The Counseling Compact: What therapists in private practice should know (2025)
Posted on September 26, 2025
More therapists in 2025 have decided to build their own practices Therapy Practice Predictions for 2025 | Heard, motivated by factors like better income potential and professional autonomy. With the growing trend of private practice, it is important to know about state legislation being done to improve the ability for counselors to practice in various states. This initiative is called The Counseling Compact (The Compact).
The Counseling Compact
The Compact is an interstate licensing agreement that allows counselors to practice across state lines either in person or via telehealth Counseling Compact - Interstate Compacts for Professional Counselor Licensure. It's designed to increase access to mental health services by reducing licensing barriers between states.
Eligibility Requirements
States are eligible to join the Compact if their requirements for licensure include requiring a 60-hour degree in counseling or 60 hours in designated graduate coursework, requiring post-degree supervised experience, and passing a nationally recognized examination What to know about doing telehealth in a different state.
How It Works
The Compact operates similarly to other interstate compacts like the driver's license system - once a counselor is licensed in their home state (which must be a member of the Compact), they can obtain privileges to practice in other member states without going through the full licensing process in each state.
Benefits for Therapists
For solo practitioners, this represents a significant opportunity to expand their client base beyond their home state boundaries, particularly for telehealth services. It eliminates the time-consuming and expensive process of obtaining separate licenses in multiple states, which has traditionally been a major barrier to interstate practice.
Current Status
The American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association have been advocating the expansion of the Compact. Because of their efforts, the Compact has been growing in adoption, though not all states have joined yet. Each state legislature must pass enabling legislation to participate in the Compact. The American Counseling Association provides an interactive map so practitioners can see if their state is in the Compact and the status of ongoing legislation of states not in the Compact. The map can be found at ACA website. Other helpful information can be found at the American Psychological Association website on how the Compact affects delivering telehealth What to know about doing telehealth in a different state.
Zoobook Systems will stay up-to-date on the latest developments of the Compact to best support our clients in solo practice.