(1) The experience requirements for the mental health counselor applicant's practice area include successful completion of a supervised experience requirement. The experience requirement consists of a minimum of thirty-six months full-time counseling or three thousand hours of postgraduate mental health counseling under the supervision of a qualified licensed mental health counselor or equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner in an approved setting. Of the three thousand hours:

(a) One hundred hours spent in immediate supervision with the qualified licensed mental health counselor or equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner; and

(b) At least one thousand two hundred hours must be direct counseling with individuals, couples, families, or groups.

(2) Applicants who have completed a master's or doctoral program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) will be credited with fifty hours of postgraduate supervision and five hundred hours of postgraduate experience.

(3) Applicants for licensed mental health counselor associate are not required to have supervised postgraduate experience prior to becoming an associate.

(4) Licensed mental health counselor associate applicants must declare they are working toward full licensure.