Year after year, there are always several licensees that have questions on their continuing education obligations. Trying to work through the process of one's continuing education can sometimes be strenuous.

Each state has their own expectations for continuing education and may adjust them from time to time. It is critical for the licensee to stay informed of their state's rules and regulations. Each licensed MFT should review their state board's rules and regulations posted on the board's website each renewal period to learn of any possible changes.

The courses needed to meet each state's MFT continuing education requirements can be acquired from a number of providers. Most providers are not approved in every state. Verify that the provider to be used has the appropriate approval to offer MFT continuing education courses in your state. The board approvals along with the corresponding provider numbers ought to be accessible via the provider's website.

Some suggestions on methods for keeping up-to-date on the rules and regulations of one's continuing education are:

--Document your state board's phone number, website address, mailing address, fax number, etc.

--Find out if your state board sends out a newsletter. If so, ask to receive it. This is a great way to stay up-to-date from the source.

--Locate online CE providers that have links to all of the state boards' websites. These links should send you to the continuing education portion of the board's site. These providers may also provide links to the national board's websites from which they have obtained approval. This information should be located on the ceu provider's website. Unfortunately, not all providers have this information. The ones that do are providing a valuable resource.

--Start early. Make an effort to begin your license renewal process well before the due date. This gives you the luxury of time to do your research to make sure you are aware of all of your current continuing education requirements and the rules that govern them. This will also provide the benefit of choosing courses that may challenge you beyond your current skill set, instead of just taking courses on material you already know thoroughly. The last thing anyone needs is to be panicked as they scramble around at the last minute trying to get all of their required ceus completed.