Clinical Supervision Requirements in Kentucky

Licensing Board Overview

Kentucky regulates mental health professions through three separate boards. Counselors are governed by the Board of Licensed Professional Counselors, and marriage and family therapists by the Board of Licensure of Marriage and Family Therapists. Both sit in the Department of Professional Licensing (DPL). Social workers are governed by the Board of Social Work, which runs its own office and licensing system.

LCSW: Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Kentucky)

Kentucky's LCSW is governed by KRS 335.100 and 201 KAR 23:070. Candidates hold a Certified Social Worker (CSW) license while accruing supervised experience.

Supervised Experience Requirements

• Total supervised experience: 2 years full-time or 3 years part-time post-master's clinical practice
• Employment: The CSW must be an employee of the setting, not an independent contractor, and at least 60% of the work must be in a direct client-professional relationship
• Supervision hours: 150 hours of clinical supervision
• Individual vs. group: At least 100 hours must be individual supervision. No more than 50 hours may be group supervision, with no more than 6 supervisees per group
• Frequency: At least 2 hours of individual supervision every 2 weeks, continuing until licensure
• Exam: ASWB Clinical Examination

Supervisor Qualifications

• Must hold an active Kentucky LCSW license
• Must have at least 2 years of clinical practice after independent licensure
• Must complete a 6-hour board-approved supervision training course, then a 3-hour refresher every renewal period

LPCC: Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (Kentucky)

Kentucky's LPCC is governed by KRS 335.525, 201 KAR 36:060, and 201 KAR 36:065. Candidates hold a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPCA) credential while accruing hours.

Supervised Experience Requirements

• Total supervised experience: 4,000 hours of post-master's experience, direct and indirect
• Direct client contact: At least 1,600 hours must be direct counseling
• Supervision hours: 100 hours of individual, face-to-face clinical supervision. The board does not recognize group supervision
• Frequency: At least 3 supervision meetings of 1 hour each per month when working 25 hours a week or more. Part-time, at least 1 hour per 30 hours of client contact
• Exam: NCE or NCMHCE

Supervisor Qualifications

• Must hold an active Kentucky LPCC license and the board's LPCC-S supervisor designation
• Must have at least 2 years of experience after LPCC licensure
• Must complete a 15-hour board-approved supervision course, or a graduate course in supervision

LMFT: Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (Kentucky)

Kentucky's LMFT is governed by KRS 335.330 and 201 KAR 32:035. Candidates hold a marriage and family therapist associate permit while accruing hours.

Supervised Experience Requirements

• Total supervised experience: At least 2 years of post-master's experience
• Direct client contact: Minimum of 1,000 hours of direct client contact
• Supervision hours: 200 hours of clinical supervision, at least 100 individual (1 or 2 supervisees) and no more than 100 group (3 to 6 supervisees)
• Raw data: At least 50 supervision hours must use raw data, such as recorded work, live observation, or co-therapy with the supervisor
• Frequency: An average of at least 4 hours of supervision a month, spread evenly over the period
• Exam: AMFTRB National Examination

Supervisor Qualifications

• Must hold an active Kentucky LMFT license and board-approved supervisor status
• Must also meet one of these: AAMFT Approved Supervisor with 2 years of post-licensure experience, AAMFT Supervisor Candidate with 3 years, or 5 years as an LMFT with the last 18 months in Kentucky
• Supervisors who are not AAMFT Approved Supervisors need 6 hours of supervision CE within the 2 years before applying, then 2 hours a year. AAMFT Approved Supervisors need 1 hour of Kentucky law CE a year

Kentucky-Specific Details

Separate Boards

Unlike states with a single behavioral health board, Kentucky maintains separate boards for each profession. This means supervisors and supervisees must navigate different administrative codes (KAR Title 201, Chapters 23, 32, and 36) and use different board-specific forms for supervision agreements and hour tracking.

Board Approval Before Hours Count

On all three tracks, a written supervision contract or agreement must be approved by the board before the supervisee practices or accrues hours. A new contract or agreement is needed when the supervisor or the employer changes.

More Than One Supervisor

Social work names a supervisor of record and any additional supervisors in the contract. Each supervisor documents only the supervision they provided. Counseling allows more than one supervisor of record only with the board's permission, and each supervisor verifies only the hours completed under them. For MFT, a separate supervision plan is filed for each board-approved supervisor.

Forms and Signatures

Each board handles signatures differently. The Board of Social Work's Supervised Experience Documentation Form asks each supervisor to print it and sign by hand. Counseling agreements and hour verifications are completed and signed electronically in the board's eServices portal. The MFT Supervisory Log has a row for each supervision meeting, and the supervisor signs every line. The log goes in with each annual permit renewal and with the license application.

Supervisor Training Differs by Board

Training requirements are not uniform. Social work supervisors need a 6-hour course, counseling supervisors need 15 hours, and MFT supervisors who are not AAMFT Approved Supervisors need 6 hours of supervision CE.

Virtual Supervision in Kentucky

Rules differ by board. The counseling board allows all supervision to be provided remotely by combined video and audio. Social work allows electronic supervision when supervisor and supervisee can see each other, and the contract must state that both agree to it. MFT supervision by video counts only if both the supervisor and the supervisee have completed the board's 15-hour telehealth training under 201 KAR 32:110. The MFT board listed the treatment of video supervision hours on its October 15, 2026 agenda, so confirm the current position with the board.

Key Kentucky Board Contact Information

• Department of Professional Licensing: dpl.ky.gov
• Board of Social Work: bsw.ky.gov
• Board of Licensed Professional Counselors: lpc.ky.gov
• Board of Licensure of Marriage and Family Therapists: mft.ky.gov

How to Become a Clinical Supervisor in Kentucky

Supervisor requirements in Kentucky vary by discipline, including the length of the required training. Always confirm current standards with the respective board.

Becoming an LCSW Supervisor

• Hold an active Kentucky LCSW license
• Complete at least 2 years of clinical practice after independent licensure
• Complete a 6-hour board-approved supervision training course, then a 3-hour refresher every renewal period
• Submit a Request to Provide Supervision, with your training certificate, to the Board of Social Work

Becoming an LPCC Supervisor

• Hold an active Kentucky LPCC license
• Complete at least 2 years of experience after LPCC licensure
• Complete a 15-hour board-approved supervision course or a graduate supervision course
• Apply to the Board of Licensed Professional Counselors for the LPCC-S designation

Becoming an LMFT Supervisor

• Hold an active Kentucky LMFT license
• Hold AAMFT Approved Supervisor status with 2 years of post-licensure experience, AAMFT Supervisor Candidate status with 3 years, or 5 years as an LMFT
• If you are not an AAMFT Approved Supervisor, complete 6 hours of supervision CE within the 2 years before applying
• Apply to the Board of Licensure of Marriage and Family Therapists for board-approved supervisor status

A proposed amendment to 201 KAR 32:035, filed in September 2026, would drop the rule that the last 18 months of the 5 years be in Kentucky. Confirm its status with the board.

How Guidara Helps Kentucky Supervisors

Guidara keeps hour logs, signed supervision notes, and timesheets for each supervision relationship, stored digitally with timestamps and audit trails. You can export PDF records to use when completing each board's forms. You still complete the board's own forms yourself, including the handwritten social work form, the counseling eServices verification, and the line-by-line signed MFT log.