CE Requirements

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CE's     For Members of LPCA Only! 

The GA Composite Board (licensing board) CE Requirements:  Best Practice by July 30 

• 35 CE hours TOTAL  (Due every cycle.  Next cycle is 10/01/22-09/30/24)
  • 5 Ethics hours
  • 15 Core hours
  • 15 Related hours
• Any additional Ethics hours over the 5 required can be applied to Core or Related.  According to the GA Composite Board, you can never have too many Ethics hours.  NO ETHICS ASYNCHRONOUSLY
• Any additional Core hours over the 15 required can be applied to Related.
• Only up to 10 hours may be obtained Asynchronously (excluding Ethics).
• Core Hours- anything approved by NBCC, LPCA, State of GA DBHDD, universities, hospitals
• Related Hours-anything approved by GAMFT, NASWGA, other disciplines

General Information

DEFINITIONS:

Synchronous: Synchronous learning is a general term used to describe forms of education, instruction, and learning that occur at the same time, but not in the same place. The term is most commonly applied to various forms of televisual, digital, and online learning in which students learn from instructors, colleagues, or peers in real-time, but not in person. Live, in-person training, Live webinars (live-streaming).

Asynchronous: Asynchronous learning is a general term used to describe forms of education, instruction, and learning that do not occur in the same place or at the same time. Pre-recorded, on-demand training.

• See Rule 135-9-.01 for the Full Requirements https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/135-9
• Click the Tab marked Rules, Law, Policy
• Maintain Documentation (Certificate of Attendance) FOR AT LEAST FOUR (4) YEARS
• Must complete all of the CE requirements for license renewal.
• Your licenses may be audited.
• The Board does not provide courses or approve courses. LPCA does.
• Content – Must apply to: Ethics, Core, or Related.
• A course may meet the requirements if it is co-sponsored or approved by a professional association, academic institution or licensed hospital.
• If you are audited – contact the LPCA office for assistance
• NO ETHICS CE Asynchronously (this means no pre-recorded workshops)
• No more than 20 hours of CE shall be from any one course, workshop or presentation.
• No more than 10 hours of CE shall be Asynchronously

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TELEMENTAL HEALTH Rule 135-11 (this is different than CE rule 135-9)

• If you move your clients to the phone or electronic counseling, rule 135-11 requires six (6) hours of training before providing TeleMental Health / Therapy within the last five years.  The rule is not specific if the training needs repeated every five years.  LPCA recommends the best practice to have the training within the last five years when starting TeleMental Health.
• Please view the rule:  https://sos.ga.gov/board-professional-counselors-social-workers-and-marriage-family-therapists
• The rule applies to those that are LICENSED such as LAPC or LPC
• If you supervise “interns” who are NOT licensed the additional three (3) hours of Supervisors TeleMental Health Training does not apply. But LPCA suggests as Best Practice to get the training. The licensing board reminds us of the Code of Ethics rule 135-7 which requires training.

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Once the license renewal process opens, we send out a very detailed instruction page.  Please check your email for the information.

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FAQs:  

I lost my CE certificates:  If you attended an LPCA-sponsored event, such as the Annual Convention or District Workshop we can help you.  Click here to fill out the form.  We will go back to the archives and pull the sign-in sheet.  We may issue original CE certificates.   IF YOU ATTENDED a CE provider listed on our website, please contact that provider for CE certificate retrieval.

CE CYCLE: You may not collect CE and save them for the next renewal cycle, which is June 30 (best practice although your license does not expire until-Sept 30, EVEN YEARS).  You may not start collecting CEs until after September 30 for the next cycle.

EACH CE CERTIFICATE must have:  Who, what, where, why, when....Date, Title, Presenter, ONLINE or IN PERSON, location, who put on the event, contact info, YOUR name, phone number, TYPE of CE hours (i.e., core, ethics, TMH, supervision, etc.), and approval number.

STORAGE: Create a file system by simply taking a file folder, marking the Year, and filing all the CE you collect in that folder.  Renewals are due every other even year. 2022, 2024, 2026, etc. by best practice… June 30.
35 CE hours = 5 Ethics, 15 Core, and 15 Related.
On the inside cover of the folders tape the CE requirements.
Keep these files for at least two cycles, which is four years.

CE or CEUs? CE = Continuing Education hours or Contact hours or Credits, CEU = the U stands for Units which are in 10 hours blocks and used in the school system but not by the Composite Board

Contact Hours or Clock Hours? The Licensing Board views the words interchangeably.

When June approaches, you will receive more E-newsletters and notices in the newsletter from LPCA telling you the Sec of States office of the GA Composite Board of LPC, SW, MFT online website is open.  Or check out the state's website as they may have early releases of the online renewal, CLICK HERE 

Related Hours-anything approved by GAMFT, NASWGA, other disciplines

Please remember, we don't make the rules, we just follow them. We appreciate your cooperation.