How Can I earn CEUS for my License Renewal?
Whether you are an LPC, LMFT, LMSW, LCSW, or equivalent license in your state continuing education is a requirement for maintaining a current license to practice. Most CEUs are earned in a traditional course curriculum or setting either in person, through live webinars, or through online courses or prerecorded webinars. But did you know that there are less traditional ways to earn continuing education units towards your license renewal requirements? Please consult with the guidelines for your license in your individual state prior to assuming one of the options below, but here are a few common options for alternative ways to earn continuing education credit for your mental health license.
Jurisprudence Examination
Some states require the jurisprudence examination as a part of each license renewal while others offer the completion of the jurisprudence examination as an alternative option for learning CEUs. Regardless, it is an accessible way to earn continuing education credits and review the state guidelines and codes applying to mental health practice in your state.
Preparing and presenting a continuing education activity
It may actually be possible to earn CEUs while presenting a CEU event! There are limitations to the number of hours that can be collected in the form of presenting a CEU event but here in Texas, a Social worker can earn up to 5 hours of CEUS for preparation and presentation time involved in educating others.
Authoring a Book or Writing a peer-reviewed article.
If writing or research is your thing, you may be able to use this work toward your continuing education requirements. Here in Texas, a social worker can earn up to 5 hours for a publication of this type, and while it is highly likely that you will spend more than 5 hours to author a book or peer-reviewed article is a nice additional value afforded to you by the state for these types of investments into the professional body of knowledge and literature.
Teaching or attending a course at a university.
Similar to authoring a book or peer-reviewed article, the time and effort needed to complete or instruct a university-level course, far surpasses the CEU credits that a state licensing board may give as compensation, but it is a nice bonus for those who work in higher education or maybe pursuing additional formal education while holding and maintaining a professional license.
Self Study.
Some licensing boards do permit a selected number of CEUs to be completed in the form of individual self-study or profession-related text, articles, audio resources, or video content connected to the profession. There are often no explicit instructions on documenting these types of continuing education activities, so it may be helpful to contact your state professional board for further documentation requirements of these types of CEUs in case of an audit.
Role over of CEUSs from a previous license renewal time period.
If you surpassed the number of required CEU hours in a previous renewal time period is it possible that you may be able to bring a select number of CEUS over in the next license renewal period. Just be sure to check for the regulation in your specific state and maintain all of the appropriate documentation for the previous license renewal to be able to show that the hours truly are above the requirements from the previous renewal time period.
