ASWB vs. Other Licensure Exams (Counseling, Psychology, Marriage & Family Therapy): Overlaps & Differences

Preparing for licensure can feel like stepping into a maze where every turn brings a new challenge. Whether your path leads toward Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, or Marriage and Family Therapy, one thing is certain: an exam stands between you and your license. These exams may all serve the same purpose of proving professional competence, but the way they test your knowledge can vary widely. That can make the decision about how to prepare a little overwhelming.

The ASWB exam is often compared with other licensure tests like the NCE for counselors, the EPPP for psychologists, and the AMFTRB exam for marriage and family therapists. Each of these assessments is rigorous, and each asks for a specific blend of theory, ethics, and applied skills. At the same time, there are areas of overlap that can benefit students considering more than one license. Understanding those commonalities and differences is key to creating an effective study plan.

In this post, we will explore the landscape of licensure exams by looking closely at ASWB vs. other licensure exams in Counseling, Psychology, and Marriage and Family Therapy. By comparing their content, structure, and focus, you will see where they align and where they diverge. This comparison is especially helpful if you are weighing multiple career paths or preparing for more than one test. Along the way, we will also highlight how resources like Agents of Change can support your preparation for the ASWB exam and make the study process less intimidating.

Learn more about the ASWB exam and create a personalized ASWB study plan with Agents of Change. We’ve helped tens of thousands of Social Workers pass their ASWB exams and want to help you be next!

1) The Purpose Behind Each Exam

Licensure exams may feel like intimidating gatekeepers, but their true purpose is to ensure that professionals across Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, and Marriage & Family Therapy have the knowledge and ethical grounding to serve clients safely. Each exam reflects the values and priorities of its profession. Some are broad and systemic, while others are highly specialized.

Let’s break them down.

ASWB: Social Work’s Multifaceted Exam

The Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) exam stands apart from many other professional licensure tests because it’s tiered. Instead of one universal exam, the ASWB provides different levels that align with your degree and the scope of practice allowed in your state.

Bachelor’s Exam: This level is designed for those entering the profession with a bachelor’s degree. It tests fundamental knowledge like human development, behavior, and the basics of assessment and intervention. The idea is to confirm readiness for entry-level generalist practice.
Master’s Exam: This level is for individuals with a master’s degree in Social Work. The focus shifts toward more advanced concepts like assessment, direct practice skills, treatment planning, and professional ethics. It verifies you’re ready to step into professional-level practice.
Advanced Generalist Exam: For those with experience beyond the master’s level, this exam emphasizes community systems, social policy, supervision, and advanced practice. It suits Social Workers in leadership or broad programmatic roles.
Clinical Exam: The most widely recognized level, this exam confirms competency in mental health diagnosis and treatment. It focuses on psychotherapy, clinical interventions, and working directly with individuals, families, and groups in clinical settings.

Together, these levels reflect Social Work’s commitment to serving individuals, families, and entire communities. The purpose is not only to confirm technical skills but to measure readiness across multiple contexts, from one-on-one counseling to macro-level advocacy.

NCE: Counseling’s Competency Test

The National Counselor Examination (NCE) serves as a single, comprehensive test for Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) in many states. Unlike the ASWB, there are no levels. Every candidate takes the same exam regardless of specialty area.

The NCE focuses on ensuring counselors can apply theoretical knowledge in real-world practice. It covers eight core content areas, such as human growth and development, group work, career counseling, and assessment. It also tests key counseling orientations and strategies, making it very application-heavy.

The purpose of the NCE is to prove that a counselor has both the academic foundation and practical decision-making skills needed to handle a wide variety of client concerns. It’s less about systems and policy and more about the therapeutic relationship and intervention strategies.

EPPP: Psychology’s Comprehensive Benchmark

The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) is the most challenging of these licensure exams in terms of scope and scientific depth. Like the NCE, it doesn’t have multiple levels. Everyone aiming to practice psychology as a licensed psychologist must pass the EPPP.

The exam is grounded in psychological science and is designed to ensure that psychologists have both clinical skills and a strong grasp of research and theory. It spans topics such as biological bases of behavior, cognitive-affective bases, social and cultural psychology, research design, statistics, assessment, and intervention.

The purpose here is twofold. First, the exam measures whether candidates can apply psychological principles ethically and effectively. Second, it ensures psychologists have the scientific literacy to interpret research and contribute to evidence-based practice. Unlike the ASWB or NCE, the EPPP is particularly heavy on research methodology and scientific theory.

AMFTRB: Marriage and Family Therapy’s Specialized Exam

The Association of Marital & Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB) exam is the standardized test for Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs). Like the NCE and EPPP, it has only one level.

The exam is unique in that it is entirely grounded in systemic and relational thinking. It doesn’t just ask about diagnosing or treating an individual; it emphasizes how individuals interact within families and relational networks. Core domains include clinical practice, assessment of relational dynamics, treatment planning, ethics, and professional practice.

The purpose of the MFT exam is to ensure therapists can view client concerns through the lens of systems theory. It emphasizes the skills needed to intervene in ways that improve family functioning, strengthen relationships, and support healthy dynamics.

Agents of Change packages include 30+ ASWB topics, 2 free study groups per month, and hundreds of practice questions so you’ll be ready for test day!

2) Key Overlaps and Differences Across Exams

When you line up the ASWB, NCE, EPPP, and MFT exams side by side, it’s easy to see both shared ground and clear distinctions. Each profession values ethical practice, assessment skills, and the ability to translate theory into effective intervention.

At the same time, the exams highlight different priorities that reflect their unique disciplinary perspectives. Understanding these overlaps and differences can help you feel more prepared, especially if you’re considering multiple licenses.

Shared Ground: The Overlaps

Across all four exams, several themes show up consistently:

Ethics and Professional Responsibility: Every test emphasizes safeguarding client welfare and adhering to professional standards. Whether you’re a Social Worker navigating dual relationships, a counselor handling confidentiality, or a psychologist balancing research and practice, ethics is non-negotiable.
Assessment and Diagnosis: All exams test your ability to identify client concerns accurately, whether through structured assessment, diagnostic criteria, or observation. This skill is fundamental to any helping profession.
Intervention and Treatment Planning: The exams expect candidates to demonstrate competency in creating and implementing treatment plans. Each profession frames intervention differently, but the core idea of supporting client growth and well-being is universal.
Human Development and Behavior: Understanding how people grow, learn, and adapt across the lifespan is another point of overlap. Developmental theories and their implications for practice are tested across the board.

Clear Distinctions: Where They Diverge

The differences come into focus when you look at what each exam emphasizes most.

ASWB (Social Work): Stands out for its broad scope. It covers not just clinical work but also community practice, policy, and macro-level interventions. Its tiered levels reflect the diversity of Social Work roles, from entry-level case management to advanced clinical practice.
NCE (Counseling): Emphasizes counseling theories, orientations, and applications. It prioritizes the counselor-client relationship, group counseling strategies, and career development over systemic or policy issues.
EPPP (Psychology): More research-intensive than the others. It emphasizes scientific literacy, research design, and statistical reasoning in addition to clinical practice. It requires a strong command of theory and empirical foundations.
MFT Exam: Focuses almost entirely on relational and systemic thinking. Where the ASWB or NCE might ask about an individual client’s depression, the MFT exam frames questions in terms of family dynamics, relational patterns, and systemic interventions.

Why These Distinctions Matter

For students considering multiple pathways, the overlaps make it possible to reuse some of your preparation; ethics, developmental theories, and treatment planning will show up regardless of the exam. The differences, though, are where you’ll need to customize your study approach.

A Social Worker moving into Counseling will need to deepen their knowledge of counseling theories, while a counselor exploring MFT licensure must be prepared to shift toward systemic family dynamics.

3) Difficulty Level of Each Exam

When people start comparing licensure exams, one of the first questions that comes up is, “Which one is the hardest?” While the answer depends on your background, the most objective way to look at difficulty is through pass rates. These numbers reflect how many candidates succeed on their first attempt and provide a window into how challenging each exam really is.

ASWB Exams

The ASWB exam is unique because it offers multiple levels. Each one is designed for a different stage of Social Work practice, and the pass rates vary accordingly.

Associate: about 66.7% first-time pass rate
Bachelor’s: about 67.2% first-time pass rate
Master’s: about 73.0% first-time pass rate
Advanced Generalist: about 50.0% first-time pass rate
Clinical: about 75.3% first-time pass rate

The Clinical and Master’s exams tend to have higher pass rates, while the Advanced Generalist is the toughest statistically. One reason may be the smaller pool of test-takers, but it also reflects the advanced, system-level content that the exam covers.

NCE (National Counselor Examination)

Unlike the ASWB, the NCE is a single exam for all counseling candidates. Although the National Board for Certified Counselors doesn’t publish centralized pass-rate data in the same way ASWB does, many state boards and counseling programs report consistent success rates among their graduates.

The difficulty comes less from the structure and more from the sheer breadth of counseling theories and interventions that must be mastered. Candidates often say the challenge lies in knowing when to apply which theory in case-based questions.

EPPP (Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology)

The EPPP is often described as the most rigorous of the major mental health licensure exams. While nationwide pass-rate statistics aren’t consistently published, many graduate programs report first-time pass rates hovering in the low- to mid-70 percent range for their students.

What makes the EPPP stand out is the scientific depth required. In addition to clinical knowledge, you’re expected to master research methods, statistics, biological bases of behavior, and multiple domains of psychological theory. For test-takers who are less comfortable with data and research, this exam can feel especially daunting.

MFT (Marriage & Family Therapy) Exam

The MFT exam, administered by the Association of Marital & Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB), tends to have a first-time pass rate estimated between 60% and 70%.

While that’s comparable to some levels of the ASWB exam, the difficulty here is very different. Instead of broad content areas, the MFT exam zeroes in on systemic and relational thinking. Many of the questions are case-based and require you to analyze complex family dynamics and patterns. For those trained to think in individual terms, this systems-focused lens can be a hurdle.

Putting It in Perspective

Pass rates tell part of the story, but not the whole thing. Preparation, professional background, and even test anxiety all influence how hard an exam feels. Generally speaking:

ASWB Clinical and Master’s exams have higher pass rates, suggesting strong preparation pipelines and a balanced scope.
ASWB Advanced Generalist stands out as the most challenging statistically.
EPPP requires the broadest and deepest scientific knowledge base.
MFT exams land in the mid-range of difficulty but challenge test-takers with highly specialized systems theory.
NCE lacks published national pass-rate data, but it demands mastery of many counseling theories, which adds to the perceived challenge.

The takeaway? Each exam has its own brand of difficulty. The key is knowing what makes your test unique and tailoring your preparation strategy accordingly.

4) Should You Consider Multiple Licenses?

For many professionals in the helping fields, the idea of holding more than one license is both tempting and overwhelming. On one hand, it opens doors to broader career options and diverse client populations. On the other, it requires significant time, money, and preparation. The question isn’t simply “Can you?” but rather “Should you?”

Expanded Career Flexibility

Holding multiple licenses can dramatically expand your professional opportunities. For example, a Social Worker who also earns a counseling license may have the option to work in private practice while still pursuing agency or policy-level roles.

A psychologist who adds MFT licensure could move seamlessly between individual therapy, research, and family-focused clinical practice. Multiple licenses mean you’re not confined to one professional track, giving you freedom to pivot as your interests evolve.

Serving Broader Client Populations

Each license carries a different lens. Social Work emphasizes systems and community-level interventions, Counseling prioritizes theories of individual growth and therapeutic relationships, Psychology leans on scientific evidence and clinical assessment, and MFT focuses on relational dynamics.

If you hold more than one license, you can serve clients from multiple perspectives. That doesn’t just make you more versatile; it can also make your practice more holistic and appealing to clients.

Financial and Professional Trade-Offs

While the benefits are real, multiple licenses come with trade-offs. Each exam requires preparation, application fees, continuing education requirements, and ongoing renewal costs. If you’re already stretched thin balancing work, school, and family, preparing for more than one exam might be unrealistic. It’s important to weigh the long-term benefits against the immediate investment of time and money.

Academic Background Matters

Your educational track can make a big difference. If you’ve pursued a double major or dual degree (for example, an MSW and a master’s in Counseling), multiple licenses may be within easier reach. On the other hand, if your training is narrowly tailored to one discipline, branching into another could require additional coursework, practica, or supervised hours before you even qualify to sit for another exam.

State Requirements and Overlap

Licensing rules vary widely by state. Some states are strict about educational pathways, while others allow more flexibility. Before you commit to multiple licenses, research whether your state recognizes crossover coursework, supervised hours, or continuing education credits. Sometimes overlap can reduce the burden, but in other cases, the requirements are almost completely separate.

Personal and Professional Goals

Ultimately, the decision to pursue multiple licenses comes down to your goals. If your dream is private practice with the option to provide supervision, having multiple licenses may be worth it. If your passion lies in policy work, research, or organizational leadership, one license may be more than enough. Ask yourself: Will multiple licenses truly expand my opportunities, or will they simply stretch me thin?

5) FAQs – ASWB vs. Other Licensure Exams

Q: Is the ASWB exam harder than the NCE, EPPP, or MFT exam?

A: It’s tricky to declare one exam universally harder because difficulty often depends on your academic background and professional training. The ASWB exam can feel more approachable to Social Workers since it reflects their training in micro, mezzo, and macro practice.

The NCE leans heavily on counseling theories and application, which can be tough if you’re not fluent in multiple theoretical orientations.

The EPPP is widely considered the most demanding because of its strong emphasis on research methods, statistics, and a wide range of psychological science.

The MFT exam is highly specialized in systems and relational theory, which can be challenging if you’re used to working with individuals rather than families. In short, each exam is difficult in its own way, and the “hardest” exam for you depends on your preparation and educational background.

Q: Can I study for more than one licensure exam at the same time?

A: Yes, it’s possible, but it’s not for the faint of heart. Because all of the exams overlap in areas like ethics, assessment, and treatment planning, you can build a shared study foundation. However, once you move beyond the common ground, the unique content areas require focused attention.

For example, Social Workers preparing for the ASWB and NCE will need to add depth to counseling theories, while counselors preparing for the MFT exam must shift toward systemic family interventions. The key to managing multiple exams at once is a structured study plan that allocates time for shared topics while carving out specific tracks for exam-specific content.

This is where resources like Agents of Change become invaluable, since they provide ready-made study plans and live accountability sessions that can keep you from burning out.

Q: Is pursuing multiple licenses really worth it?

A: The answer depends on your long-term goals. Multiple licenses can open doors to more career flexibility, broader client populations, and the ability to pivot between private practice, research, teaching, or policy roles.

For instance, a psychologist who earns MFT licensure can specialize in family dynamics without limiting individual work. However, it’s not all upside. Each license requires exam fees, preparation time, supervised hours, and ongoing continuing education. If your professional ambitions are well-served by a single license, it may be better to focus deeply in one area. But if you want versatility and are willing to invest the extra time and resources, multiple licenses can be a smart career move.

6) Conclusion

Licensure exams are often viewed as intimidating barriers, but they are stepping stones to professional practice. Whether you are preparing for the ASWB, the NCE, the EPPP, or the MFT exam, each test is designed to ensure that you have the skills, ethics, and knowledge to serve clients responsibly. While the exams differ in structure and focus, they share a common goal of protecting the public and elevating professional standards in the helping fields.

Understanding both the overlaps and the differences among these exams can make preparation more manageable, especially if you are considering multiple licenses. Areas like ethics, assessment, and treatment planning are central to all exams, which means your study in one area can benefit you in another. At the same time, the unique emphasis of each test requires careful attention. Knowing these distinctions in advance helps you create a realistic plan that reduces stress and increases confidence.

► Learn more about the Agents of Change course here: https://agentsofchangeprep.com

About the Instructor, Meagan Mitchell: Meagan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has been providing individualized and group test prep for the ASWB for over 10 years. From all of this experience helping others pass their exams, she created the Agents of Change course to help you prepare for and pass the ASWB exam!

Find more from Agents of Change here:

► Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aswbtestprep

► Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/agents-of-change-sw

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Disclaimer: This content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical or clinical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ASWB vs. Other Licensure Exams (Counseling, Psychology, Marriage & Family Therapy): Overlaps & Differences

ASWB vs. Other Licensure Exams (Counseling, Psychology, Marriage & Family Therapy): Overlaps & Differences