do a jurisprudence exam in the state you want a privilege in if they have that requirement. You do not need to worry about CEUs in privileged states, only the ones you are officially licensed in.
Insurance questions
The counseling compact has no interaction with insurance companies. You would have to contact insurance providers directly to discuss this. Insurance companies have been notified about the compact but they have not given an answer on the plan. You will still have to go through the process of being credentialed with that insurance.
The process:
You go to the website, which Compact Connect will have updates on the data system, and create an account. Your name and information must match how it shows on your counseling license. You will click on “obtain privileges” and then choose which states you want to be apart of. You can pick all the states you want to be apart of in one transaction. The data system will tell you if the state you want privileges in requires a jurisprudence example. You will need to take a jurisprudence exam for each state that requires it and if you want privileges in that state. You will need to attest that you took it. There will be other attestations such as if you ever had an investigation on your license or if you’ve been disciplined on your license, and that your attestation is true information. You then pay the total. You will receive an email that you are officially privileged to start practice seeing clients immediately in the state you applied for.
The pay rate for each state will be from $0-$400. States are still working on determining this, but NBCC project it will be approximately $94/state. Each state is going to vary on this. There will also be a $30 administrative fee for each state you apply privileges for.
Privileges expire the same date as your home state license and it will need to be renewed at the time your home state license is renewed. If you have disciplinary action against your license, your privileges in the compact will be revoked for two years.
If you want register for the next live webinar to get more information and ask live questions, AND get a free CEU, register here:
September 4th noon-1pm EDT:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ThwtgxZuQ96pTe27mErzTA#/registration
For information you can check out:
🌐Counseling Compact: counselingcompact.gov
🌐Compact Connect: compactconnect.org
📁PDF file from webinar: https://nbcc.org/assets/webinars/the-counseling-compact-the-first-steps.pdf
🎥Live recording of the webinar:
Contact information
Greg Searls, Executive Director, Counseling Compact Commission is the one who put on this event for NBCC and provided this information. If you have any questions, please direct them all to the email:
📧info@counselingcompact.gov
Final thoughts:
I’ve been really excited for this counseling compact for over a year now. I think it is going to help a lot of clinicians especially ones who live so close to state boarders or live in rural areas. I genuinely wonder the longer implications of this and how it will impact big tech or mental health companies…
If read this far, do you plan on applying for privileges in certain states? How will you be using this in your own business or career?