Current advanced Classified Master of Science in Counseling (College Counseling/Student Services; Career Counseling, and School Counseling options) students may apply to add the additional courses required pre-master’s for the California Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) license.  The California Board for Behavioral Sciences (BBS) is the licensing agency for professional clinical counselors.  Based on state law, the LPCC requires 280 hours of clinical, pre-master’s experience within the master’s degree program in addition to prescribed courses. Completion of this degree option in addition to the first specialization (i.e., career, college, or school counseling) will allow graduates to apply to become Professional Clinical Counselor (PCC) interns. Upon successful completion of the required 3,000 post-master’s internship hours and examinations, application to the BBS for state licensure as an LPCC will be possible.  [Marriage and Family Therapy master’s students are also eligible for concurrently applying for the LPCC as well as the license for Marriage and Family Therapists.]

Current Career, College, and School Counseling students may apply for this clinical add-on program during the second fall semester of their graduate program.  This program will be limited to only those admitted.  Note that additional LPCC preparatory units (save for six units) must be completed pre-awarding of the masters degree to be eligible for consideration as a PCC intern.

The additional courses required are listed below; an additional two semesters of fieldwork and coursework completed as a cohort will be required in addition to the two semesters of fieldwork within the first option.

For Career, College, and School Counseling students, all of the following are required:

EPC 659CC Clinical Counseling Fieldwork – I (3)
EPC 659DC Clinical Counseling Fieldwork – II (3)
EPC 672 Mental Health Assessment and Diagnosis (3)
EPC 673 Community Mental Health Counseling (3)
EPC 675 Chemical Dependency and Addictions Counseling (3)
EPC 678 Psychopharmacology and Neurobiological Foundations (3)
EPC 670A Systemic Family Theories and Their Evidence Base (3)

One of the above courses may be applied toward the elective units within the Career Counseling or College Counseling/Student Services program.  For these programs, an additional 18 units above the master’s degree is required.

In addition to the above, School Counseling students currently also need to complete:

EPC 609 Human Development: A Life-Span Perspective (3)
and EPC 671 Law, Ethics and Professional Issues in Counseling (3)

For an additional 27 units beyond the established master’s degree in School Counseling as there are no elective courses within this program.

The courses will be offered in a cohort with students from School, College, and Career Counseling in the same courses:

For School Counseling students only: Summer semester: EPC 671, 609

Fall semester:  EPC 659CC, EPC 672, EPC 673, and EPC 675

Spring semester: EPC 659DC, EPC 678, and EPC 670A

All of the courses above have been approved by the BBS as meeting the requirements for licensure for a specific content area. The three programs are currently in review for approval for the Professional Clinical Counselor licensure process. The pre-2012 entry program has already been approved for each of these programs.

The culminating experience requirements for these three degree program options would be unchanged from those who complete the original M.S. Counseling programs.