DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Licensed marriage and family therapists, licensed mental health counselors, and licensed social workers are required to have continuing education.

The continuing education (CE) program or course must: Be relevant to licensed marriage and family therapists, licensed mental health counselors and licensed social workers and must contribute to the advancement, extension and enhancement of the professional competence of the licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed mental health counselor, and((/or)) licensed social worker. Courses or workshops primarily designed to increase practice income or office efficiency are not eligible for CE credit.

(1) Acceptable CE courses (including distance learning), seminars, workshops and postgraduate institutes are those which are:

(a) Programs having a featured instructor, speaker(s) or panel approved by an industry-recognized local, state, national, international organization or institution of higher learning; or

(b) Distance learning programs, approved by an industry-recognized local, state, national or international organization or institution of higher learning. These programs must require tests of comprehension upon completion. Distance learning programs are limited to twenty-six hours per reporting period.

(2) Training programs sponsored by the agency where a counselor is employed are acceptable if:

(a) The experience can be shown to contribute to the advancement, extension and enhancement of the professional competence of the licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed mental health counselor and/or the licensed social worker; and

(b) The training programs are limited to twenty-six hours per reporting period.

(3) Other learning experience, such as serving on a panel, board or council, community service, research, peer consultation, or publishing articles for professional publications are acceptable if:

(a) The experience can be shown to contribute to the advancement, extension and enhancement of the professional competence of the licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed mental health counselor and/or the licensed social worker; and

(b) The experience is limited to six hours per reporting period.

(1) An approved training in suicide assessment, treatment, and management must:

(a) Be approved by an industry-recognized local, state, national, international organizations or institutions of higher learning listed in WAC 246-809-620 or an equivalent organization, educational institution or association which approves training based on observation and experience or best available practices;

(b) Cover training in suicide assessment, treatment, and management; and

(c) Be provided by a single provider and must be at least six hours in length, which may be provided in one or more sessions.

(2) A licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed mental health counselor, or licensed social worker who is a state or local government employee is exempt from the requirements of this section if he or she receives a total of at least six hours of training in suicide assessment, treatment, and management from his or her employer every six years. For purposes of this subsection, the training may be provided in one six-hour block or may be spread among shorter training sessions at the employer's discretion.

(3) A licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed mental health counselor, or licensed social worker who is an employee of a community mental health agency licensed under chapter 71.24 RCW or a chemical dependency program certified under chapter 70.96A RCW is exempt from the requirements of this section if he or she receives a total of at least six hours of training in suicide assessment, treatment, and management from his or her employer every six years. For purposes of this subsection, the training may be provided in one six-hour block or may be spread among shorter training sessions at the employer's discretion.

((Recognized)) Local, state, national, and international organizations ((or)) that are industry-recognized and institutions of higher learning include, but are not limited to, the following ((organizations)):

(1) Washington Association for Marriage and Family Therapy;

(2) Washington State Society for Clinical Social Work;

(3) Washington Chapter of the National Association of Social Work;

(4) American Mental Health Counselors Association;

(5) American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy;

(6) Clinical Social Work ((Federation)) Association;

(7) National Association of Social Workers;

(8) Washington Mental Health Counselors Association;

(9) National Board for Certified Counselors;

(10) Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care; ((or)) and

(11) Institutions of higher learning that are accredited by a national or regional accrediting body recognized by the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation.

(1) A licensed marriage and family therapist((s)), licensed mental health counselor((s)) and licensed social worker((s)) must complete thirty-six hours of continuing education (CE) every two years.

(2) At least six of the thirty-six hours must be in professional ethics and law, which may include topics under RCW 18.130.180.

((The license holder)) A licensed counselor who ((prepares and)) presents ((lectures or education that contributes to the professional competence of a licensed counselor)) at an eligible continuing education (CE) activity under WAC 246-809-630 may ((accumulate)) receive the same ((number of)) CE credit hours ((obtained for continuing education purposes by attendees as required in WAC 246-12-220)) as a licensee who attends the presentation. The hours for preparing and presenting a specific topic lecture or education may only be used for ((continuing education)) CE credit once during each reporting period.

(1) A certified counselor((s)) or a certified adviser((s)) must complete thirty-six credit hours of continuing education every two years ((as required by chapter 246-12 WAC, Part 7)).

(2) At least six hours of the thirty-six credit hours must be in law and professional ethics related to counseling.

(3) ((For those first credentialed in 2009, the first date to report the required continuing education begins with a credential holder's renewal date in 2011.)) Beginning January 1, 2014, at least once every six years a certified counselor or a certified adviser must complete three hours of training in suicide assessment, including screening and referral, as specified in WAC 246-810-0298.

((The recognized institutions of higher learning, or local, state, national, or international organizations that qualify to provide continuing education for certified counselor and certified adviser include:)) Activities that meet the requirements of WAC 246-810-029 and are offered by the following entities are eligible for continuing education credit:

(1) Washington Association for Marriage and Family Therapy;

(2) Washington State Society for Clinical Social Work;

(3) Washington Chapter of the National Association of Social Work;

(4) American Mental Health Counselors Association;

(5) American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy;

(6) Clinical Social Work Association;

(7) National Association of Social Workers;

(8) Washington Mental Health Counselors Association;

(9) National Board for Certified Counselors;

(10) Association for Humanistic Psychology;

(11) The Association for Integrative Psychology;

(12) Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care;

(13) Institutions of higher learning that are accredited by a national or regional accrediting body recognized by the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation;

(14) Washington Professional Counselors Association;

(15) State Association and National Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers;

(16) National Association of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Counselors; and

(17) Other organizations recognized by the secretary and included on a list maintained by the department.

Approved qualifying training in suicide assessment, including screening and referral must:

(1) Be approved by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, entities listed in WAC 246-810-0293, or an equivalent organization, educational institution or association which approves training based on observation and experiment or best available practices.

(2) Cover training in suicide assessment, including screening and referral.

(3) Be provided by a single provider and be at least three hours in length, which may be provided in one or more sessions.

(4) A certified counselor or certified adviser who is an employee of a state or local government employer is exempt from the requirements of this section if he or she receives a total of at least three hours of training in suicide assessment including screening and referral from his or her employer every six years. For purposes of this subsection, the training may be provided in one three-hour block or may be spread among shorter training sessions at the employer's discretion.

(5) A certified counselor or certified adviser who is an employee of a community mental health agency licensed under chapter 71.24 RCW or a chemical dependency program certified under chapter 70.96A RCW is exempt from the requirements of this section if he or she receives a total of at least three hours of training in suicide assessment, including screening and referral from his or her employer every six years. For purposes of this subsection, the training may be provided in one three-hour block or may be spread among shorter training sessions at the employer's discretion.

(6) A certified counselor or certified adviser that obtained training under the exemptions listed in subsections (4) and (5) of this section may obtain CE credit subject to documentation as defined in WAC 246-810-0297.

(1) "Agency sponsored training" is training provided by an agency that is not limited to people working within that agency and is a professional development activity as defined in subsection (7) of this section.

(3) "Continuing education" means a program or course (including distance learning), seminar((s, or)) workshop((s)), or professional conference((s)) approved by an industry-recognized ((local, state, national, international)) organization or institution of higher learning listed in subsection (5) of this section.

(((2))) (4) "Distance learning" is industry-recognized education obtained to enhance proficiency in one or more of the professional development activities as defined in subsection (7) of this section, through sources such as internet course work, satellite downlink resources, telecourses, or correspondence courses.

(7) "Professional development activities" means addiction competencies as outlined in WAC 246-811-047, including: Clinical evaluation, individual counseling, group counseling, counseling family, couples, and significant others, professional and ethical responsibilities, understanding addiction, treatment knowledge, application to practice, professional readiness, treatment planning, referral, service coordination, client, family, and community education, screening, intake, assessment, clinical reports, clinical progress notes, discharge summaries, and other client related data.

(1) A certified chemical dependency professional must complete twenty-eight hours of continuing education (CE) every two years.

(a) At least fourteen hours must be completed in one or more of the topic areas as described in WAC 246-811-030 (2)(a) through (w).

(b) At least four hours must be in professional ethics and law.

(c) The additional ten hours shall be in areas relating to the various phases of their professional career.

A qualifying training in suicide assessment, including screening and referral must:

(1) Be approved by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; the Suicide Prevention Resource Center; an industry-recognized organization or an institution of higher learning listed in WAC 246-811-200; or an association which approves training programs based on observation and experiment or best available practices.

(2) Be provided by a single provider and must be at least three hours in length, which may be provided in one or more sessions.

(3) A certified chemical dependency professional who is a state or local government employee is exempt from the requirements of this section if he or she receives a total of at least three hours of training in suicide assessment, including screening and referral from his or her employer every six years. For purposes of this subsection, the training may be provided in one three-hour block or may be spread among shorter training sessions at the employer's discretion.

(4) A certified chemical dependency professional who is an employee of a community mental health agency licensed under chapter 71.24 RCW or a chemical dependency program certified under chapter 70.96A RCW is exempt from the requirements of this section if he or she receives a total of at least three hours of training in suicide assessment, including screening and referral from his or her employer every six years. For purposes of this subsection, the training may be provided in one three-hour block or may be spread among shorter training sessions at the employer's discretion.