Fee-based Pastoral Counselor
Fee-based Pastoral Counselors perform similar services to a Licensed Professional Counselor, but provide services from a religious or spiritual perspective. Licensure is required the Pastoral Counselor receives payment for services. It is not required if such counseling is performed as part of regular duties as a pastor or religious congregation leader. Only a few states have a separate license for Pastoral Counselors. In those states, pastors or religious leaders would need to be licensed as Professional Counselors or Marriage and Family Therapistif they wanted to offer such services for a fee. Fee-based Pastoral Counselors are also called Licensed Clinical Pastoral Therapists (LCPT) in some states.
In general, Pastoral Counselors must hold a Master's Degree in professional counseling or a related field, must complete 1000-2000 hours of professional supervision and must pass a licensure exam.