Georgia LMSW Requirements: Hours, Exams & Step-by-Step Guide

Licensure as a Licensed Master’s Social Worker (LMSW) in Georgia is governed by the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists under Rule 135‑5‑.03 (“Master’s Social Workers”).(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

Below is an article‑style walkthrough focused on (1) the exact requirements for the LMSW license and (2) how the Board talks about hours, supervision, and “years” of experience.

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1. Basic eligibility for an LMSW in Georgia

Master’s degree requirement

The Board’s rule states that an applicant for licensure as a Master’s Social Worker must have earned:

a master’s degree in Social Work from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

CSWE candidacy, conditional, or accreditation status must have been in effect when the degree was awarded.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

There is no alternate degree pathway: the LMSW requires an MSW from a CSWE‑accredited program.

National exam requirement

Rule 135‑5‑.03 requires applicants to take and pass a “licensing examination.”(rules.sos.georgia.gov) The Board and NASW‑GA clarify that this is the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Master’s‑level exam, and that:

• Georgia candidates must be approved by the Board before registering with ASWB to take either the Masters or Clinical exam.(naswga.socialworkers.org)

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2. Timeline: from MSW graduation to LMSW license

Practice while preparing for the exam

After you finish your MSW, Georgia allows you to work under direction and supervision while you prepare for the LMSW exam:

Persons who have obtained a master’s degree… and who are practicing social work under direction and supervision while preparing to take the master’s social work licensing examination, may practice for a period of up to one year following the granting of such degree.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

Key points:

• This “up to one year” is a time limit, not a minimum hour requirement.
• You must be under direction and supervision during this period (definitions below).

Deadline to apply for and pass the exam

The same rule specifies:

• Within one year of graduating, a person practicing social work in Georgia must apply to take the licensing examination.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)
• If you fail the exam:
  • You must take it again at the next scheduled exam date, unless the Board approves a postponement for good cause.
  • You may sit for the exam a total of three times.
  • If you fail three times, you may not continue to practice social work in Georgia until you take and pass the exam (unless a statutory exemption applies).(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

Application to the Board

The Secretary of State’s “How to Guide: Master Social Worker” emphasizes that you must:

• Submit a complete application (online or paper) with fees and all required documents.
• Be formally approved by the Board before you can register with ASWB to sit for the exam.(sos.ga.gov)

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3. What the Board actually requires in terms of hours for the LMSW

A critical point:

Georgia does not require a specific number of post‑MSW practice hours (e.g., 1,500 “direct” and 1,500 “supervised”) in order to be granted the LMSW license.

Instead, the hour‑related rules around the LMSW focus on:

1. How “practice” must be structured during certain periods (under direction and supervision).
2. How a “year” of experience is defined in hours.
3. Hour requirements for Clinical Social Work (LCSW) licensure, which often are completed while you hold the LMSW.

First two years of LMSW practice: direction and supervision

Rule 135‑5‑.03 provides:

The first two years of practice after the issuance of the Master of Social Work license shall be under direction and supervision.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

This is not framed as “X hours of direct client contact” and “Y hours of supervision.” Instead, the requirement is two years of practice, during which:

• You must be under direction (administrative oversight by a director/employer).(rules.sos.georgia.gov)
• You must be under supervision (clinical review by a qualified supervisor).(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

The same rule section defines how the Board counts a “year” of experience:

For experience acquired on or after 7/1/96, one year means 1000 hours acquired in no less than 12 months and no more than 36 months.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

Putting these together:

• “Two years of practice” (for experience acquired after 7/1/96) corresponds to at least 2,000 hours of practice, acquired over at least 24 months.
• However, those hours are not a pre‑licensure requirement for the LMSW; they describe how your early LMSW practice must be structured.

In other words:

• To get the LMSW license: you need the CSWE‑accredited MSW + Board‑approved application + passing the ASWB Master’s exam.
• Once you hold the LMSW license: the first 2,000 hours or more (two years) of practice must be under direction and supervision as defined by the Board.

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4. Board definitions: direction, supervision, supervisor, and “year”

Because Georgia uses these terms instead of preset hour buckets like “1,500 direct / 1,500 supervised,” the definitions themselves are key.

Direction

Direction means the ongoing administrative oversight by a director of the work of a Social Worker… responsible for assuring the quality of the services rendered… and ensuring that qualified supervision or intervention occurs in situations which require expertise beyond that of the practitioner.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

The director is the employer or superior in the chain of command who provides this oversight.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

Supervision

Supervision means the direct clinical review, for the purpose of training or teaching, by a supervisor of a Social Worker’s interaction with clients… to promote the development of the practitioner’s clinical skills.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

Supervision can include review of case presentations, audio/video recordings, and direct observation.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

Supervisor

A supervisor is:

an individual who promotes the development of the Social Worker’s clinical skills and who is a licensed Clinical Social Worker, Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist, Psychologist or Psychiatrist and has met the requirements to be considered a supervisor in their particular discipline.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

For supervision that is intended to count toward Clinical Social Work (LCSW) licensure, additional requirements in Rule 135‑5‑.04 must be met (e.g., proportion of supervision provided by an LCSW, documentation, etc.).(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

“Year” of experience in hours

As noted, Rule 135‑5‑.03(3)(f) defines:

• For experience on or after July 1, 1996, one year = 1,000 hours of practice, obtained over no less than 12 and no more than 36 months.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

This is the Board’s only explicit numerical hour definition attached to the LMSW rule itself. It is primarily used to interpret required “years” of experience (for example, when counting experience toward clinical licensure).

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5. How LMSW practice transitions into LCSW requirements (where hour specifics appear)

The detailed hour counts you often hear about in Georgia come from the Clinical Social Worker rule (135‑5‑.04), not from the LMSW rule.

For LCSW licensure with a master’s degree in social work, the Board requires:(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

• Total clinical experience:

  a minimum of 3000 hours post social work master’s degree supervised experience acquired over a period of no less than 36 months or more than 108 months.

• Breakdown of those hours:

  the first 2000 hours of experience must be under supervision and direction in the practice of clinical social work.

• Supervision hours:

  documentation of having acquired 120 hours of supervision during this time, no more than 50% of which may be group supervision and at least 50% must be provided by a licensed clinical social worker who meets requirements to be a duly qualified supervisor.

These are the specific numerical hour requirements (3,000 experience hours, 2,000 of them under both supervision and direction, and 120 hours of supervision) that many Georgia LMSWs work toward after they are initially licensed.

Most LMSWs accrue these hours during the first several years after licensure while working under direction and supervision as required by 135‑5‑.03 and 135‑5‑.04.

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6. Scope of practice and supervision after two years

After you complete the first two years of practice under direction and supervision:

• You may engage in private practice as an LMSW.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)
• However, if your practice includes counseling or psychotherapeutic techniques, the rule states that you may only engage in such practice under supervision and “only for such period of time as is prescribed for qualification to take the clinical social work licensing examination.”(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

Once you meet the LCSW experience/supervision requirements and become eligible for the clinical examination, you must apply for the LCSW license within 60 days and take the first exam you qualify for (subject to limited postponement for good cause).(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

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7. Hour‑related requirements at a glance (Georgia Board language–based)

To obtain the LMSW license itself

• Education:
  • MSW from a CSWE‑accredited program.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)
• Exam:
  • Board‑approved ASWB Master’s‑level exam; application to sit must be made within one year of graduation; up to three attempts allowed.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)
• Pre‑licensure practice hours:
  • No specific number of hours is required to qualify for the LMSW license. You may practice up to one year post‑MSW under direction and supervision while preparing for the exam.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

Once you hold the LMSW license

• First two years of practice:
  • Must be “under direction and supervision” (Board’s wording).(rules.sos.georgia.gov)
  • For counting experience, “one year means 1000 hours” (for experience after 7/1/96), so two years correspond to at least 2,000 hours of practice, but this figure is implicit from the definition of “year,” not stated as a separate “2,000‑hour” requirement.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)
• Supervision format:
  • Supervision is “direct clinical review… for the purpose of training or teaching,” focused on developing clinical skills, and must be provided by a qualified licensed professional (LCSW, LPC, LMFT, psychologist, or psychiatrist).(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

If you aim to become an LCSW later

• Experience and supervision hours (post‑MSW, usually while you are an LMSW):
  • 3,000 hours of post‑MSW clinical social work practice.
  • Of those, 2,000 hours must be under both supervision and direction in clinical social work.
  • 120 hours of supervision, at least half provided by a licensed Clinical Social Worker; no more than half may be group supervision.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

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8. Practical interpretation

For Georgia specifically:

• There is no required pre‑licensure practice‑hour total for the LMSW. Your gatekeepers are the CSWE‑accredited MSW and the ASWB Master’s exam, via Board approval.
• Hour counting really becomes central once you are working toward the LCSW. That is when the Board’s explicit numbers—3,000 total clinical hours, 2,000 under direction and supervision, and 120 supervision hours—must be meticulously documented under Rule 135‑5‑.04.(rules.sos.georgia.gov)

Understanding the Board’s definitions of “direction,” “supervision,” “supervisor,” and “year” is therefore crucial, because Georgia frames its requirements in those terms rather than in simple “direct vs. supervised hour” buckets for the LMSW stage.