As of June 2, 2026, Georgia became the 5th state to go live with the Counseling Compact. The five states in total are Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio, Louisiana, and Georgia. Additionally, 34 other states are working towards issuing and receiving privileges under the Counseling Compact. The image above is a current map (as of May 2026) currently posted on the Counseling Compact website, found here.
- Green states are Compact Members and are currently issuing privileges: mental health counselors with a home license in any one of these states can create an account on counselingcompact.gov and apply for privilege to practice in any other green state.
- Blue states are compact members, but are not yet issuing privileges. Mental health counselors with home licenses in the blue states will be able to apply for privilege to practice in any of the blue states once their state begins.
- Gold states have filed legislation to become Compact States, but have not yet become considered member states.
- Grey states have not yet filed legislation to become Compact States.
There are a lot of answers why things have taken much longer than initially expected back in 2022, but the big question everyone has, “When will my state go live?” doesn’t have a definitive answer. Many states are in the process of testing the application site, reviewing how rules and laws fit in with the Compact, digitizing records, and getting legislative approval to officially move forward. The Counseling Compact expects to see states continue to go live more quickly throughout the remainder of 2026- some states may be months away while others may be 12-24 months. The delay includes many factors.
Things to Consider About the Compact
- A home state is the state you’re licensed in where you also reside. This is important because if you’re licensed in several states, even if one of those states is active, you’re unable to apply for privilege to practice under the Compact if the state where you reside is not active. Additionally, if you’re licensed in several states but not licensed in the state where you reside, you’re not eligible to apply for privilege to practice under the Compact. This is a little confusing, but very important. Contact us for clarification!
- The Counseling Compact only applies to mental health counseling licensed. Only licensees with a license equivalent to LPC, LCMHC, LMHC, LCPC, LPCC, etc. are eligible to apply. Professionals with social work, marriage and family therapy, addictions, or other professions are not eligible for compact participation.
- Approval for the Counseling Compact provides privilege to practice. This is not the same as licensure. With privilege to practice your license is used to be given approval to work with clients in another state. It’s a much simpler process when compared to reciprocity or endorsement processes. In those processes you use your license to become licensed in another state, which takes time and has multiple steps. However, if your employer requires licensure or you rely on a payor that requires licensure, you would need to go the route of reciprocity or endorsement as opposed to applying for the Compact.
- At this time, private insurance does not cover privilege to practice under the Compact. However, Medicaid and Medicare have both agreed to allow privilege to practice as a basis for provider credentialing.
- When applying for practice to privilege, you must: live in a member state and hold a license in the same state; complete 60 semester hour master’s degree in counseling or graduate coursework in required ares; complete postgraduate supervised experience; pass a national exam such as NBCC or NCMHCE; complete a federal criminal background check; and not have any discipline against any license or other privilege within the past two years. Some states may complete a jurisprudence exam. Most states require a state fee, as well as Counseling Compact fee. Once this is all complete you’ll immediately receive privilege to practice and be able to start practicing.
- Your privilege to practice under the Compact expires with your home state license. If, for example, you apply in January and your home state license expires in March, your privilege to practice will expire in March. You’ll be required to renew it in March even though you’ve only had it two months. It will then expire the next time your home state license expires.
We will continue to post periodically when there are updates. Keep in touch with the Counseling Compact website https://counselingcompact.gov for full information.