CEU’s and the Coronavirus Pandemic

by Tim Cassidy | Apr 23, 2020 | Think Piece

Some experts are predicting an emergent mental health crisis as a result of the pandemic. Our profession as a necessary public service is now more important than ever.

Life has transformed seemingly overnight for all of us, in almost every domain. Some of us have been able to continue treating clients virtually from home. Some of us are doing telesessions while caring for/educating children. And some of us have been furloughed from agency work or have had to shut down private practice entirely. Life has slowed down for most of us, but without the ability to relax like we deserve. You may be working less, but you still have a license and CEU hours to maintain. Those seminars you’ve scheduled out the rest of the year to acquire your continuing education credits have likely been canceled. And you might even have incurred costs responding to these cancellations. We wanted to step in to help take the pressure off our much needed helpers who sacrifice so much, even in the best of times…

We Offered $100 to Spend on CE Credits Online

We reached out to licensed providers in KS, MO, OH, RI, WY, WI, and WV to offer them $100 to spend on CEU credits from any course in our CE library and the response was really positive. Here are some really cool things that happened with the recent outreach campaign:

• Ohio clinicians have already started submitting their Online CE Credits completely free CEU’s to their joint CSWMFT board for renewal without issue

• Feedback was positive: “Your company’s $100 give-away was timely, especially when I’m stuck inside, long on time, and even shorter on cash!”

• Some who snagged our $100 coupon also spotted our free ethics ceu in the CE library and another $100 offer not-so-buried on the home page

We Added New Courses

1.) We added a new CEU course on eating disorders. This is a fantastic 5-CE online course by Jenny Helms, LMFT who owns Soma Therapy in Wichita, KS

2.) We added a new professional development course on Growing a Thriving Private Practice. This is a great professional resource tool by Amanda Petrik-Gardner of Anxiety & OCD Treatment: Amanda Petrik-Gardner, LCPC in Topeka, KS

**See all upcoming CEU courses at the top of our homepage here or check out our CE library to browse existing courses**

Don’t Worry, We’ve Extended Our $100 Promotion!!

We know you’ll be inside a bit longer and times continue to get harder, so we’ve extended this “tryfree” coupon code to run through May 8th, 2020. Just navigate to our CE library, choose your CEU course, click ‘Access Course.’ Then click ‘Get CE Credit Now.’ When the order window pops up, enter your details and click “Have a coupon?” at the top. Enter code “tryfree” and click ‘Apply’ to zero out your balance – no billing detail entry required.

Stay safe and healthy!

Online Continuing Education for Mental Health Professionals 

by Tim Cassidy | Nov 26, 2019 | Think Piece

In her article, “How Mental Health Professionals can be Competitive in the Industry” (which can be found on the Institute of Psychological Studies’ website) Marilyn G. Gerson, PhD, reminds us that learning must continue after mental health professionals have completed their academic training and complied with licensing requirements, and that such continuing education is crucial if clinicians are to remain abreast of advancements in knowledge, and changes in policies, procedures and best practices.  

Gerson adds that one should also remember that the specific requirements regarding continuing education for mental health professionals – the number of credit hours and topics required, and the formats allowed and licensure renewal schedules – vary by both state and license.

CE Credit Requirements in California

Citing California as an example, she informs us that the state currently requires that licensed psychologists undergo 36 hours of approved continuing education (CE) every 2 years and that they keep up-to-date regarding the ethics and laws pertaining to the field. They can take the bulk of these hours online, which makes reasonably priced and convenient resources readily available. Those courses provided by institutions for mental health practitioners that have received approval from the American Psychological Association will be recognized by state licensing boards, agencies, professional associations, and private institutions, both in the U.S. and around the globe.

Gerson’s Takeaway

Gerson’s conclusion: the work of mental health professionals is demanding, and requires continuing education (mostly available online) to develop the skills needed for success in an evolving professional landscape.

What Else you Should Know About CEU Credits

We at onlinecredits.com would like to add that similar guidelines apply across state licensing boards for masters-level counselors, therapists, and social workers.  In addition, some states have a single board charged with regulating both masters-level and doctoral-level providers employing the same sets of rules and guidelines, whereas other states have separate regulatory bodies that oversee masters-level and doctoral-level providers, respectively. Almost all state licensure boards recognize CE credits sponsored at the APA level, so a CE provider with APA sponsorship is ideal for all mental health professionals pursuing online CE credits, regardless of the state of practice.

A final thought on continuing education for mental health professionals:

Many licensing boards also require continuing education credits on certain topics, such as diagnosis and treatment and suicide prevention, and/or supervision. Onlinecredits.com helps clinicians satisfy these requirements, which is not always easy to do, as CE events on these topics can be hard to find. In addition, a common complaint expressed by clinicians regarding  CE courses is that they are tedious, painfully boring, and/or not particularly helpful or relevant. We are committed to providing cutting-edge, practical, and inspiring courses that clinicians can really benefit from.