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Starting a Private Therapy Practice in California

Photo of Marcus Reilly
Marcus Reilly Practice Operations Editor 11 min read
Outline

Scroll the table sideways to view every column

Step Who it applies to Where to file Typical time
Name the license You The board that issues that title Before any other filing
Associate or psychological associate registration AMFT, ASW, APCC, or registered psychological associate BBS or Board of Psychology, BreEZe or mail Before California hours, except the BBS 90-day rule
Hours, exams, initial license Same four paths, after the degree That board, then the exam vendor on that path BBS minimum 104 weeks. License request within 1 year of the exam notice
Copy the license number You, after the board issues it BBS or Board of Psychology public lookup Before articles or a city permit
Entity choice You, after the license number is copied No articles on this checklist if you practice in your own name After the number is copied
Professional corporation articles You, if you will not stay a sole proprietor Secretary of State, form ARTS-PC After the license exists
Fictitious business name You, if the door name is not your own The county clerk form for the county where you will list the address After the license number is copied
Local permit You, in the city you will list That city, found through CalGOLD Before you open the address you will list

The dollar amount for each step is in the next table. Copy it from the form named in the cell. Do not use a number you remember.

Scroll the table sideways to view every column

Step What it costs
AMFT, ASW, or APCC registration $75 on the August 2026 BBS form. Hard-card fingerprints add $49 only if you mail them
Law and ethics exam request $75 on the July 2026 BBS form. One fee per license type
LCSW licensure application $125 on the June 2026 BBS form
LMFT licensure application $250 on the June 2026 BBS form
LPCC licensure application $125 on the June 2026 BBS form
Initial BBS license $100 on the July 2026 BBS form
Psychologist application $236 on the Board of Psychology 2026 fee schedule
CPLEE application $127 on that same 2026 fee schedule
EPPP $600 to Pearson VUE, on the 2026 fee schedule
Psychologist initial license $231 on the 2026 fee schedule
Psychological associate application $424 on the 2026 fee schedule
ARTS-PC articles $100 on the Secretary of State domestic corporation fee table
EIN No IRS fee
Fictitious business name Fee printed by that county clerk
City permit Fee printed on that city form

License rules, entity forms, and city permits change. Copy the form in front of you, and the fee printed on it. This is not legal, tax, or licensure advice.

Free PDF: Practice Launch Pack

A printable counseling-practice pack: a sequenced start-up checklist, a fillable business plan with a caseload and fee ramp, an entity comparison card, and a solo-versus-group decision card.

  • Sequenced start-up checklist with owner, depends-on, done, not-yet, and cost estimate
  • Fillable business plan: services, payer mix, costs, fee and caseload ramp, break-even month
  • Entity card for sole proprietorship, LLC, and PLLC, including license and malpractice gaps
  • Solo versus group card: pay, control, credentialing, supervision, records, and exit

Free. We'll email the PDF link right away and add you to the therapist toolkit, sent every two weeks. Unsubscribe any time.

The Practice Launch Pack is the blank six-column startup sheet, a business-plan sheet, an entity card, and a solo-versus-group card. The fee and caseload math live on the therapy private practice business plan. The six-line order used in any state lives on how to start a therapy private practice. Starting a private therapy practice in California uses those sheets after the license number is copied. It does not replace them.

Read the row that matches your title

The first column is the order. Who it applies to is the title on the wall, or the title you are still earning. Where to file is the office that can mark the row done. What it costs is a figure printed on a form or a fee schedule, with the month or year that source prints. Typical time is a window that source prints, or the minimum that form prints. A blog estimate is not a cell. That sequence is the filing order for starting a private therapy practice in California.

If the title is licensed educational psychologist, use the Board of Behavioral Sciences LEP applicant path. The four paths below are LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, and psychologist.

Priya has an associate clinical social worker registration and a lease PDF. The lease is not the next row.

LMFT path

The marriage and family therapist path waits on the LMFT number. Starting a private therapy practice in California does not file articles before that number is copied.

  • Step: Register as an associate marriage and family therapist, accrue 3,000 supervised hours over a minimum of 104 weeks, pass the California law and ethics exam and the clinical exam, then request the initial license.

  • Who it applies to: You, if the title you are earning is licensed marriage and family therapist.

  • Where to file: Board of Behavioral Sciences, 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite S200, Sacramento, CA 95834, or BreEZe if the form says you may. The LMFT applicant page lists the packets.

  • What it costs: $75 associate registration on the August 2026 form. $75 law and ethics request on the July 2026 form. $250 licensure application on the June 2026 form, which that form splits into a $125 application fee and a $125 examination fee. $100 initial license on the July 2026 form.

  • Typical time: 104 weeks is the minimum for the hours, not a processing promise. The July 2026 law and ethics form says allow 4 to 6 weeks for that paper application. The July 2026 initial license form says allow 30 working days if you mail it, and you must file within one year after the board notifies you that you completed the exams.

The LMFT applicant page says applicants cannot accrue postdegree supervised experience in California without registering, except under the 90-day rule. It also says a registrant with a subsequent registration number cannot work in a private practice or a professional corporation setting, and that there are no exceptions.

LCSW path

Starting a private therapy practice in California as a clinical social worker still waits on the LCSW number.

  • Step: Register as an associate clinical social worker, accrue 3,000 supervised hours over a minimum of 104 weeks, pass the California law and ethics exam and the ASWB clinical exam, then request the initial license.

  • Who it applies to: You, if the title you are earning is licensed clinical social worker. Hours in California require the associate registration, except under the 90-day rule on the BBS applicant page.

  • Where to file: Same Board of Behavioral Sciences address, or BreEZe. The LCSW applicant page lists the in-state packet and the out-of-state paths. Do not use the LMFT packet.

  • What it costs: $75 associate registration on the August 2026 form. $75 law and ethics request on the July 2026 form. $125 licensure application on the June 2026 form. The ASWB clinical exam fee is on the ASWB handbook, not on the BBS application. $100 initial license on the July 2026 form.

  • Typical time: Same 104-week minimum, same 4 to 6 weeks on the July 2026 law and ethics paper form, same 30 working days and one-year window on the July 2026 initial license form.

The LCSW applicant page repeats the subsequent-registration bar: a registrant with a subsequent registration number cannot work in a private practice or a professional corporation setting, and there are no exceptions. If Priya later holds that subsequent number, the lease PDF is still not the next row.

LPCC path

Send the counselor packet, not the psychologist checklist, if you are starting a private therapy practice in California as an LPCC.

  • Step: Register as an associate professional clinical counselor, accrue 3,000 supervised hours over a minimum of 104 weeks, pass the California law and ethics exam and the NCMHCE, then request the initial license.

  • Who it applies to: You, if the title you are earning is licensed professional clinical counselor.

  • Where to file: Board of Behavioral Sciences. The LPCC applicant page lists the packets. After BBS approval, register the NCMHCE with NBCC. Do not send an LPCC packet to the Board of Psychology.

  • What it costs: $75 associate registration on the August 2026 form. $75 law and ethics request on the July 2026 form. $125 licensure application on the June 2026 form. The NCMHCE fee is NBCC’s, after BBS approval. $100 initial license on the July 2026 form.

  • Typical time: Same BBS windows as the LMFT and LCSW rows. Do not borrow a psychology processing time. The Board of Psychology checklist does not print one.

The LPCC applicant page states the same subsequent-registration bar as the LMFT and LCSW pages: no private practice and no professional corporation, no exceptions.

Psychologist path

The suite is N-215, not S200. Starting a private therapy practice in California as a psychologist does not start on a BBS form.

  • Step: Apply to the Board of Psychology for the EPPP if you have not passed it, or for the CPLEE if you already passed the EPPP in another state, a U.S. territory, or a Canadian province. Then request initial licensure.

  • Who it applies to: You, if the title is psychologist. A registered psychological associate is not that title.

  • Where to file: Board of Psychology, 1625 North Market Blvd., N-215, Sacramento, CA 95834, or BreEZe. That is not the BBS suite. The psychologist applicant page links the checklist.

  • What it costs: The 2026 fee schedule lists $236 for the initial psychologist application, $127 for the CPLEE application, $231 for initial licensure, $424 for a psychological associate application, $600 for the EPPP payable to Pearson VUE, and $87.50 for the Pearson VUE appointment. The checklist, revised February 22, 2024, prints $236 for a first-time EPPP application and $363 for a first-time online CPLEE packet when you have already passed the EPPP. $236 plus $127 is $363. Use the 2026 schedule if the two ever diverge.

  • Typical time: The checklist does not print a processing window. Do not invent one. It does print the hour packets: a minimum of 1,500 hours of supervised professional experience on the verification forms in the EPPP application, and 3,000 hours total on the verification forms in the already-passed-EPPP CPLEE packet. Read the verification form for the rest of the hour rule. Do not treat 1,500 as the whole license.

Copy a psychologist license number before you open under your own name. The associate registration is not that number.

Professional corporation, not an LLC

Once the lookup shows the license and you are starting a private therapy practice in California, this checklist names two choices. A sole proprietor who practices in their own name has no articles row. The other choice is professional corporation articles.

Form LLC-Tax-Prof-Info says a domestic or foreign LLC may not render professional services. On that form, professional services are any type that may be lawfully rendered only pursuant to a license, certification, or registration authorized by the Business and Professions Code, the Chiropractic Act, the Osteopathic Act, or the Yacht and Ship Brokers Act. If your business is required to be licensed, registered, or certified, the form says to contact the licensing authority before you file, to determine whether your services are considered professional. Do not pay a formation site to file an LLC and then ask the board to bless it.

File Articles of Incorporation - Professional, form ARTS-PC, with the Secretary of State. The domestic corporation fee table lists $100 for that form. File online at bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov if you want the faster option that page describes. Before you add an owner or print a corporate name, read that form and ask the board that issues your license. Do not copy an ownership split or a name from a formation website. A Board of Behavioral Sciences instruction is not a Board of Psychology instruction. If you are filing a psychological corporation, ask that board before you treat a BBS packet as yours.

The IRS employer identification number page says you never have to pay a fee for an EIN. Get it from the IRS after the articles exist, or skip it if you are a sole proprietor with no employees and the IRS page says you do not need one. A site that charges for the number is not the done test.

Other states use an LLC or a PLLC for the same clinical work. That comparison is the LLC versus PLLC card. Do not paste a Texas or New York rule onto the ARTS-PC row.

Local permit after the name is real

The city permit is last. If the name on the door is not your own, open the fictitious business name form from the county clerk for the county where you will list the address. Copy the fee that form prints. A fee from a different county is not your fee. If the form in front of you prints a window, that window is the cell.

The Secretary of State starting-a-business page says most businesses require licenses or permits and points to CalGOLD for the permit list. Open CalGOLD for the city where you will list the address. Copy that city’s business tax or business license fee from the city’s own form. There is no statewide city fee to put in the cell.

Use this blank row when you are ready to copy. One field per line. Leave a cell blank if the form in front of you does not print the figure.

After the number is copied

Stop using the filing order as a substitute for the week you will actually run. Malpractice, space, records, and the first referral are the next lines, and they already have an owner on the startup checklist for a solo counseling practice. The caseload and fee ramp are the private practice business plan. How the week runs once the first name arrives sits on the page for solo therapists.

If the chart will live in software after those lines are filled, start a free trial. The trial does not file the articles, and it does not call the board.

Download the Practice Launch Pack

Free PDF: Practice Launch Pack

A printable counseling-practice pack: a sequenced start-up checklist, a fillable business plan with a caseload and fee ramp, an entity comparison card, and a solo-versus-group decision card.

  • Sequenced start-up checklist with owner, depends-on, done, not-yet, and cost estimate
  • Fillable business plan: services, payer mix, costs, fee and caseload ramp, break-even month
  • Entity card for sole proprietorship, LLC, and PLLC, including license and malpractice gaps
  • Solo versus group card: pay, control, credentialing, supervision, records, and exit

Free. We'll email the PDF link right away and add you to the therapist toolkit, sent every two weeks. Unsubscribe any time.

The pack is the blank sheet for the rows above, plus the business-plan sheet and the entity card. Fill the California license row before you fill the fee ramp.

References

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