FLORIDA SUPERVISED EXPERIENCE
Florida LMHC supervised experience requirements.
Short answer
Florida requires at least 1,500 hours of face-to-face therapy and 100 hours of supervision, over at least 100 weeks (Rule 64B4-2.002, F.A.C.). You need at least 1 hour of supervision every 2 weeks. Florida’s rule also requires at least half of your supervision to be in person, including your first meeting.
The hours, weeks, and Board approvals all matter. Reaching one target does not replace the others. This guide explains when Florida LMHC supervised experience starts counting, what to log, and how to check your supervision plan.
Review the July 2026 supervision rule changes when you set your meeting plan. You can also estimate your finish date from your weekly hours.
This guide is educational and informational only. It is not legal, professional, or licensure advice. Requirements change. Verify the rules and your own record with the Florida Board.
Your graduation date, job start date, application, or private agreement does not start the Florida licensure clock. Section 491.0045, Florida Statutes, excludes Florida experience earned before intern registration. The Board must also approve each supervisor for your file before that supervisor’s experience counts.
On this page
- How many hours and weeks do you need?
- When do your hours start counting?
- What counts as face-to-face psychotherapy?
- What counts as supervision?
- How do individual and group supervision work?
- How much supervision must be in person?
- Can telehealth work and electronic supervision count?
- Who can supervise you and where can you work?
- What if you change supervisors?
- Can out-of-state experience count?
- Is there a weekly hours limit?
- Which records should you keep?
- Which mistakes can delay review?
- Frequently asked questions
- Related reading
- Official sources reviewed
How many hours and weeks do you need?
You need two years of post-master’s supervised experience. Within that period, you need at least 1,500 face-to-face psychotherapy hours with clients. You also need at least 100 supervision hours over no fewer than 100 weeks, with at least one supervision hour every two weeks. These requirements come from the Board’s LMHC page, its intern instructions, and Rule 64B4-2.002.
| Requirement | Minimum | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Post-master’s experience | 2 years | Start and end dates |
| Face-to-face psychotherapy | 1,500 hours | Qualifying client service, not all job time |
| Supervision | 100 hours in at least 100 weeks | Hours and weeks both count |
| Supervision frequency | At least 1 hour every 2 weeks | Check the interval as you go |
You cannot finish early by reaching 1,500 client hours first. You still need the two-year period, 100 supervision hours, and at least 100 weeks. Likewise, extra supervision hours do not replace client hours.
Gabriel finished his client hours in about 65 weeks at a busy group practice after registering as an intern at the end of 2023. He still had to wait for the 100-week supervision minimum. Your own finish date depends on every requirement and the dates the Board accepts.
The licensure-by-examination application, revised August 2026, asks your Qualified Supervisor to verify dates, weeks, supervision hours, and psychotherapy hours. Keep records that let the supervisor complete it accurately.
When do your hours start counting?
Florida experience starts counting only after your intern registration is issued and the Board approves your Qualified Supervisor for your file. The statute excludes experience before registration. The Board’s intern instructions add the supervisor approval step.
Confirm your intern number in the Department of Health License Verification search. Check the supervisor’s active license and designation there too. Save the Board letter that shows when that supervisor was approved for you.
A payment receipt, pending application, employer onboarding record, or private contract is not Board approval. Ask the Board about the effective date if your file is unclear.
Counting all of this as you go
The free Florida Hours Tracker lets you log client and supervision hours as they happen. It compares your totals with 1,500 client hours, 100 supervision hours, and 100 weeks. It also projects a possible finish date.
What counts as face-to-face psychotherapy?
Rule 64B4-2.001 calls for at least 1,500 hours of face-to-face psychotherapy with clients as a registered intern in the profession you seek. It does not classify every task in a counseling job as psychotherapy.
Log direct psychotherapy time with clients. Do not count marketing, commuting, staff meetings, general training, paperwork done without a client, or informal consultation simply because those tasks support care. Ask the Board about any service that may not fit the rule.
A couples, family, or group session can involve several clients. An hour of service is still one hour of time. Do not multiply it by the number of people unless the Board directs you to do so for your case.
The Board decides whether a service, setting, population, or record meets the rule. Your employer and supervisor can help document the work, but neither can guarantee Board credit.
What counts as supervision?
Rule 64B4-2.002 describes supervision as clinical contact with your Qualified Supervisor. You discuss clients’ diagnoses and treatment. The supervisor gives guidance and evaluates your work. The discussion focuses on the raw data from your psychotherapy work.
Personal therapy and classroom teaching are not supervision. Neither is a staff lecture, business meeting, or case discussion with someone who is not your approved Qualified Supervisor.
You need at least one supervision hour every two weeks. This is a schedule rule as well as a total-hours rule. A later long meeting may not cure a missed interval. Record illness, leave, and scheduling gaps, then ask the Board how it will treat them.
How do individual and group supervision work?
Individual supervision means one Qualified Supervisor with one or two interns. Group supervision means one Qualified Supervisor with three to six interns. Rule 64B4-2.002 sets these limits.
Each group hour must alternate with an individual-supervision hour. All group participants must be present in person. Do not count a larger consultation group as several smaller groups. A meeting mainly devoted to training may also fail the supervision definition.
If more than six interns attend or the format is unclear, ask the Board before logging the meeting.
How much supervision must be in person?
Rule 64B4-2.002 requires at least half of the required supervisory interactions to be in person. Your first supervision meeting with the supervisor must also be in person before you use electronic methods. These conditions appear in Rule 64B4-2.002, F.A.C.
Group supervision must alternate with individual supervision and take place with all participants in person. Individual supervision has one or two interns. A group has three to six. The rule allows electronic individual supervision under its conditions and requires a written telehealth protocol and safety plan for electronic therapy work.
Subsection (7) allows an exception when the Qualified Supervisor determines that fully electronic supervision, including telephone-only communication, is necessary for health, safety, or welfare. Do not assume the exception applies to your arrangement. Review the rule and document the supervisor’s decision.
Rule 64B4-2.0025, F.A.C., covers supervision duties and paperwork. The Qualified Supervisor submits Form DH-MQA 5049 before supervision starts. It calls for the DH-MQA 1181 Verification of Clinical Experience within seven days after supervision ends. See the timing conflict with the Board webpage under changing supervisors.
Can telehealth work and electronic supervision count?
Yes. The Board’s telehealth guidance says face-to-face psychotherapy by electronic means can count toward internship hours. That is separate from the rule for how you meet with your supervisor.
For electronic therapy sessions, Rule 64B4-2.002 requires a written telehealth protocol and safety plan with the current Qualified Supervisor. The supervisor must be readily available. In private practice, the July 2026 rule also addresses synchronous access to a licensed mental health professional and defines when that professional is considered on the premises.
Electronic supervisory sessions must follow the first-meeting and in-person minimum described above, unless subsection (7) applies. The rule also discusses telephone-only contact in specified professional-judgment circumstances. None of these options removes duties for privacy, availability, or clinical oversight.
Client location creates a separate legal question. Florida’s guidance says to follow the law where the client is located. A telehealth session that may count for Florida hours does not itself authorize care across state lines.
Who can supervise you and where can you work?
Your supervisor needs Board-approved Qualified Supervisor status, not merely a professional license. Check the active license and designation in official records. The Board’s Qualified Supervisor page describes the paths, including paths for certain clinicians who are not LMHCs.
Your supervisor and employer may be the same organization or different ones. The employer’s payroll system does not decide which hours count. Registration, supervisor approval, qualifying work, proper meetings, and verifiable records do.
The sources reviewed do not require one employer, setting, or supervisor for the entire period. Each supervisor still needs approval and accurate records. Ask the Board how overlapping or separate arrangements will be evaluated.
For private practice, read section 491.005(4)(d), Florida Statutes, with the July 2026 premises definition. Ask the Board before applying that rule to a specific company, remote arrangement, or client location.
What if you change or add a supervisor?
Get Board approval before counting work under a new or additional supervisor. The Board’s intern instructions require a signed, dated letter from that supervisor. It must include their license number, your name as it appears on your application, and their agreement to supervise you.
Do not assume approval will be backdated. Keep a separate matching supervision log with each supervisor. Each Qualified Supervisor completes a separate Verification of Clinical Experience Form.
Rule 64B4-2.0025 says the supervisor submits complete verification within seven days after supervision ends. It also requires notice of termination within seven days and a response to Board correction requests within seven days.
The Board’s intern webpage separately says the verification form is not required until you apply for full licensure. That appears to conflict with the July 2026 rule. Ask the Board which timing applies when your supervision relationship ends. Keep a completed copy either way.
Can out-of-state supervised experience count?
The Florida LMHC licensure application provides a way to report experience earned outside Florida. It requires the Verification of Clinical Experience and added documents if the supervisor was not licensed in Florida.
For a supervisor licensed in another state, provide proof of licensure with the first issue date and expiration date. For an unlicensed out-of-state supervisor, provide evidence of the required education, including graduate transcripts.
Submission does not guarantee credit. Ask the Board to review any experience across state lines, before Florida registration, or under a different credential.
Is there a weekly or monthly hours limit?
The current Board page and rules reviewed here do not state a general maximum number of psychotherapy hours per week or month. They do require real qualifying work, accurate records, two years, at least 100 weeks, and the supervision interval.
Do not treat the lack of a general cap as permission to enter estimated or overlapping hours. Reconcile your logs with clinical and employment records.
Ask the Board about unusually high weekly totals, overlapping jobs, simultaneous sessions, or a disputed definition of an hour before relying on the total.
Which records should you keep?
The Board supervision log requires the intern and supervisor to keep identical, current copies. It records the meeting date, group or individual format, duration, in-person or virtual format, face-to-face client hours, and supervisor signature. The form permits electronic signatures that meet Chapter 668, Part I, Florida Statutes.
The Board does not publish the following as one required checklist. This is practical guidance for organizing your file:
- Your intern registration number and issue date.
- Board approval and effective date for every Qualified Supervisor.
- Identical, current supervision logs for you and each supervisor.
- Employment dates, setting, and clinical role records.
- Client-hour records that match the supervision logs.
- The telehealth protocol and safety plan, if applicable.
- Supervisor-change letters and Board correspondence.
- A Verification of Clinical Experience Form from each supervisor.
- Out-of-state license or education records, if applicable.
Compare your copies regularly. Fix missing signatures, dates, numbers, or mismatched totals while the underlying records are available.
Which mistakes can delay review?
- Counting Florida experience before registration or supervisor approval.
- Counting every job hour as face-to-face psychotherapy.
- Stopping after 1,500 client hours without two years and 100 weeks.
- Reaching 100 supervision hours but missing the two-week interval.
- Logging training, personal therapy, or staff meetings as supervision.
- Assuming a professional license proves Qualified Supervisor status.
- Using group meetings with too many interns or without alternation.
- Using remote supervision without the first in-person meeting or required in-person share.
- Beginning with a new supervisor before Board approval.
- Keeping logs that do not match the supervisor’s copies.
- Assuming Florida telehealth rules authorize care in every other state.
- Trying to reconstruct years of records at application time.
Frequently asked questions
Can hours count before my Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern number is issued?
Not for experience obtained in Florida to satisfy the requirement. Section 491.0045 states that a person must register before commencing the post-master’s experience and that experience obtained before registration does not count.
Can one supervision meeting cover two weeks?
The rule requires at least one hour of supervision every two weeks. It also requires at least 100 hours in no fewer than 100 weeks. A two-hour meeting does not automatically establish compliance with a missed interval. Ask the Board how a specific schedule will be credited.
Does group supervision count?
Yes, group supervision can count when Rule 64B4-2.002 is followed. One Qualified Supervisor meets with three to six interns, all in person. Each group hour alternates with an individual hour.
Can telehealth psychotherapy count toward the 1,500 hours?
Yes. The Board says face-to-face psychotherapy by electronic means can count. A written telehealth protocol, safety plan, supervisor availability, privacy rules, and the client’s jurisdiction still matter.
Can I use more than one Qualified Supervisor?
The Board provides a process for adding or changing a supervisor. Each supervisor must be approved before experience under that person counts, and the Board limits the Verification of Clinical Experience to one form per Qualified Supervisor.
Can out-of-state supervised experience count?
The current application provides a way to submit it and lists added documents for supervisors who were not licensed in Florida. Submission is not a guarantee of acceptance. Ask the Board to evaluate the supervisor, dates, jurisdiction, and experience.
Is there a maximum number of psychotherapy hours per week?
The current official sources reviewed for this guide do not state a general weekly or monthly maximum. They do require accurate records, at least 1,500 qualifying hours, two years of experience, and supervision in no fewer than 100 weeks. Confirm unusual schedules directly with the Board.
Can all my supervision take place online?
Generally, no. Rule 64B4-2.002 requires the first meeting in person and at least half of required supervisory interactions in person. Subsection (7) allows a limited health, safety, or welfare exception when the Qualified Supervisor makes that determination.
Next
How to submit and verify your supervision hours
Knowing the targets is one thing. The records your supervisor has to sign at the end are another, and they are far easier to assemble if you know now what they ask for.
Related reading
Official sources reviewed
Accessed September 30, 2026.
- Florida Statutes, Chapter 491
- Section 491.0045, Florida Statutes
- Section 491.005, Florida Statutes
- Florida Administrative Code, Chapter 64B4-2
- Rule 64B4-2.001, Definition of Experience
- Rule 64B4-2.002, Definition of Supervision and Premises
- Rule 64B4-2.0025, Qualified Supervisor Definitions and Duties
- Rule 64B4-2.003, Conflict of Interest in Supervision
- Florida Board, Licensed Mental Health Counselor
- Florida Board, Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern
- Florida Board, Qualified Supervisors for Registered Interns
- Florida Board, Telehealth
- Florida Board, Application for Licensure by Examination, revised August 2026
- Florida Board, Verification of Clinical Experience Form
- Florida Board, Supervision Log
Professional and informational disclaimer: This guide is educational and informational only. It is not legal, professional, clinical, employment, or licensure advice. Florida statutes, Board rules, application procedures, fees, and examination requirements can change. Verify the requirements that apply to you directly with the Florida Board and the relevant examination administrator before acting.