As a mental health professional in the U.S. you know all about the red tape and headache of continuing education certificate requirements and state licensing! Our CE Hub App founder, Dr Lani Chin has done her research and created an app that safely stores and tracks your continuing education certificates all in one place.
Gone are the days of searching for CE certificates when your state licensing board calls, leaving you with time to Google and search for “the most lenient continuing education certificate requirements for mental health professionals.” (Want to find out what the average state continuing education requirements are? Read this blog).
Cue this blog which covers everything you need to know about leniency and state licensing requirements. So while many states follow similar guidelines for mental health professionals’ continuing education requirements, there are certainly outliers. Some states are particularly strict with their requirements while others are quite lenient.
Let’s dive into the most lenient continuing education requirements for psychologists, marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, and licensed professional counselors.
Building Context Around CE Requirements and State Licensing
Without some insight into what the more common continuing education requirements are for licensees, it’s difficult to really contextualize what a “lenient” requirement is. Among all of the license types we have researched, across all 50 states and Washington D.C., we have found the most common continuing education requirements are 40 hours every two years, with 4-6 hours focused on ethics, specifically.
Another important point to note is that most states place a limit on how many hours can be obtained through distance learning or home study, requiring typically at least a third of the hours to come from live, interactive, education. With this context in mind, let’s explore the requirements (or lack thereof) from the most lenient states.
Psychologists
With regard to psychologists, the most lenient state requirement is 20 hours every two years (half the most common requirement) with no topic expectation, and all of the hours can come from distance learning. That requirement belongs to Massachusetts, but keep in mind that proof of continuing education certificates is still expected upon license renewal.
Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs)
Without having more insight into requirements across the country, one might assume that Massachusetts also holds the most lenient requirement for our other license types, but that actually isn’t the case. Even among states, there is a lot of variation in their expectations of licensees – especially if the licensees are governed by different boards. For MFTs, the most lenient requirement belongs to Michigan, where there is no expectation of continuing education certificates each licensing cycle. However, there is a one-time requirement that licensees take a human trafficking course.
Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs)
Making its second appearance, Massachusetts holds the most lenient continuing education requirements for LCSWs as well as psychologists – maintaining the same expectation for both license types. LCSWs in Massachusetts only need to obtain 20 hours every two years with no topic requirement.
Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs)
Though there is still a state that takes the title for most lenient for LPCs, the requirements from two separate states are worth mentioning. Hawaii is the most lenient state overall, even among the other license types, with no continuing education requirement for LPCs and no topic requirements. Second to Hawaii, Michigan is another state with lenient requirements for LPCs. Michigan doesn’t have an hour requirement, but it does expect licensees to take a one-time human trafficking course.
Conclusion on CE Requirements for Mental Health Professionals
With so much variety throughout the country, it’s quite fascinating to dive into the different requirements for licensees around the United States (check out our CE state licensing requirements under ‘Articles‘ for a more in-depth look at each state). Though interesting, it is also challenging to understand your own licensing requirements without specifically seeking it out through your licensing board. Due to that, be sure to check out your board’s rules to ensure you are meeting the continuing education requirements you are specifically held to.
