Can a Licensed Professional Counselor Diagnose? 6 Common Counseling Career Questions Answered
For people drawn to helping others, a counseling career offers something meaningful: the opportunity to support people through challenges and improve their well-being.
Millions of Americans need that support. In 2025, approximately one in five U.S. adults experienced a mental illness.
Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) help meet the need for mental health services across the country as the second-largest group in the behavioral health workforce. As an LPC, you can shape your career around the people and communities you want to serve.
But what exactly can LPCs do? Can a professional counselor diagnose mental health conditions? What education and licensure do they need?
Keep reading for answers to common questions about LPCs and what it takes to turn your desire to help people into a counseling career.
Jump to Section:
- What Is a Licensed Professional Counselor?
- Where Can Licensed Professional Counselors Work?
- Can Licensed Professional Counselors Diagnose Mental Health Conditions?
- What Can Licensed Professional Counselors Treat?
- How Do I Get a License to Work As a Counselor?
- What Education Is Required to Become a Licensed Professional Counselor?
1. What Is a Licensed Professional Counselor?
According to the American Counseling Association, an LPC is a mental health professional who can assess, diagnose and treat mental, behavioral and emotional problems and disorders.
Professional counselors are licensed by the state in which they practice, a process that varies nationwide. Typically, you must meet these requirements to become an LPC:
- Earn an accredited master’s or doctoral-level degree in counseling.
- Pass a national counseling examination.
- Complete supervised post-graduate clinical training hours.
States use different titles to identify professional counselors who have completed state licensure requirements:
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
- Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC)
- Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC)
- Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC)
- Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC)
- Licensed Mental Health Practitioner (LMHP)
Regardless of their title, LPCs are prepared to help clients develop practical coping strategies and solutions to challenges across all areas of life. They support people of all ages experiencing anxiety, relationship conflict, grief, career stress, major life transitions and beyond.
2. Where Can a Licensed Professional Counselor Work?
As an LPC, you can shape your career around the population of people you want to serve. Your day-to-day responsibilities will look different depending on where you choose to work.
LPCs practice in a variety of settings, including:
- Education: Head Start and early childhood programs, P-12 schools, and colleges and universities
- Healthcare: Hospitals and medical centers, primary care settings, and residential treatment centers
- Agency: Outpatient counseling agencies and mobile crisis units
- Government/Public Sector: Corrections facilities, community mental health centers, Veterans Affairs settings and state and local behavioral health agencies
- Private Practice: Your own private practice (allowed in some states) or a group practice owned by others
An LPC practicing in a mobile crisis unit may spend most of their time responding to immediate behavioral health needs, while an LPC working in private practice may have a regular caseload of clients.
Where you work can also affect the credentials you need. In some states, LPCs need additional credentials to practice in certain settings, such as schools.
3. Can a Professional Counselor Diagnose Mental Health Conditions?
LPCs are prepared to diagnose and treat clients with mental or behavioral health issues. Examples are anxiety, depression and substance use disorder.
Graduate-level counseling programs educate students in assessment and diagnostic processes, including:
- Structured interviews
- Symptom checklists
- Psychological assessments
- Differential diagnosis
- Use of current diagnostic classification systems
Graduates apply and refine their assessment, diagnosis and treatment skills through supervised clinical training, preparing them for professional practice.
Whether an LPC has the authority to make a diagnosis depends on state licensure regulations. LPCs cannot make official mental health diagnoses in some states. When diagnosing mental health disorders is out of scope, LPCs refer clients to other licensed mental health professionals who are authorized to do so.
A mental health diagnosis isn’t necessary to benefit from counseling. LPCs also work with clients who want support navigating life challenges, improving their overall wellness or working toward personal goals.
4. What Can a Licensed Professional Counselor Treat?
LPCs can treat clients with a variety of mental, behavioral and emotional problems and disorders. They also help clients navigate concerns such as stress, trauma, grief and relationship difficulties, as well as support personal growth and general well-being.
The problems and disorders that an LPC treats depend on their legal scope of practice. They also vary based on specialized training, work setting and additional credentials beyond state licensure. For example:
- Clinical mental health counselors are specifically prepared in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders across the lifespan. They can also provide interventions for a broad range of mental health issues.
- School counselors have a different focus: working with PK–12 students to address emotional, behavioral and social concerns in the context of students' educational success.
When a client’s needs fall outside an LPC’s scope of practice or preparation, they can refer the client to or collaborate with another licensed medical or mental health professional.
5. How Do I Get a License to Work As a Counselor?
Becoming an LPC is a multi-step process that varies by state, but typically involves:
- Earning a graduate degree in counseling from an accredited program.
- Completing 2,000 to 4,000 hours of clinical training under the guidance of a qualified supervisor, after graduating from a graduate counseling degree program.
- Passing a national counseling examination—either the National Counselor Examination (NCE) or National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE).
- Meeting any additional state requirements, such as a background check, application and fees.
You may also need to obtain provisional licensure to complete the required post-graduate supervised training hours. LPC applicants in some states need a provisional license when they’ve met the education and exam requirements but not the supervised experience requirement.
6. What Education Is Required to Become a Licensed Professional Counselor?
One requirement for becoming an LPC is earning a master's degree or higher in counseling from an accredited institution.
Accreditation matters because it shows the counseling program meets established educational standards that prepare students for professional practice. In the United States, graduate counseling programs are accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) or the Master's in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC).
Graduate counseling degrees are offered in several specializations, including clinical mental health counseling, school counseling, addiction counseling and marriage/couple/family counseling.
At St. Bonaventure University, students can choose between two counseling paths:
- Master of Science in Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Prepares counselors to serve the needs of individuals and their communities through a range of counseling practices, including crisis counseling and addiction counseling. The flexible program equips students with the knowledge and skills to turn their passion for helping people into a career in clinical mental health counseling.
- Master of Science in Education in School Counseling: Prepares counselors to support P–12 students’ emotional well-being, academic success and personal development. The program builds the knowledge and skills to help students navigate challenges, reach their potential and prepare for life beyond school.
Both are 60-credit online graduate programs that build on core counseling coursework with training tailored to preparing you for LPC licensure and beyond. They also include a practicum and two internship experiences where you will apply your counseling knowledge and skills in supervised clinical practice.
Turn Your Passion for Helping People Into a Rewarding Career With St. Bonaventure University
Whether you want to serve individuals and communities as a clinical mental health counselor or support students as a school counselor, the right graduate program can help you turn your desire to help others into the skills and credentials needed for professional practice.
SBU’s online MSED counseling programs are grounded in compassionate service and preparation for counseling in a multicultural and diverse society. As a graduate, you will be ready to support the well-being of the people and communities you serve as a skilled counselor, advocate and community leader.
As an SBU student, you will benefit from:
- CACREP Accreditation: Both online MSED programs meet nationally recognized standards for counselor education.
- 100% Online Coursework: Log into SBU’s online learning platform from anywhere and at any time to study when it works best for you.
- 100% Licensure Exam Pass Rate: SBU counseling graduates are prepared to take the next step toward professional licensure, with 100% of students passing their licensure exam.
Learn more about how our Online MSED can help you empower individuals and communities.
