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Second Question- Where Do I Go To See Which Providers of CE are Accepted by My State MFT Board?

The question posed in my earlier article was, “What are the continuing education requirements for my license?”, in relation to LMFTs. We will seek to answer in this article the question, “Where do I find my state board’s approved provider criteria?”, again specifically as it applies to licensed MFTs. This information will make searching for a CE provider more effective. First step, again, is finding out what the board expects of you, next is finding out what they require of those providing the continuing education courses.

What is acceptable as approved CE will vary among state boards (regarding outside providers). When you begin your search for an approved provider, it will be helpful to know what your state board accepts. Before getting into where to find the answer to the question above, let’s look at how the state boards’ requirements for providers differ.

There are some states where the board requires the CE provider to apply for approval from them specifically. Providers will then have a unique provider number issued by the board of that state. As an example, if you hold an MFT license in California, the provider you use must be approved by the CA BBS and have been issued a PCE#. If your state board is similar in their requirements, ask the providers you are researching if they have a provider number from your state board.

There are other boards that will accept CE from providers with certain national board approvals. To illustrate, if the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) grants approval to a provider than an LMFT in Arizona may use them to earn their continuing education. Any provider who receives approval from a national board, like the NBCC, can offer CE to licensees in states that accepts this national approval in lieu of their own state approval.

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, MFTs in Colorado can earn continuing education from a provider who has received approval in California from the BBS, since the CA BBS governs MFTs. Now you have an understanding of what the states may accept regarding provider approvals, yet, where do you go to find out what your state board allows?

You should start at the website of your own state board. From there you will be looking for a link for the state board’s rules and regulations (or statutes, rules, etc.). In this document you will want to go to the section for continuing education. The section on CE will describe the approved sources of continuing education. For Texas MFTs, the section you are looking for is “Types of Acceptable Continuing Education”. This section will help you determine if your state board accepts CE from providers who have been approved by a different state, been approved by a national board, or if they have to be approved by them.

Armed with this information you are now able to start looking for the right online CE provider. You will be spared a lot of hassle knowing this ahead of time. If the online CE provider you are researching does not have this information readily available on their website, ask for it. If you are having a difficult time finding this information, and you can’t reach them to inquire about it, research a different provider. The next question to be answered will be, “How much continuing education can I earn online?”, stay tuned.

If you are a licensed MFT in need of MFT CEUs, visit AspiraCE at http://www.aspirace.com. AspiraCE is an approved online CE provider for MFTs in several states. Select from a large list of courses with a competitive pricing structure accompanied with the best customer service. Visit AspiraCE for your Online CEUs for MFTs today!