Texas LPC Rules- Updated CEU Requirements as of 2/28/19

Huge Change for Texas LPCs Regarding CEU Requirements

Great news! When the LPC Board posted the new rules (effective February 28, 2019), there were some positive changes regarding the CEU requirements for all LPCs in Texas. Here is the biggest change:

ALL CEUs CAN BE COMPLETED ONLINE

Yes, that’s correct. You can do all your 24 hours of CEUs online, but they must meet the criteria outlined by the Board. The acceptable continuing education criteria are outlined in rule §681.142, stating:

To be acceptable for the purposes of license renewal or satisfaction of disciplinary stipulations, the education must be received from a continuing education provider that:

  (1) ensures the education provided is related to the practice of professional counseling;

  (2) ensures the individual(s) presenting the information have the necessary experience and knowledge in the topic(s) presented;

  (3) verifies attendance of participants and provides participants with a letter or certificate of attendance displaying the licensee's name, topic covered, date course was taken, and hours of credit earned; and

  (4) provides participants a mechanism for evaluation of each continuing education activity.

One thing of note that I’ll be writing a post on in the near future:

Texas is also doing away with the Pre-Approval CEU provider status. There will no longer be a need for CEU providers to submit a payment each year for pre-approval status. As long as the CEU meets the criteria set out by the Board, the hours will count. Again, I’ll do another post on this, but wanted to add this in the article since it relates.

In the general requirements noted in §681.141, it states:

(c) A licensee must complete 24 clock-hours of continuing education acceptable to the board during each 24-month period. A clock-hour is 60 minutes of attendance and participation in an acceptable continuing education experience. A licensee must complete:

  (1) at least four hours of continuing education in ethics, two of which must be directly related to Texas LPC ethics, each renewal period; and

  (2) successfully the jurisprudence exam each renewal period. Completion of the jurisprudence examination will count as one hour of continuing education in Texas LPC ethics.

Please refer to Title 22, Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 681 for any clarification regarding the rules. You can click here to go the LPC Rules.

Personally, I think this opens up many new opportunities to learn about specific topics that may not be available in your area. This can also be a more cost effective way to obtain CEUs. As a private practitioner, online CEUs allow me to learn about subjects that interest me, and I can do it in the evening/weekends/free time, rather than during the work week when most conferences and trainings take place. This causes me to spend money on the conference, as well as lose the income from not getting to see clients that day. I still think attending conferences and trainings in person are extremely valuable, and I still attend different CEUs in person every year, but it’s nice to have options.

I hope this helps resolve any questions you may have regarding current CEU rules in Texas. As always, if you have further questions, please email me.