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How Do I Locate the Criteria for Approved Providers of My Counselor State Board? – Second Question

The question brought up in my earlier article was, “Where do I find the continuing education requirements for my license?”, in relation to licensed counselors. Now what will be addressed is, “What are the criteria of my state board to approve CE providers?”, also pertaining to those licensed as counselors. In answering this question you will be able to determine where to go to fulfill your CE requirements. So, the first thing is you must know what your own CE requirements are, the next piece of the puzzle is what does your board require from the providers of the CE courses.

There is no consistency among the State Boards in whom they determine as acceptable to provide continuing education courses for their licensees. It is crucial to understand who your state board considers to be an approved CE provider. Prior to discussing where to find the answer to this second question, let’s take a peek at how the state boards’ requirements for providers differ.

Some state boards require the CE provider to be approved by them directly. This means that the CE provider will have a specific provider number issued by that state board. For instance, if you are a licensed counselor in Ohio, you must obtain your CE from a Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board of Ohio approved provider who has a valid RCX#. If your state board has this requirement, Solicit for the provider number granted by your state board from each CE provider you investigate.

CE providers who have earned approval from certain national boards are accepted in some states. For example, a licensed counselor in Minnesota can use a provider who has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). This national approval will be in lieu of receiving approval directly from the state board. It is one or the other, but does not have to be both.

Yet another scenario are those states that accept CE from providers who have been approved in another state for the same license type. As an example, Professional Counselors in Colorado can earn continuing education from a provider who has received approval in California from the BBS, due to the fact that LPCCs in California are under the regulation of the BBS. This explains the various approvals accepted by the different state boards, however, how can you determine what your state board permits?

The first step is accessing the official home page of your state board. Once on their site, look for a link for their rules, statutes, laws, or something similar. In this document you will want to go to the section for continuing education. Within this section will be a description on what the board views as acceptable venues for acquiring your CE. Counselors in Pennsylvania, you will need to find the section titled “Pre-approved providers of continuing education courses and programs for professional counselors”. This area will tell you which scenario described above your state board falls into (accepting a nationally approved provider, a provider approved in another state, or one that is approved by them only).

Now you are ready to actually begin your search for the right provider, having obtained this other knowledge . This information will make things easier going forward. If the online CE provider you are researching does not have this information readily available on their website, ask for it. If this information is not available go to the next provider. The next question in my series of question and answer articles will be “What limits are there in the amount of CE I can earn online”.

If you are a licensed Counselor seeking Counselor CEUs, visit AspiraCE at http://www.aspirace.com. AspiraCE is a board approved online CE provider for Counselors throughout the US. Select from a large list of courses with a competitive pricing structure accompanied with the best customer service. Visit AspiraCE for your continuing education for Counselors today!