What the Nebraska DHHS, Division of Public Health — Board of Mental Health Practice requires to reach LIMHP — supervised hours, exams, continuing education and renewal.
Nebraska reaches the LCSW title by a different route. Nebraska does not issue a standalone LCSW license the way most states do. It issues mental health licenses (LMHP, LIMHP) and social work certifications (CMSW, CSW) separately, and the clinical social work titles come from holding both. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. §38-2116, a person licensed as a Mental Health Practitioner and certified as a Master Social Worker may use the title Licensed Clinical Social Worker; a person licensed as an Independent Mental Health Practitioner and certified as a Master Social Worker may use the title Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker. So you can practise as an LCSW in Nebraska — you just reach it by combining two credentials rather than applying for one. Mapping “LCSW” to a single standalone license here produces wrong answers in both directions.
| Credential | Full name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| LIMHP | Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner | May diagnose and treat major mental illness without supervision or consultation. This is Nebraska's independent clinical credential. |
| LMHP | Licensed Mental Health Practitioner | May not diagnose major mental illness except in consultation with an LIMHP, qualified physician or licensed clinical psychologist. |
| PLMHP | Provisionally Licensed Mental Health Practitioner | The provisional stage. |
| CMSW | Certified Master Social Worker | Master's-level social work certification. |
| LCSW | Licensed Clinical Social Worker (title) | Not a separate license. Available to someone who holds an LMHP license and CMSW certification, per Neb. Rev. Stat. §38-2116(2). |
| LICSW | Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (title) | Available to someone who holds an LIMHP license and CMSW certification, per §38-2116(3). |
| CSW | Certified Social Worker | No exam required. May not practise privately, independently or autonomously, and may not provide mental health services. |
| Supervised experience | 3,000 hours — post-master's supervised experience for LMHP, of which 1,500 must be direct client contact. LIMHP requires 3,000 hours of which 1,500 involve clients diagnosed with a major mental illness; an alternative route allows 7,000 hours over at least 10 years with 3,500 such hours |
| Supervision hours | Not specified by the board |
| Supervision frequency | For LIMHP: 2 hours of face-to-face supervision per 15 hours of contact with clients diagnosed with major mental disorders, and no more than 45 hours may accumulate without such supervision. Supervision continues until the credential is issued, not merely until the hour count is met. CMSW requires at least 1 hour per week of evaluative face-to-face contact. |
| Minimum elapsed time | Not specified by the board |
| Direct client contact | 1,500 hours for LMHP. For LIMHP, 1,500 hours involving clients diagnosed with a major mental illness. |
CMSW requires the ASWB Clinical exam with a pass score of 75 — unusual for a master's-level credential, and worth planning for. CSW requires no exam. LIMHP requires an LMHP or PLMHP plus a board-approved exam; accepted options include the ASWB Clinical, Advanced or Level C, the NBCC NCE or NCMHCE, the AMFTRB exam, the CORE exam, or an APA exam for certain doctoral programmes.
Reciprocity applicants may need to pass a Nebraska jurisprudence exam depending on their circumstances. It is not a general requirement for in-state initial applicants, and the board does not spell out what triggers it.
32 clock hours per 2-year cycle. Credentials expire on 1 September of even-numbered years.
Nebraska has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact. Thirty-three jurisdictions have. Enactment is not the same as availability: the Compact Commission has not opened applications and no multistate licenses have been issued yet. Until it goes live, licensure by endorsement remains the route into another state. Where the compact actually stands.
Primary authority: Nebraska DHHS, Division of Public Health — Board of Mental Health Practice. Where anything on this page differs from the board, the board governs.
We do not publish fee amounts. Boards revise fee schedules without notice and a stale figure on a page people budget from is worse than no figure — use the board link above for current fees.
Requirements change. Confirm anything you intend to act on with the board before you apply. Tell us if something here is out of date and we will correct and re-date the page.
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Next scheduled review: January 2027
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