District-of-columbia LGAT Requirements: Hours, Exams & Step-by-Step Guide

In the District of Columbia, art therapists are regulated by the District of Columbia Board of Professional Counseling under DC Health. The Board recognizes two levels of art therapy licensure:

• Graduate Professional Art Therapist (often referred to on DC Health materials as “Graduate Art Therapist”)
• Professional Art Therapist

The acronym LGAT – Licensed Graduate Art Therapist is used in Maryland, not in DC. In DC, the closest equivalent is the Graduate Professional Art Therapist license. The requirements below are those set out for that DC license, and for the full Professional Art Therapist license you will work toward afterward.

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1. Credential name and legal authority

District law creates a separate subchapter for art therapy licensure and directs the Board of Professional Counseling to license both professional and graduate professional art therapists. (code.dccouncil.gov)

The key statutory section is D.C. Code § 3‑1208.71, “Qualifications for licensure.” (code.dccouncil.gov)

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2. What “Graduate Professional Art Therapist” means in DC

Under D.C. Code § 3‑1208.71(b), the Board:

• “shall license as a graduate professional art therapist” a person who:
  • Meets the general health-occupation requirements in subchapter V of the Health Occupations Revision Act, and
  • Has completed the required graduate degree in art therapy (or a board-accepted equivalent). (code.dccouncil.gov)

There is no separate post‑degree hour requirement in subsection (b) for the graduate license itself. The supervised experience and detailed hour requirements are attached to the Professional Art Therapist license in subsection (a), not to the graduate license. (code.dccouncil.gov)

In practice, the Graduate Professional Art Therapist license is your pre‑independent, supervised license, roughly analogous to a “graduate professional counselor” credential.

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3. Step‑by‑step: qualifying as a Graduate Professional Art Therapist (DC)

3.1. Meet general Board and DC Health requirements

Under subchapter V of the Health Occupations Revision Act (which applies to all health boards), applicants must generally: (code.dccouncil.gov)

• Apply to DC Health / Board of Professional Counseling via the online portal. (dchealth.dc.gov)
• Pay the required fees.
• Submit to a criminal background check (DC Health lists this as a standard step for Board‑regulated professions). (dchealth.dc.gov)
• Meet character and fitness standards (e.g., no disqualifying disciplinary history, able to practice safely).

The Board’s licensing page lists specific email contacts for “Graduate Art Therapist applicants”, confirming that it actively processes this license category. (dchealth.dc.gov)

3.2. Complete the required graduate degree

For the graduate license, the statute requires that you have satisfactorily completed one of the following: (code.dccouncil.gov)

1. Master’s degree

   • A master’s degree in a program in art therapy from an accredited college or university,
   • The program must have been either:
     • Approved by the American Art Therapy Association, or
     • Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (or its successor)
   • Or be a “substantially equivalent” program, as determined by the Board.

2. (Earlier versions of the law allowed a doctoral route, but that paragraph has since been repealed in the current District code version; for purposes of today’s requirements, the master’s-level art therapy program or its board‑accepted equivalent is the controlling route in subsection (b).) (code.dccouncil.gov)

The statute does not specify a particular number of practicum or internship hours for DC licensure; it defers to the program’s accreditation/approval standards. (code.dccouncil.gov)

3.3. Title protection

DC law makes it unlawful to use the titles “professional art therapist” or “graduate art therapist” (or similar wording) unless you are authorized under the DC licensing law. (code.dccouncil.gov)

This means you must actually hold the Graduate Professional Art Therapist license before advertising yourself with that title in the District.

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4. Hours and supervision: where the numbers apply

Your question specifically asked about types of hours (direct experience vs supervised hours) and exact Board language. In DC, the numeric hour requirements appear only in law for the full Professional Art Therapist license, not for the graduate license.

4.1. Post‑graduate hours for full Professional Art Therapist (DC)

To move from the graduate license to the Professional Art Therapist license, D.C. Code § 3‑1208.71(a)(2) requires: (code.dccouncil.gov)

• Total work experience:

  • A minimum of 2 years of work experience in art therapy
  • After completion of the graduate degree
  • Consisting of at least 3,000 hours of work experience in art therapy.

• Direct client contact component:

  • Of those 3,000 hours, at least 1,000 hours must involve “practice in direct contact with clients.”
  • This means face‑to‑face therapeutic work (or its functional equivalent, as recognized by the Board) where you are actually delivering art therapy services to clients.

• Supervision requirement (type and amount):

  • At least 200 hours of that experience must be “under the immediate supervision” of:
    • An art therapy certified supervisor, or
    • A licensed professional art therapist, or
    • A board certified art therapist, or
    • Another licensed mental health professional approved by the Board.
  • The statute also requires a minimum supervision ratio:
    • There must be “at least one hour of immediate supervision provided per 15 hours of practice in direct contact with clients.”

In shorthand, the DC statutory requirements for a Professional Art Therapist license are:

• 3,000 total post‑degree art therapy work hours
  • At least 1,000 hours = direct client contact
  • At least 200 hours = immediate supervision
  • Supervision ratio = 1 hour of immediate supervision per 15 hours of direct client contact

Those are the only numeric hour requirements specified in DC law for art therapists, and they are tied to the independent (Professional Art Therapist) level.

4.2. How this relates to the Graduate Professional Art Therapist license

For the Graduate Professional Art Therapist (your “LGAT‑equivalent” in DC):

• No specific post‑degree hour minimums are listed in § 3‑1208.71(b).
• Once you are licensed at the graduate level, you are expected to accumulate the 3,000/1,000/200 hours under qualified supervision so that you can later qualify for the full Professional Art Therapist license.

In practical terms, your path looks like this:

1. Complete qualifying master’s art therapy degree (meeting the statutory program criteria).
2. Obtain Graduate Professional Art Therapist license from the DC Board (degree + general Board requirements). (code.dccouncil.gov)
3. Work under supervision as a graduate art therapist to complete:
   • 3,000 total post‑degree art therapy hours,
   • including 1,000 direct client hours,
   • plus 200 hours of immediate supervision at a 1:15 ratio with an approved supervisor. (code.dccouncil.gov)
4. Pass the Art Therapy Credentials Board Examination (required under § 3‑1208.71(a)(3) for the Professional Art Therapist license). (code.dccouncil.gov)
5. Apply to upgrade to the Professional Art Therapist license.

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5. Summary focused on the “LGAT‑equivalent” in DC

• DC does not use the “LGAT” title; instead, the Board licenses Graduate Professional Art Therapists. (code.dccouncil.gov)
• To be licensed at this graduate level, you must:
  • Meet general DC Health/Board requirements (application, fees, background check, etc.), and
  • Hold a qualifying master’s degree in art therapy (or substantially equivalent) from an approved/accredited program. (code.dccouncil.gov)
• No specific post‑degree hours are required just to obtain the graduate license itself; the 3,000 total hours / 1,000 direct client hours / 200 supervised hours are required later, when you apply for the independent Professional Art Therapist license. (code.dccouncil.gov)

If you are mapping your own training plan, the key numbers you will ultimately need to hit in DC are:

• 3,000 total post‑master’s art therapy hours
• 1,000 hours of direct client contact within that total
• 200 hours of immediate supervision, with 1 hour of supervision per 15 hours of direct client contact, under a Board‑accepted art therapy or mental health supervisor. (code.dccouncil.gov)