New Mental Health Counselor Moving Back to California

February 21, 2022 1:53 PM

Asking for a friend: I am about to graduate as a mental health counselor (M.Ed) and want to move back to California to work. I have spent a lot of time on the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) website and feel as-okay-I-can about the process itself. Hope that someone who knows the process can answer a few questions...

1. For applying to be an Associate Professional Clinical Counselor (APCC), I got the impression that it takes 30-90 days for BBS to process the application, is that accurate?
2. Will places hire me during this process or do I need to wait until after?
3. Any general advice about the process if anyone else has registered as an APCC with an out-of-state degree?

posted by gregr to Work & Money (1 answer total)

I’m a CA LCSW and applied within the last 6 months. I can’t help with 2, but as for 1 the BBS Twitter is the most accurate place to check processing times. They base it on receipt date so if you apply by mail make sure you send it with tracking so you know the date it was accepted in. I think they update on Wednesdays. My license was issued the very week my date range showed up! Looks like 30-60 days right now for APCC.

I had an out of state MSW degree but in-state experience. You’ll probably need to take a couple of CEU classes to meet CA requirements; these are really explicitly stated on the BBS out of state application. I’d highly recommend printing out the application and just checking off the education requirements one by one to make sure you have absolutely everything. Other than having extra pages for experience logs and extra CEUs, the in- and out-of-state applications were very similar for LCSW; I’d be surprised if APC was much different. .

Feel free to memail on behalf of your friend as well!
posted by assenav at 5:11 PM on February 21, 2022