Renewal Information for Oregon Counselors & MFTs

Oregon-licensed professional counselors and marriage & family therapists (MFTs) must complete forty (40) clock hours of continuing education every 2 years. Six of those 40 hours must be in ethics training.

The reporting period is from the license renewal in one even-numbered year to the next license renewal in the subsequent even-numbered year. For example, if your birth month is June, your CEU reporting period would be from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2012. You would report when you renew your license in June, 2012.

The 40 clock hours may be obtained in a variety of ways:

• Attending college or university courses — 15 clock hours per semester credit or 10 clock hours per quarter credit.
• Seminars, workshops, conferences and/or trainings.
• Supervision (maximum of 10 hours)
• Distance learning trainings must be offered or approved by a provider acceptable to the Board, e.g., NBCC. Distance learning programs must include mechanisms for evaluation, measurement, or confirmation of exchange of information.
• Home study from approved providers must be offered or approved by a provider acceptable to the Board, e.g., NBCC.

 

Click to view approved online courses

Professional Development Resources is approved as a provider of continuing education by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC Provider #5590) and by the American Psychological Association (APA) to offer continuing education for Counselors and MFTs. Oregon licensees may obtain all 40 clock hours through online home study courses offered @ http://www.pdresources.org/Index.aspx.

In order to complete the continuing education requirements, education/training experiences must be in one or more of the following program areas:

• Counseling or marital and family therapy theory and techniques
• Human development and family studies
• Social and cultural foundations
• The helping relationship
• Group dynamics
• Lifestyle and career development
• DSM diagnosis assessment
• Research and evaluation
• Professional orientation and ethics
• Professional supervision training
• Disability and life transitions
• Substance abuse
• Psychopharmacology
• Diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders

Courses in personal growth, computers, administration, management, marketing, or other business classes will NOT count.

Each reporting year, the Board randomly selects 10% of licensees for an audit to check compliance of its continuing education requirements.

The Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists: http://www.oblpct.state.or.us/

 

Renewal Information for Indiana Social Workers, Counselors & MFTs

Click to view approved online courses!

Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Mental Health Counselors licensed in the State of Indiana are required to obtain at least forty (40) hours of continuing education in order to renew their license. 20 hours must come from Category I (formal) courses and 1 hour on ethics from a Category I course is required each year. The license renewal deadline is March 31, 2012.

Professional Development Resources is approved as a provider of continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB Provider #1046, ACE Program); by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC Provider #5590) and by the American Psychological Association (APA) to offer continuing education for Social Workers, Counselors and MFTs. Indiana-licensees can earn all 40 hours per renewal through courses @ http://www.pdresources.org/Index.aspx (formal Category I).

Continuing Education Frequently Asked Questions

How many continuing education hours do I need to renew my license?

40 hours of continuing education credits are required for each renewal cycle or 20 CEUs per year.

What is the renewal cycle?

April 1st – March 31st of every even numbered year.

Are there any required courses I must take?

Yes, every licensee is required to take at least 1 hour of ethics in Category I continuing education each year.

How many hours of continuing education do I need if I have been licensed less than 24 months?

You will need 20 hours in order to renew your license.

How many hours of continuing education do I need if I have been licensed less than 12 months?

You do not need any continuing education in order to renew your license.

What are Category I CEUs and how many do I need per licensure cycle?

Category I is defined as continuing education that is formal programming, which includes the following:

• Formally organized courses.
• Workshops.
• Seminars.
• Symposia.
• Institutes.
• Home study programs, including computer; audio; video; and instructional programs, accredited by board-approved organizations.
• Courses that are relevant to the license holder’s professional skills, which are part of the curriculum of an accredited university, college, or educational institution, shall earn fifteen (15) CEUs for each academic semester hour completed, or ten (10) CEUs for each academic quarter hour completed.
• Faculty teaching a course for the first time at an accredited university, college, or educational institution shall earn one and one-half (1½) CEUs for every hour taught.

You are required to obtain a minimum of 20 Category I CEUs per renewal cycle.

What are Category II CEUs and how many do I need per licensure cycle?

Category II is defined as continuing education that is self-directed, which includes the following:

• Journal clubs, earns one (1) CEU for each hour attended.
• Office in-services, earns one (1) CEU for each hour attended.
• Case conferences that are specifically designed for training or teaching, earns one (1) CEU for each hour attended.
• Services as an instructor, presenter, or supervisor in a relevant professional seminar, workshop, or training conference earns one (1) CEU for each hour of service, but only for the initial instruction, presentation, or supervision given.
• Research and publication of research results in a recognized professional journal or book form, earns ten (10) CEUs, but may only be claimed for the initial publication of the information.
• Providing peer review of another licensee’s therapy and skills, which includes consultation, conference, and critique, earns one (1) CEU for each hour spent with the peer for this purpose.
• Services on boards and commissions and holding office in professional organizations, specifically related to the licensee’s profession, earns one (1) CEU for each hour of service

You are not required to earn any Category II hours however, if you do use Category II hours towards you CEU requirement then you may acquire no more than 20 Category II CEUs per renewal cycle.

How do I document Category II hours?

You can record your hours on a Word document or spreadsheet.  You should include the date of the activity, the type of activity, and the amount of time you spent conducting the activity.

How many hours in Category II hours can I count?

You can count up to 10 Category II hours per year and a maximum of 20 per renewal cycle.

Can I take all of my CEUs in one year or do they have to be split evenly throughout the renewal period?

You can take as many CEUs as you like as long as you take at least 20 CEUs per year, a minimum of 10 of those hours must be Category I.

Can continuing education credits transfer from one renewal period to the next?

No. Credits can only be counted for the period in which they are taken.

Do copies of my completed continuing education certificates need to be sent to the licensure board when I renew my license?

No. Certificates are for your records and will only need to be submitted if you are audited.  However, it is required that licensees maintain copies of their CEU records for a period of four years in the event they are audited by the Board.

What do I do if I am audited?

Once you receive your audit letter you will need to either fax or mail in copies of continuing education certificates to the Board by the deadline stated on the letter.

What happens if I didn’t receive the necessary CEUs during a licensure cycle or can’t produce the necessary documents during an audit?

You will be required to make up the continuing education hours you are short and you will have to pay a fine.  The Board has adopted the proposed schedule as a general guideline for continuing education violations:

Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board: http://www.in.gov/pla/social.htm

 

The Real Skinny: Expert Traces America’s Thin Obsession

Via Scoop.it – Healthcare Continuing Education

America’s obsession with thinness is less than 200 years old. Female fatness used to be a mark of good health. Then, in the 1800s, everything changed, and dieting was in.
Via www.lifeslittlemysteries.com

 

With Mental Illness, ‘Serious’ Is A Slippery Term

Via Scoop.it – Healthcare Continuing Education

What does serious mental illness mean, and what are its connotations and implications when it comes to treatment?
Via blogs.psychcentral.com

 

Navigating the Social World of Elementary School

By: Diane I. Ferber-Collins MBA, MA, C.A.S.

Social Skills, Social Cognition and Social Thinking are all terminology used to describe the social abilities. As our students develop physically, cognitively and emotionally, their social development also follows a developmental trajectory. For many children, the full repertoire of social skills come easily through everyday interactions with adults and peers, but it is still important for educators and parents to reinforce this casual learning with direct and indirect instruction. For other children, direct instruction and support in navigating the trials and tribulations of skill acquisition are even more important. While there are direct interventions for children with documented difficulties in this arena, including children on the autism spectrum, even more ‘typical’ children can benefit from conscious support.

As experts have pointed out, perhaps the most difficult part for parents and teachers is toaccept that setbacks and uncomfortable situations are part of the growth process; and to recognize that rather than “bubble” a child or swoop in to “fix,” we can use these situations to guide and help empower each child to create his/her own solutions and strategies that will last a lifetime.

Strongly developed social skills will impact a child’s ability to adapt to change and variable situations, as well as to provide resilience across settings. The child with good social skills is more likely to have a positive self image and to meet challenges with confidence. As they mature, these children will have better developed peer resistance and better conflict resolution skills, which also impact tolerance and acceptance of diverse groups. In turn, these areas of comfort will inform life choices into adulthood.

What is “Social?” The ability to share space with others effectively, which requires a complex set of capabilities.

The required capabilities for positive social interactions involve complex and numerous skills. For example, we rely on being able to interpret others’ perspectives, including their emotions, point of view, thoughts, beliefs, prior knowledge and intentions, gleaned and remembered from previous interactions, and read from body language and facial expressions. Successfully sharing space with others also relies on our own ability to reflect on, sort through, process and regulate our own reaction and to adapt across situations. For young children, it requires the developed ability to share one’s experience of an object or event (joint attention) and to successfully wield “pragmatic” everyday informal language. There are hundreds of social cognition and communication skills – from initiating conversations, reading body language and expression, understanding of abstract and inferential communication, to adequate attention and motivation.

Read more @ http://www.pediastaff.com/blog/navigating-the-social-world-of-elementary-school-notes-for-parents-and-teachers-and-those-who-support-them-6735

Related Articles:

• Social Lives and Teens with Autism (autismspeaks.org)
• How to Teach Social Skills to Children (socyberty.com)
• Social Skill Interventions for Students with Autism (studentswithautism.wordpress.com)
• Empathy vs. Social Skills (eoghann.com)
• Aspergers – Worrying what the future holds (aspergersinfo.wordpress.com)