Updated for 2026

Virginia LSATP Continuing Education Requirements

Virginia addiction counselors must complete 20 continuing education hours per year to renew their LSATP license, including 2 hours of ethics.

20hours per year
Topic minimums, counted within the 20
2ethics

Next deadline: June 30, 2027The renewal cycle is annual, and CE is due by June 30 each year.

Where this comes from
State source
Virginia board rule
Last verified
October 2026
Ruleset version
2026.1

Every figure on this page is read from this rule, and the page refreshes when the ruleset changes. How we verify

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Requirements

Virginia LSATP requirements

Total

20 hoursYou need 20 hours per year. The renewal cycle is annual, and CE is due by June 30 each year.

Topic minimums, counted within the 20

The remaining 18 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
Ethics
2
You need 2 hours each cycle.

Limits on how the hours are earned

Journal article
max 8 hrs
Book authorship
max 18 hrs
First time presentation
max 8 hrs
Teaching new course
max 8 hrs
Dissertation
max 18 hrs
Clinical supervision received
max 10 hrs
Leadership service
max 8 hrs
Practice related program
max 8 hrs
Volunteer service
max 2 hrs

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is annual, and CE is due by June 30 each year.
New licensees
"A substance abuse treatment practitioner who was licensed by examination is exempt from meeting continuing competency requirements for the first renewal following initial licensure" (18VAC115-60-115 F). If you were first licensed by examination, nothing is owed for your first June 30 renewal; from the next renewal on, 20 hours are due each year. A practitioner first licensed by endorsement owes the 20 hours at the first renewal.
Approved providers
Formal courses and home study count "at their full hour value" when they come from a source 18VAC115-60-116 B 1 lists: regionally accredited college or university courses in a behavioral health discipline, university continuing education programs, governmental agencies, licensed health facilities and licensed hospitals, or a sponsor certified or approved by IAMFC, AAMFT, AASCB, ACA, APA, CRCC, NAADAC, NASW, NBCC, "A national behavioral health organization or certification body", or a counseling board in another state. The individual professional activities in subsection B 2 (publications, presentations, new program development, dissertation, supervision received, leadership, practice-related programs) have no outside provider and are exempt from the provider check, but each keeps its own ceiling.
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 2 years after each renewal.
Board audit
The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Late renewal
A late renewal adds a late fee.

To keep your proof in order, see what to keep for a CE audit, which covers every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.

Your hours

Check where you stand

Enter the hours you have completed this cycle to see what is left before June 30, 2027.

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

Open the full Addiction Counselor CE hours calculator
Full board policy details
  • Formally organized learning activities and home study "may be counted at their full hour value" (18VAC115-60-116 B 1). The rule sets no self-study or online cap and no live or in-person minimum; there is no addiction-specific floor inside the 20 hours. Subjects must fall in one of the thirteen areas of 18VAC115-60-116 A, which include "Addictions" and "Clinical supervision".
  • Volunteer counseling: "One hour of continuing education may be credited for three hours of providing such volunteer services, as documented by the health department or free clinic" (18VAC115-60-115 E), at most two of the 20 hours. Log the converted CE hours (three service hours for each CE hour) and tag them volunteer service; the engine applies the two-hour ceiling.
  • Individual professional activities each carry their own ceiling (18VAC115-60-116 B 2): articles or edited-book chapters 8, books 18, presentations 8, new program development 8, dissertation 18 counted once, clinical supervision or consultation received 10, leadership 8 and practice-related programs 8. A presentation counts once in any two years and only for actual presentation time; supervision you provide to others earns nothing; practice-related programs need proof of attendance and a written justification of how they help your direct client service.
  • Dual licensure: "Those individuals dually licensed by this board will not be required to obtain continuing competency for each license. Dually licensed individuals will only be required to provide the hours set out in subsection A of this section, subsection A of 18VAC115-50-95 in the Regulations Governing the Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy, or subsection A of 18VAC115-20-105 in the Regulations Governing the Practice of Professional Counseling" (18VAC115-60-115 D). An LSATP who is also a Virginia LPC or LMFT renews both on one block of 20 hours with 2 ethics. The concession covers Board of Counseling licenses only; a Virginia LCSW (Board of Social Work) earns hours under its own rule.
  • Extension and waiver: the Board "may grant an extension for good cause of up to one year" on a written request made before the renewal date, which "shall not relieve the licensee of the continuing competency requirement", and may exempt all or part of the hours "due to circumstances beyond the control of the licensee, such as temporary disability, mandatory military service, or officially declared disasters" (18VAC115-60-115 B, C).
  • Inactive status and reactivation: an inactive licensee may not practise ("No person shall practice substance abuse treatment in Virginia unless the person holds a current active license", 18VAC115-60-110 B). Reactivation requires "documentation of continued competency hours equal to the number of years the license has been inactive not to exceed a maximum of 80 hours obtained within the four years immediately preceding application for reactivation" (18VAC115-60-120 C). The engine cannot scale hours by years inactive, so this is a manual check.
  • Late renewal and reinstatement: within one year of expiration the license may be renewed with the late fee, the missed year's fee and "evidence of having met all applicable continuing competency requirements" (18VAC115-60-120 A). After one year or more, reinstatement requires the applicable continuing competency "not to exceed a maximum of 80 hours obtained within the four years immediately preceding application for reinstatement" (18VAC115-60-120 B).
  • Hours ordered by the Board as part of a disciplinary order "shall not be used to satisfy renewal requirements" (18VAC115-60-117 D).

Virginia LSATP CE: frequently asked questions

How many CE hours do Virginia LSATP licensees need?

Virginia requires 20 continuing education hours per year to renew a LSATP license. The renewal cycle is annual, and CE is due by June 30 each year.

How many ethics hours are required for Virginia LSATP licensees?

Of the total, 2 hours must be in ethics.

How often do Virginia LSATP licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is annual, and CE is due by June 30 each year.

Is the first renewal different for new Virginia LSATP licensees?

"A substance abuse treatment practitioner who was licensed by examination is exempt from meeting continuing competency requirements for the first renewal following initial licensure" (18VAC115-60-115 F). If you were first licensed by examination, nothing is owed for your first June 30 renewal; from the next renewal on, 20 hours are due each year. A practitioner first licensed by endorsement owes the 20 hours at the first renewal.

Sources and verification

State source
Virginia board rule
Last verified
October 2026
Ruleset version
2026.1

We reviewed this page against the Virginia board source, and we refresh it from the compiled ruleset above. Methodology and disclaimer. Compliance data is for guidance only, not legal or board advice. Always confirm requirements with your licensing board before renewing. See something wrong? Report it

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Virginia guides & data

What to keep for a CE audit →Learn what boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, and what the notice looks like, then use the printable checklist.Virginia mental health workforce data →29,924 active providers, or 337 per 100,000 residents, ranked 39 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Virginia CE requirement pages

Virginia LPCVirginia LMFTVirginia LCSWVirginia Psychologist

Addiction Counselor CE requirements in other states