4 Helpful Points on What Counts as Supervisor Refresher Hours

There seems to be some confusion about what constitutes "supervisor refresher hours" so let's clear that up today. It's really pretty simple.

What Does the Board Say About CE?

Every counselor (LPC) is required to ring up (24) hours of continuing education credits every (2) years before the end of the month in which you declare your birthday. Let's break that down a bit further for clarity.

The (24) clock-hour total needs to consist of:

• (2) hours of Ethics courses
• (2) hours of TX Ethics courses (jurisprudence exam counts as (1))
• (20) more hours of acceptable CE hours

The (20) additional hours can be anything you want them to be but we hope you'll make it a mix of both "professional development" topics (skillset used with clients) and "business operations" (compliance, and business development topics; everything we do at PracticeMentors.us).

What About My Supervisor Refresher Hours?

Ok, if you're a supervisor, you are required to log an additional (6) CE hours on top of the 24 basic CEU's listed above. 24+6.

What does the Board say? LPC Board rules. Section 681.141.(c) says:

"A licensee holding the supervisor status must complete (6)
additional hours of continuing education in supervision
every 2 years."

I believe the spirt and intent of the term, "in supervision", covers both the framework of your supervisory program (tracking hours, remedial plans,...paperwork!) and the type of content you/we should be delivering through it (the operation skillset for a successful practice).

Rabbit-Trail: Who's Gonna Carry The Water?

In the most recent Board meeting several members (one of them a professor!) made the specific point that grads are not getting the training in school they need to run a practice. She further stated that the problem needs to be addressed at the university level (good luck!) or during the 3000 hour associate period. Board-member heads nodded in agreement.

Since the how-to's of running a practice are not dealt with in school, where else will an associate be exposed to that type of material if we don't give it to them?

I say we, the supervisors, teach it to them. Who's better qualified to do that, a professor who may have never been in practice or a supervisor who has at least 5 years in the business?

We got this!

Got to Have a Direct Link to "Supervision"

There are implied limitations based on the language used in the Board rule. It has to have an obvious, direct link to "supervision" so taking (6) hours of "multi-cultural ethics" won't count towards your (6) hours. Count that towards your (20) hour requirement, but it won't work for your supervision needs.

So, What Counts as Supervisor Refresher Hours?

Here's all you have to remember:

1. There is no requirement for any CE course to say, "Supervisor Refresher Course" in order for it to count.

That's a marketing thing. A course may claim it counts as Supervisor Refresher Course hours but if it's a "professional development" topic, it's not. Conversely, you may take a course on HIPAA compliance that makes no such claim, but it would count because it has to do with "practice operations" and is something we should be teaching associates.

2. Supervisory hours must have a direct topical link to "Supervision".

Again, those (6) hours can be on any topic related to your supervisory administrative structure or the operation of a practice. That's why all of our workshops say that they qualify as Supervisor Refresher Course Hours.

3. "Professional development" hours (skillset used with clients) don't count as supervision ce hours.

4. There is no official, state course approval process, nor is there an approval sticker, logo or emblem to look for.

Caveat emptor! Regardless of what the CE event says on the label it's up to you to determine whether it qualifies as supervisor refresher hours based on the guidelines above.

Final Thought

We do hope you'll seriously consider availing yourself of our workshops. You don't have to be a supervisor to attend and they all count towards your (20) hour requirement if you're not a supervisor. We're looking to train all mental health pro's, supervisor status or not.

We're working overtime to make your counseling career safer and more profitable for you but you gotta meet us half-way and show up!

And now you know.

 

Plan Smart. Be Safe. Serve Others.

Kathleen Mills, LPC-S, CEAP