West Virginia Continuing Education Requirements for Mental Health Professionals

West Virginia’s counseling board covers LPC and LMFT together, and a detail confirmed directly on the Board’s own current site is genuinely easy to miss: both licenses actually renew every single year by June 30, even though CE hours are only required in odd-numbered years. Social work and psychology sit under their own separate boards, each with a real, distinct calendar.

A shared veterans’ mental health training requirement runs across all four professions here — a genuine statewide priority, not an isolated board rule. West Virginia is also actively working through Counseling Compact rulemaking as of early 2026, with public comment on draft rules recently concluded.

This guide explains the current West Virginia continuing education requirements for LPCs, LCSWs, LMFTs, and psychologists, including required CE hours, ethics requirements, renewal deadlines, approved providers, and other West Virginia-specific rules to help you stay compliant.

West Virginia Continuing Education Requirements

West Virginia’s counseling board covers LPC and LMFT together, with social work and psychology licensed separately — and a shared veterans’ mental health training requirement appearing across multiple professions (West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling, n.d.; West Virginia Board of Social Work Examiners, n.d.; West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists, n.d.).

License Type	CE Requirements	Renewal / Special Requirements	Official Licensing Board
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)	35 CE hours every 2 years	Minimum 3 hours ethics, 2 hours mental health conditions common to veterans/veteran family members. Maximum 20 hours home study; at least 20 hours must come from attending training offered by others. No carryover of excess hours. Supervisors need 3 additional hours in supervision.	West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling
Licensed Certified Social Worker (LCSW) / Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW)	30 CE hours every 2 years	Minimum 1 hour social work ethics, 2 hours veterans’ mental health (both Category I). Minimum 20 hours Category I (live/synchronous), maximum 10 hours Category II (self-study). Reduced from 40 hours as of July 1, 2022.	West Virginia Board of Social Work Examiners
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT)	35 CE hours every 2 years	Same board and structure as LPC: 3 hours MFT-specific ethics, 2 hours veterans’ mental health.	West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling
Licensed Psychologist (PhD / PsyD)	20 CE hours every 2 years	Minimum 3 hours ethics, 2 hours veterans-related clinical topics. At least 10 hours must be APA- or NASP-approved.	West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists

Clinical Note: West Virginia’s veterans’ mental health training requirement shows up across all four professions here — a state-level priority worth planning for regardless of which license you hold. Also note the social work board’s total dropped from 40 to 30 hours in 2022; if you’re relying on older secondary sources or a colleague’s memory of the requirement, that change is easy to miss. Update: per the Board’s own current renewal page, LPC and LMFT licenses actually renew annually by June 30, with CEU proof only required in odd-numbered renewal years — the 35-hour CE total is reported biennially even though the license itself is renewed every year.

West Virginia License Renewal Requirements

West Virginia’s three boards each run genuinely different calendars — confirmed directly from each board’s own current pages.

LPC License Renewal

Administered by the West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling. Per the Board’s own current renewal page, licenses must be renewed annually and expire if not renewed on or before June 30 each year. The renewal fee is $145, with a $100 late fee if renewed within 60 days after the deadline. CEU proof, however, is only required in odd-numbered years (2025, 2027, 2029, and so on) — meaning your actual 35-hour CE total is tracked on the standard biennial cycle even though you pay the renewal fee every year. The Board recently moved to an electronic licensing system (Certemy), eliminating the need to print and mail paper renewal applications.

LCSW License Renewal

Administered by the separate West Virginia Board of Social Work Examiners. All regular social work licenses (LSW, LGSW, LCSW, LICSW) expire September 30 of odd-numbered years — a single fixed statewide deadline. Reported application fees are tiered by level (LCSW around $60), though the specific ongoing renewal fee wasn’t consistently published separately from the application fee across available sources; confirm your current exact renewal amount directly with the Board.

LMFT License Renewal

Administered by the same West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling as LPC, sharing the identical annual June 30 deadline, $145 renewal fee, $100 late fee, and the same odd-year-only CEU submission schedule now used across both license types on this Board.

Psychologist License Renewal

Administered by the separate West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists. Renewal is biennial, with CE requirements assessed “at time of licensure renewal” every 2 years. The specific renewal fee amount wasn’t consistently published in a single location across available sources; confirm the current figure directly with the Board.

West Virginia Approved CE Providers

Whether you’re looking for West Virginia online continuing education or in-person West Virginia continuing education courses, West Virginia recognizes CE from national accreditors alongside active state associations:

Accreditor / Association	Who It’s For	Recognized For
National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)	LPCs	Automatically accepted by the Board of Examiners in Counseling
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) / NASW	LCSWs	Accepted for LCSW renewal, alongside NASW’s own approval pathway
American Psychological Association (APA) / NASP	Licensed Psychologists	At least 10 of the 20 required hours must specifically come from APA- or NASP-approved sources
West Virginia Counseling Association (WVCA)	LPCs	State branch of ACA, supporting counselors across all specializations and settings in West Virginia
West Virginia Licensed Professional Counselors Association (WVLPCA)	LPCs	Genuinely active, hosting an annual spring conference alongside job resources for LPCs
West Virginia Psychological Association (WVPA)	Licensed Psychologists	Explicitly listed as a resource directly on the Board of Examiners of Psychologists’ own links page
NASW West Virginia Chapter	LCSWs	Offers continuing social work education, a quarterly newsletter, and legislative advocacy

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.

West Virginia-Specific Considerations

A few details worth knowing beyond the base CE requirements:

LPC/LMFT Renewal Is Now Annual, With CE Reported Only in Odd Years

This is worth understanding precisely, since it’s a genuine structural detail confirmed directly on the Board’s own site: LPCs and LMFTs pay a renewal fee and renew their license every single year, but only need to show proof of their 35 CE hours during odd-numbered renewal cycles (2025, 2027, and so on). Don’t assume that because you paid your fee this year, no CE documentation is expected — check whether your specific renewal year requires it.

West Virginia Is Actively Working Through Counseling Compact Rulemaking

As of early 2026, the Board of Examiners in Counseling’s Executive Committee approved draft Counseling Compact rules (covering Chapter 8 conversion and Chapter 9 consistent credentialing) for public comment, with that comment period running February 16 through April 1, 2026. This means West Virginia has enacted the Compact and is actively finalizing implementation — confirm current operational status directly with the Counseling Compact before assuming privileges are usable.

Social Work’s Hour Reduction Is Genuinely Recent

West Virginia’s social work CE requirement dropped from 40 to 30 hours effective July 1, 2022 — recent enough that some secondary sources and even colleague word-of-mouth may still reference the older, higher figure. If you’re planning your CE around a 40-hour target, you’re likely overpreparing relative to the current requirement.

New Licensee vs. Renewing Licensee

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

• LPC-Supervisors and LMFT-Supervisors need 3 additional hours in supervision content, on top of the standard 35-hour requirement.
• New LPCs and LMFTs should confirm which specific renewal year (odd or even) their first CEU submission falls in, given the Board’s recent shift to a unified odd-year-only CEU schedule across both license types.
• Provisional social work licensees follow a separate CE requirement distinct from the regular LSW/LGSW/LCSW/LICSW structure described here.
• Supervisors more broadly take on real responsibility in West Virginia’s system, and having a clear clinical supervision agreement in place from the outset helps define expectations for both parties.

CE Tracker Templates for Mental Health Professionals

West Virginia’s newly unified odd-year-only CEU schedule for LPC and LMFT, layered on top of an annual renewal fee, makes it genuinely easy to lose track of which specific year requires CE documentation. A personal tracking system that flags exactly which renewal cycles need proof of hours — rather than assuming every annual renewal does — removes real ambiguity introduced by this recent structural change.

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.

Final Thoughts on West Virginia CE Requirements

West Virginia’s counseling board recently restructured its renewal rhythm in a way worth understanding precisely: an annual fee, but CE documentation only in odd years. Getting that distinction backwards — assuming every renewal needs fresh CE proof, or assuming an “off year” means no renewal action at all — is the most likely mistake for LPCs and LMFTs here.

The statewide veterans’ mental health training requirement is also worth building into your CE plan early across whichever license you hold, and West Virginia’s active work on Counseling Compact implementation is a genuine development worth watching if interstate practice is part of your plans.

References

• West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling. (n.d.). LPC license renewal. Resource
• West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling. (n.d.). Home. Resource
• West Virginia Board of Social Work Examiners. (n.d.). License renewal. Resource
• West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists. (n.d.). Home. Resource
• West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists. (n.d.). Links. Resource
• West Virginia Counseling Association. (n.d.). Home. Resource
• West Virginia Licensed Professional Counselors Association. (n.d.). Home. Resource
• NASW West Virginia Chapter. (n.d.). Home. Resource