How to verify a therapist's license

A license is the state's record that someone may use a professional title and practice. You can check it yourself, for free, with the board that issued it.

What a license is

In the four states Therapy Index covers, a state board issues the license and publishes a way to look it up. A license can be fully independent, or it can be a step that requires supervision while the clinician finishes the requirements. The title tells you which.

Who issues it

Boards are usually set up by profession. Counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, and addiction counselors are often checked with different boards, even within one state. The state guides name each board and link to its public lookup.

What a lookup shows

Each board's lookup is a little different. The ones Therapy Index read let you search by name or license number, and some show whether a license is active and whether disciplinary action is on record. How much you see depends on the board.

If you are not sure what a title or abbreviation means, see therapist credentials explained.

What a directory can and cannot tell you

Therapy Index builds each listing from the public NPI registry. Where it has checked a license, it compares the listing's name and license number with the board's published records and shows the date of the check.

A check is a snapshot. A license can change the day after, and the registry can be out of date. A directory is not the board, so the board's own lookup is the authority on whether someone is licensed.

Guides by state

Sources last read Nov 11, 2026.