California Continuing Education Requirements for Mental Health Professionals

California regulates LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, and LEP under one board with a shared set of core CE requirements, while psychologists are licensed separately under a distinct Continuing Professional Development model. If you’re searching for California continuing education requirements, the base structure is fairly consistent across licenses — but California layers on more one-time, date-triggered requirements than almost any other state, which makes it easy to lose track of what you’ve already completed versus what’s still outstanding. This guide breaks down California CE requirements for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and psychologists, along with renewal logistics, approved providers, and state-specific details worth knowing before your next renewal.

California Continuing Education Requirements

California regulates LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, and LEP under one board (Board of Behavioral Sciences) with identical core requirements, while psychologists are licensed separately under a Continuing Professional Development model (California Board of Behavioral Sciences, n.d.; California Board of Psychology, n.d.).

License Type	CE Requirements	Renewal / Special Requirements	Official Licensing Board
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC)	36 CE hours every 2 years	Minimum 6 hours California Law and Ethics every renewal. One-time 6-hour Suicide Risk Assessment and Intervention course (renewals/reactivations after Jan. 1, 2021) and one-time 3-hour Telehealth course (after July 1, 2023). First-time renewal only: 7 hours HIV/AIDS.	California Board of Behavioral Sciences
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)	36 CE hours every 2 years	Identical structure to LPCC above: 6 hours Law and Ethics, one-time Suicide Risk and Telehealth courses, first-renewal-only HIV/AIDS requirement.	California Board of Behavioral Sciences
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT)	36 CE hours every 2 years	Identical structure to LPCC and LCSW. First-renewal-only requirements also include 7 hours child abuse assessment/reporting and 15 hours alcoholism/chemical dependency for new licensees.	California Board of Behavioral Sciences
Licensed Psychologist (PhD / PsyD)	36 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) every 2 years	Minimum 4 hours laws and ethics, 4 hours cultural diversity/social justice. One-time 6-hour suicide risk assessment course (as of Jan. 1, 2020). Hours must come from at least 2 of 4 CPD activity categories (not just traditional coursework).	California Board of Psychology

Clinical Note: California’s one-time requirements (suicide risk, telehealth, HIV/AIDS, child abuse, chemical dependency) are easy to lose track of because they only apply once, tied to specific renewal or licensure dates rather than every cycle — keep a permanent record of when you completed each one, since you may need to prove completion years later even after the requirement itself is no longer “new.” This kind of date-triggered, evolving requirement structure is a good example of why continuing education works best as an ongoing practice rather than a once-every-two-years scramble — clinicians who track their CE consistently tend to avoid the scramble of reconstructing years-old completion records (Neimeyer & Taylor, 2010).

California License Renewal Requirements

Renewal fees and logistics differ meaningfully between the Board of Behavioral Sciences licenses and psychology, and California has a temporary fee reduction currently in effect worth knowing about regardless of which license you hold.

LPCC License Renewal

Administered by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. The standard biennial renewal fee is $220 for an active license (which includes a $20 contribution to the Mental Health Practitioner Education Fund), or $320 if delinquent. Renewal can’t be submitted more than 90 days before your license expiration date, and online renewal through the Board’s BreEZe system processes instantly, while manual paper renewals take 4 to 6 weeks. Note that the Board has approved a temporary 50% fee reduction on renewal and several other fees, in effect from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030 — confirm your exact current fee directly with the Board given this change.

LCSW License Renewal

Administered by the same California Board of Behavioral Sciences and BreEZe system as LPCC, with the same $220 active renewal fee (or $320 if delinquent) and the same temporary fee reduction in effect through June 30, 2030.

LMFT License Renewal

Also administered by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, with the same $220 active renewal fee, $320 delinquent fee, and temporary fee reduction as LPCC and LCSW. Associate-level registrants (AMFT, ASW, APCC) renew annually rather than biennially, at a separate $150 annual fee, and must attempt the Law and Ethics Exam at least once during each renewal cycle until they pass it.

Psychologist License Renewal

Administered by the separate California Board of Psychology. Per the Board’s 2026 fee schedule, the biennial renewal fee is $825, with a $397.50 delinquency fee if renewal is late. Inactive-status renewal runs $241 biennially. This is a notably higher renewal fee than the Board of Behavioral Sciences licenses, and is not currently subject to the same temporary fee reduction applying to LMFT, LCSW, and LPCC renewals.

California Approved CE Providers

Whether you’re looking for California online continuing education or in-person California continuing education courses, the Board of Behavioral Sciences and Board of Psychology each maintain their own list of recognized CE providers:

Accreditor / Association	Who It’s For	Recognized For
National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)	LPCCs	Listed directly among the Board of Behavioral Sciences’ recognized CE providers
National Association of Social Workers (NASW) / ASWB ACE providers	LCSWs	Recognized nationally and through NASW’s California chapter for social work CE
APA-approved sponsors	Licensed Psychologists	Recognized nationally for psychologist CPD credit
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)	LMFTs	State-level CE and networking, listed directly as a Board-recognized provider organization
California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (CALPCC)	LPCCs	State-level CE specific to the LPCC credential, listed directly as a Board-recognized provider
NASW California Chapter	LCSWs	State-level CE for social workers, listed directly as a Board-recognized provider
California Psychological Association (CPA)	Licensed Psychologists	Recognized by the Board of Psychology to approve CE sponsors directly
California Society for Clinical Social Work (CSCSW)	LCSWs	State-level clinical social work CE, listed as a Board-recognized provider

The Board of Behavioral Sciences also recognizes AAMFT, its California Division (AAMFT-CA), the California Association of School Psychologists, and the California Counseling Association as approved provider organizations. For a broader look at how CE approval works across all license types and states, see our full guide to continuing education for mental health professionals.

California-Specific Considerations

A few details worth knowing beyond the base CE requirements:

Interstate Compact Status

California is not currently a member of PSYPACT, meaning psychologists licensed elsewhere in PSYPACT cannot rely on that compact to see California clients, and California-licensed psychologists cannot use it to practice elsewhere — a separate California license is required in both directions. California is also not among the states where the Counseling Compact is currently enacted. Clinicians relocating to or from California, or seeing clients across state lines, should not assume compact privileges are available here the way they might be in other states.

Temporary Fee Reduction

The Board of Behavioral Sciences has adopted a temporary 50% reduction on renewal fees and several other fees for LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, and LEP licensees and registrants, in effect from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030. This is a time-limited change, not a permanent fee restructuring — confirm current fee amounts directly with the Board rather than assuming this reduced rate continues indefinitely.

Law and Ethics Exam vs. Law and Ethics CE

Associate-level registrants (AMFT, ASW, APCC) face two separate California Law and Ethics obligations that are easy to conflate: a Law and Ethics Exam that must be attempted each renewal cycle until passed (after which it’s not required again), and a separate 3-hour Law and Ethics CE course required prior to each registration renewal regardless of exam status. Passing the exam does not exempt a registrant from the CE course.

New Licensee vs. Renewing Licensee

A few distinctions worth knowing depending on where you are in your California licensure timeline:

• New LMFT, LCSW, and LPCC licensees face substantially more first-renewal-only content than in most states — 7 hours HIV/AIDS for all three, plus 7 hours child abuse assessment/reporting and 15 hours alcoholism/chemical dependency specifically for new LMFTs — all on top of the standard 36-hour requirement.
• Associate-level registrants (AMFT, ASW, APCC) renew annually rather than biennially, and carry the added Law and Ethics Exam attempt requirement each cycle until passed, separate from their standard CE.
• Supervisors overseeing associate-level registrants take on real added responsibility in California’s system, and having a clear clinical supervision agreement in place from the outset helps define expectations for both parties throughout the registrant’s path to full licensure.

CE Tracker Templates for Mental Health Professionals

Even with a clear picture of your state’s requirements, actually staying on top of continuing education across a full renewal cycle is a different challenge — tracking which hours you’ve completed, which mandated categories still need attention, where you’ve saved your certificates, and when your actual deadline hits. A CE tracker template solves this by giving you one place to log activities as you complete them, monitor progress against your specific requirements, and pull everything together when it’s time to submit your renewal — rather than reconstructing two years of CE history in a panic the week before your license expires.

Get started with the free CE Tracker Template to organize your current renewal cycle, or manage your complete CE renewal process from planning through submission with this comprehensive CE Tracker Template (pictured above).

Final Thoughts on California CE Requirements

California’s shared structure across LMFT, LCSW, and LPCC makes the base 36-hour, 6-hour-ethics requirement genuinely easy to track if you hold one of those three licenses — the complexity here comes almost entirely from the stack of one-time, date-triggered courses layered on top, several of which only apply based on when you happened to renew or first get licensed.

The temporary fee reduction in effect through 2030 is also worth revisiting each renewal cycle rather than assuming it’s permanent, and California’s absence from both PSYPACT and the Counseling Compact is a real practical limitation if your practice involves clients across state lines. Clinicians who stay engaged with their continuing education and licensure landscape as an ongoing practice, rather than a once-every-two-years scramble, tend to navigate changes like this with far less disruption (Neimeyer & Taylor, 2010).

References

• California Board of Behavioral Sciences. (n.d.). Continuing education. Resource
• California Board of Behavioral Sciences. (n.d.). Manage license/registration. Resource
• California Board of Behavioral Sciences. (n.d.). CE requirements chart. Resource
• California Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2025). Initial statement of reasons: Fee reductions. Resource
• California Board of Psychology. (n.d.). 2026 fee schedule. Resource
• Neimeyer, G. J., & Taylor, J. M. (2010). Continuing education in psychology. In J. C. Norcross, G. R. VandenBos, & D. K. Freedheim (Eds.), History of psychotherapy: Continuity and change (2nd ed., pp. 663–671). American Psychological Association.
• GetLicenseMap. (n.d.). Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT) — Member states and how it works. Resource