As a mental health professional you know all about how every state holds you accountable to unique continuing education requirements, adding so much more admin to your workload. And while some of us are lucky and located in states that are perhaps ‘more lenient,’ while others, unfortunately, work within a ‘more strict’ state, we thought we’d take a look at the states who have similar continuing education certificate requirements when it comes to licensing.
If you have ever been curious about the average continuing education requirements for psychologists, marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, or licensed professional counselors, look no further.
Continuing Education Certificates: Averages by Hour Expectation
There are a few different ways continuing education requirements can be evaluated: the total hours required in a cycle, the lengths of the cycles themselves, the number of hours required on set topics, the average topics required, and even the average amount of flexibility for distance learning. We’ll focus on a couple of those data points today, beginning with the average hour expectations.
To get to an accurate average for expected hours, we looked at the yearly hour requirements across all 50 states (plus Washington D.C.). Note that not all 50 states have annual licensing cycles. Where appropriate, the hour requirement was broken down into a yearly expectation.
Psychologists
The average hour expectation for psychologists each year is 16.5, with the highest being 30 hours (Vermont) and the lowest at 9 hours (Massachusetts) of continuing education a year.
Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs)
With a high of 27.5 hours required for MFTs (Maine) and a low of zero hours required (Michigan), the average expectation of MFTs in the U.S. each year is 17.4 hours of continuing education.
Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs)
The low hour-requirement for LCSWs is 10 in one state (Kentucky), the high is 22.5 hours in four different states (Alaska, Hawaii, Michigan, and Wyoming), and the average expectation for LCSWs overall in the United States is 17 each year.
Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs)
The average for LPCs is 17.1 with a low at zero hours required (Hawaii and Michigan) and a high at 27.5 hours (Maine) of continuing education per year.
Average Continuing Education Certificate Requirements by Topic
With so much involved in the continuing education certificate requirements for each licensee in the United States, there is a lot to unpack when it comes to averages. Sticking to the simpler averages today, we’ll next dive into the number of hours, yearly, licensees have to dedicate to set topics. We won’t be discussing the topics themselves, but rather, the number of continuing education hours that are already allocated to specific topic requirements (set by the board).
- Psychologists: 1.8 hours are expected to be spent on topics chosen by the licensing board.
- MFTs: a total of at least 2.3 hours must be spent on board-selected topics.
- LCSWs: the state boards require an average of 2.7 hours be spent on specified topics.
- LPCs: a minimum of 2.2 hours must be spent on the various state board-selected topics.
Though every state has different continuing education requirements from the next, even among their various license types, the averages do still represent the states as a whole quite well. Considering the most common hour requirement for each license type is 40 hours every two years (or 20 annually), and the most common hour requirement for set topics is 4-6 every two years (2-3 annually), the averages shared are quite in line with what we commonly see in the various states.
Disclaimer: this is to be used for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this data to understand your specific licensing requirements. Visit your licensing board’s website to learn more about the expectations you are held to with your license type.
