Continuing education is an integral part of professional practice. There are many ways you can earn continuing education credit. Any of the following activities will qualify for continuing education clock hours to recertify your NCC, as long as the activity relates to an approved content area.
For any continuing education activity, you must have proper documentation, as described below, in order to claim credit. You can use the NBCC continuing education credit verification form for activities that do not provide a certificate of completion.
All courses must be graduate level. A transcript, grade report, or verification form is required for documentation. A course description or syllabus may be requested.
1 semester hour = 15 clock hours
1 quarter hour = 10 clock hours
NBCC ACEP approval is not required; however, the courses must meet NBCC guidelines for continuing education. A certificate, verification form, or letter verifying attendance is required for documentation. The documentation must include your name, date attended, hours completed, program title, and signature of presenter/provider.
Publication Authorship activities are limited to articles in refereed and non-refereed journals, a chapter in an edited book, or a published book. Required documentation includes a complete copy of each publication (article, book chapter, or book) and a record of actual publication and preparation time. For a chapter in an edited book, a copy of the table of contents is part of the required documentation.
Original Program Presentation Activities include acting as a speaker or presenter during an original education program directly related to an approved continuing education topic. Credit may be granted for actual presentation time only. Required documentation includes a copy of the complete presentation materials and a document from the organizational sponsor verifying the program presentation activity.
List the dates for which credit was granted by your college or university for work done toward the completion of your doctoral dissertation from an institutionally accredited college or university counseling program. Required documentation includes the title of your dissertation; the name of your college or university; and a transcript, grade report, or other documentation verifying the dissertation work completed.
Continuing education clock hours can only be granted for formal consultation/supervision with a clinical focus received on a regular basis. Credit cannot be granted for supervision you provide to others. List the start and end dates and the site where you received supervision, as well as the name and credentials of your supervisor. A signed letter from your supervisor is required for documentation. Supervision for academic credit should be listed under coursework. A maximum of 25 contact hours can be granted in a certification cycle for supervision taken for academic credit.
To qualify for continuing education credit, you must hold a leadership position and be within your current certification cycle. Leadership activities are limited to active volunteer service to professional counseling organizations, associations, or committees and must be unpaid. List the position, the start and end dates, and the name of the organization. A signed letter from the organization with the dates and type of service is required for documentation.
Volunteer hours may be earned by providing volunteer (uncompensated) mental health counseling or related services to client individuals or organizations as a community service. The mission of the organization must fit into an approved content area. A certificate, verification form, or letter verifying attendance and a written statement explaining how the activity assists in your direct service to clients is required for documentation. The documentation must include your name, date attended, hours completed, title of the activity, and signature of an appropriate representative. Activities are considered on a case-by-case basis.
A passing score on the NCE or NCMHCE may be used in lieu of the required continuing education hours in the recertification and reinstatement processes.
Remember to check the calendar of events for upcoming NBCC-approved continuing education events in your state.
It is not required that your continuing education clock hours come from NBCC Approved Continuing Education Providers; however, your activities must fall within at least one of these approved content areas.
Continuing education programs in this content area provide an advanced understanding of the counseling processes.>
Examples
Foundational and well-established counseling theories, principles and techniques and their application in mental health settings; diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders; wellness and prevention within counseling and treatment; crisis intervention techniques for counselors to use in response to disaster or other rapid-onset trauma-causing events, including psychological first aid strategies; psychophysiological awareness and mindfulness in the counseling process; distance counseling; and biofeedback used in a mental health setting.
Continuing education programs in this content area provide an advanced understanding of the nature and needs of individuals at developmental levels and are relevant to professional counselors and the counseling profession.
Examples
Foundational and well-established theories, including personality theory, life span theory, learning theory and human development theory; end-of-life issues within the scope of practice of mental health professionals; and information related to developmental crises, disabilities, and situational, transitional and environmental factors that affect behavior.
Continuing education programs in this content area provide an understanding of the issues and trends in a multicultural and diverse society that impact professional counselors and the counseling profession.
Examples
Multicultural competency as a professional counselor; societal subgroups; societal changes and trends; mores and interaction patterns; major societal concerns; social justice; and cross-cultural effects, such as acculturation, assimilation and multicultural and pluralistic trends.
Continuing education programs in this content area provide an advanced understanding of therapeutic group development, dynamics and counseling theories and group counseling methods and skills.
Examples
Group counseling theories and group counseling leadership styles, developmental stages in group counseling and related principles of group dynamics, group counseling methods and skills, and group members’ roles and behaviors within a mental health setting.
Continuing education programs in this content area provide an advanced understanding of career counseling, development and related life factors.
Examples
Theories, principles and techniques of counseling as applied to work and career; career counseling processes and resources, including those applicable to specific communities and populations; career/life planning and decision-making models; life-work role transitions, including outplacement and retirement counseling; career development program planning, resources and program evaluation; assessment of workplace environment for purposes of job placement; trends in job search; and career avocational, educational, occupational and labor market information, and resources and career information systems.
Continuing education programs in this content area provide an advanced understanding of approaches to assessment and evaluation in counseling practice.
Examples
Diagnostic interviewing; clinical assessment and interpretation for use in treatment planning; ethical strategies for selecting, administering and interpreting assessment and evaluation instruments; information on the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM); implementation and interpretation of standardized assessment instrument protocols; new and existing assessments; issues related to assessment development; legal issues related to counselor authority to administer and interpret tests and inventories that assess psychopathology, abilities, interests and career options; and information on basic classification, indication and contraindications of commonly prescribed psychopharmacological medications, in order to make appropriate referrals for medication evaluations and to identify the side effects of medication.
Continuing education programs in this content area provide an advanced understanding of research methods, statistical analysis, needs assessment and evaluation, and ethical and legal considerations in research.
Examples
Critical evaluation of research findings and its clinical implications, development of measurable outcomes for counseling interventions, foundational and well-established research design and methods, statistics in research, research report development and information on disseminating research findings, and critical evaluation of research findings.
Continuing education programs in this content area provide an understanding of various aspects of professional functioning as graduate-level counselors.
Examples
National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) or American Counseling Association (ACA) ethical codes and conduct standards in professional counseling and/or counseling research; ethical decision-making models directly related to counseling practice; NBCC certification, state licensure and related mental health public policy; professional counseling organizations and associations, limited to NBCC, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP), and ACA and its branches and divisions; roles and processes related to counselor advocacy on behalf of the profession and the client; the counselor’s role and function as a member of an interdisciplinary team; starting and maintaining a counseling practice, including business-planning, quality control, service delivery, billing and reimbursement, fee-setting, capacity-building, referrals and ethical marketing; effective and ethical utilization of social media; counselor self-assessment to address areas for ongoing professional growth; critical analysis of emerging issues in the counseling profession; clinical supervision models, practices and processes for professional counselors; the counselor’s role and function as a professional consultant; the counselor’s role and function as a forensic interviewer; legal issues in professional counseling and/or counseling research; self-care strategies and burnout prevention appropriate to the counselor role; and grant writing for counselors and counseling programs.
Continuing education programs in this content area provide psychoeducational information for counselors to enhance their ability to promote optimal wellness related to client mental health.
Examples
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), community-based wellness initiatives, conflict resolution, sex education, sleep hygiene, nutrition, and anger management.
NCCs have immediate access to NBCC Approved Continuing Education Providers (ACEPs) and continuing education programs via the ACEP Directory. When registering for a course offered by an ACEP, you know that the CE provider has been vetted and that their programs offering NBCC credit will meet your NCC recertification requirements.
To report a complaint, issue, or concern about an Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP) or an approved Single Program Provider to NBCC, please complete this complaint form.
Remember to check the calendar of events for upcoming NBCC-approved continuing education events in your state.
January 2020
"Why Would Anyone Aid and Abet a Predator"
"False Portraits"
November 2019
"The Quest to Cure PTSD"
"The Power of Boundaries"
September 2019
"10 Myths About The Mind"
"The Intimidation Factor"
July 2019
"Protect Yourself from Emotional Contagion"
"What Makes Female Psychopaths Different?"
May 2019
”The New Science of Sleep”
”A Different Mix”
March 2019
”Silencing Your Inner Critic”
”The Puzzle of the Unbalanced Mind”
January 2019
”Orchids and Dandelions”
”Seeing Beyond Depression”
November 2018
”7 Extraordinary Feats Your Brain Can Perform”
”Tangled in Turmoil”
September 2018
"10 Signs You Know What Matters”
“The Tough-to-Treat Kid”
July 2018
"Character's Turn”
“From Loss to Love”
May 2018
"The Stealthiest Predator"
"To Love and To Envy"
March 2018
"Your Elastic Mind"
"The Most Extraordinary Amnesia"
January 2018
"Where No One Hears a Cry for Help"
"Change Artists"
November 2017
"The Comparison Trap"
"The High Cost of Caring"
September 2017
"The Big Data Bull's-Eye"
"The Hardest Word"
July 2017
"The Mad Genius Mystery"
"Down with Extremes!"
May 2017
"A Doorway to Change"
"The Vlogging Cure"
March 2017
"Internal Affairs"
"Up From Chaos"
January 2017
"The Mystery of Motivation"
"When the Body Speaks"
November 2016
"The Fraud Who Isn’t"
"No Known Expiration Date"
September 2016
"New Reflections on Narcissism"
"Love Beyond Gender"
July 2016
"Right Where You Belong"
"Breaking the Code of the Streets"
May 2016
"Rewrite Your Life"
"Duet Ex Machina"
March/April 2016
"Moment of Impact"
"It’s Not All About You!"
January 2016
"How to Pick a President"
"Odd Emotions"
November 2015
"The 10-Second Take"
"Sympathy for the Deviant"
September 2015
"Crisis U"
"The Einstein of Love"
July 2015
"Challenging Success-Via-Failure"
"The Drama of Deception"
May 2015
"The Voice of Reason"
"It’s Over!"
March 2015
"Eureka!"
"The New Survivors"
January 2015
"Building the Perfect Day"
"Beyond Happiness, The Upside of Feeling Down"
November 2014
"Are These Rules Worth Breaking?"
"A Death by Design"
September 2014
"Just Say It"
"Seeing the Light"
July 2014
"Partners in Crime"
"Parents Just Don’t Understand"
May 2014
"Reinvent Yourself"
"The Night Shift"
March 2014
"Dreams of Glory"
"The Beat (Up) Generation"
January 2014
"Meet the Supertaskers"
"Love and Power"
November 2013
"The Power of No"
"The Problem with Rich Kids"
September 2013
"Kings and Queens of Chaos"
"When Virtue Becomes Vice"
July 2013
"Love in the Time of Autism"
"What Happy People do Differently"
May 2013
"Confessions of a Sociopath"
"The Enemies of Invention"
March 2013
"The Against-All-Odds Club"
"Louder Than Words"
"Smooth Encounters"
January 2013
"Dangerous Dreamers"
"Living a Lie"
"The Mixed Bag Buddy"
November 2012
"What's in a Face"
"The Everyday Fear Zone"
September 2012
"Lessons for Living"
"Stealth Attack"
July 2012
"Six Sense"
"From Promise to Promiscuity"
May 2012
"The High Art of Handling Problem People"
"The Atheist at the Breakfast Table"
March 2012
"The Perfect Amount of Stress"
"Lighten Up and Terrorized by the Tongue"
January 2012
"How to Save Your Brain"
"The Boom and Bust Ego"
November 2011
"The Uses and Abuses of Optimism"
"Your Backup Brain"
September 2011
"Self-Sabotage : The Enemy Within"
"The Art of Influence"
July 2011
"How to Spot a Narcissist"
"Sense and Sensitivity"
May 2011
"To Know Or Not To Know"
"The Idea That Wouldn't Die"
March 2011
"A Chic Critique"
"The American Nightmare"
January 2011
"Secrets of Special Agents"
"Cognitive Outlaws"
November 2010
"Endangered Arts"
"Stealth Superpowers"
September 2010
"Big Moments"
"Revenge of The Introvert"
July 2010
"The New Quitter"
"Oh Brother!"
May 2010
"Get Lucky: Five Principles for Making the Most of Life’s Twists, turns, and Coincidences"
"Go Ahead, Obsess!"
March 2010
"The Expectations Trap"
"Portrait of a Hunger Artist"
January 2010
"Hypochondria: The Impossible Illness"
"Who has a Difficult Mother?"
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