Protecting the Public Through Licensure Testing

The American Association of State Counseling Boards (AASCB), acting on vote of the membership delivered at the January 2000 meeting, established a partnership with the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) to standardize licensure testing and enhance portability, with the overall goal of protecting the health and welfare of the public. The AASCB Executive Committee appointed experienced AASCB counselor/counselor educators to the Testing Panel, to serve as independent consultants to NBCC for test development of the National Counselor Examination (NCE) and National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Examination (NCMHCE) as well as serve as consultants to AASCB member boards.

As part of this membership, AASCB endorses two licensure examinations, the NCE and the NCMHCE, both available from NBCC. Also as a result of this partnership, AASCB member boards have exclusive use of the NCMHCE for licensure. Presently 23 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico use the NCE. An additional seven states use the NCMHCE. A total of 18 states use both the NCE and the NCMHCE. Some of these states give the candidate the option of which test to take, some require the candidate to take both (i.e., Vermont), and others (i.e., Ohio, Illinois, New Mexico, Tennessee) have a two level system and they require the candidate to take the level appropriate exam. Fifty jurisdictions use the NCE and/or the NCMHCE as part of the credentialing process. The only two states that do not use either the NCE or the NCMHCE (California and Nevada) still do not regulate counselors.

These examinations reflect two different areas of knowledge and skills. The NCE measures cognitive knowledge that reflects the training individuals receive in their graduate education. As a measure of an applicant's knowledge in the foundational tenets of the counseling profession, the NCE is best suited to be taken prior to post-degree supervised experience. The NCMHCE measures clinical practice skills and is best suited to be administered at or near the end of the supervised experience period, prior to licensure for independent practice. This examination provides a measure of an applicant's practice skills.

Benefits of Adopting Both the NCE and the NCMHCE:

1. Supports the protection of the public. Both exams measure different knowledge and skills. The addition of the NCE addresses the academic preparedness of applicants given the number of counseling education programs available – from large, established universities to distance learning programs. The addition of the NCMHCE addresses clinical practice, providing member boards more confidence in applicant readiness for independent, unsupervised practice.
2. Provides a measure of both academic knowledge and clinical expertise. An applicant might do well on one test and not on the other, reflecting deficits and precipitating the need for additional study or supervised practice.
3. Provides for more uniformity of standards among boards, which promotes portability.
4. Defines a specific body of knowledge and set of clinical skills for practicing as a licensed counselor, and these clearly articulated parameters will strengthen the counseling profession as a whole.
5. Provides third party payers with a cleared understanding of the knowledge and skills of licensed counselors.

All members of the AASCB Testing Panel are experienced members of state licensure boards and will be happy to assist jurisdictions that are considering adopting one or both examinations. We are able to visit licensure boards, at no cost to boards, during their normal meeting times and/or be available to consult over the phone. Contact may be made with the Testing Panel Chair, Matthew Buckley, at mbuckley@deltastate.edu or at (662) 846-4400; or with the AASCB Executive Director, Richard Yep at ryep@counseling.org