Colorado LPC Candidates to Save $1,500 on Supervision Costs

Aspiring therapists could save up to $1,500 in supervision costs to become a licensed therapist in Colorado.Photo byChristina @ wocintechchat.comonUnsplash

With the passing of Senate bill 24-115 in the Colorado State Legislature, licensed professional counselor candidates (LPCC) will soon be able to save over $1,000 in supervision costs to become licensed therapists in the state.

After completing a Master's degree, LPPCs need to complete 2,000 hours of practice in counseling, including at least 1,500 hours of face-to-face work with their clients before they can become licensed professional counselors (LPC) in Colorado.

They also need to be under clinical supervision from a licensed therapist, and that's where aspiring Colorado therapists will soon be able to save on supervision costs, effective August 7, 2024.

For each 1,000 hours of their work with clients, LPCCs need to get a minimum of 50 hours of supervision. Previously, the state required a minimum of 35 of the 50 hours to be from individual supervision, and the remaining hours up to 50 could be from group supervision.

Becoming a licensed therapist in Colorado is about to be much less expensive for LPCCs.Photo byBrooke CagleonUnsplash

Starting this August, the state will lower the minimum number of individual supervision hours from 35 to 25 hours per 50 hours of supervision. This means that pre-licensed therapists will be able to trade up to 20 hours of individual supervision to group supervision going forward, which will lower the cost of becoming a licensed therapist in Colorado.

Here's where the math comes in. On average, LPC individual supervision in Colorado typically costs around $125 per hour, while LPC group supervision typically costs around $50-$60 per hour.

With the previous requirements, which were inadvertently removed in 2020, 35 individual supervision hours and 15 group supervision hours would cost roughly $5,125 for 50 hours of supervision.

Because a pre-licensed therapist needs to complete 100 supervision hours over the course of their 2,000 hours of work with clients, that adds up to $10,250. Even with the average cost of therapy in Denver being $150 per session once they're licensed, that's a significant cost for a new therapist who is just starting out.

But with the new requirements, which would allow for 25 individual supervision hours and 25 group supervision hours, 50 hours of supervision would cost about $4,375. For 100 supervision hours, this could lead to a savings of $1,500 in supervision costs for LPCCs to become licensed in Colorado.

Especially when pre-licensed therapists are working towards licensure in Colorado, building their client caseloads, along with their income, this will be a significant cost savings for LPPCs who are just starting their careers to become licensed therapists.