Oklahoma LMFT Continuing Education Requirements
Oklahoma marriage and family therapists must complete 20 continuing education hours per year to renew their LMFT license, including 3 hours of mental health ethics.
20
total hours / year
3
mental health ethics hours
Annual renewal · calculating the next statewide deadline
Oklahoma LMFT requirements
| Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|
| Total continuing education | 20 hours per year. |
| Renewal | Annual cycle: CE due by December 31 each year. |
| Mental Health Ethics | 3 hours required each cycle. |
| New licensees | If your initial license expires in January, February, or March, the interim renewal that moves you onto the calendar year requires 20 CE hours, including 3 hours of mental health ethics. |
| Approved providers | Qualifying CE may be offered or sponsored by national professional association, state professional association, governmental agency, state licensing board, and accredited university and recognized associations in counseling, mft, social work, psychology, and addiction counseling. |
| Late renewal | A late renewal allows a late fee. |
| Provisional renewal | The board allows a provisional/conditional renewal for up to 12 months before full compliance is required. Not a conditional-practice mechanism. On CE non-compliance the license is suspended (no practice) and the LMFT has a fixed 12-month cure window from the date of suspension to reinstate; if not reinstated within 12 months the license is revoked (OAC 86:15-13-4(j)). |
Total hours
20 hours per year.
Renewal
Annual cycle: CE due by December 31 each year.
Mental Health Ethics
3 hours required each cycle.
New licensees
If your initial license expires in January, February, or March, the interim renewal that moves you onto the calendar year requires 20 CE hours, including 3 hours of mental health ethics.
Approved providers
Qualifying CE may be offered or sponsored by national professional association, state professional association, governmental agency, state licensing board, and accredited university and recognized associations in counseling, mft, social work, psychology, and addiction counseling.
Late renewal
A late renewal allows a late fee.
Provisional renewal
The board allows a provisional/conditional renewal for up to 12 months before full compliance is required. Not a conditional-practice mechanism. On CE non-compliance the license is suspended (no practice) and the LMFT has a fixed 12-month cure window from the date of suspension to reinstate; if not reinstated within 12 months the license is revoked (OAC 86:15-13-4(j)).
Full board policy details
- No cap on self-study / home-study or technology-assisted distance-learning hours in the current rule. The former 10-hour home-study cap was struck effective 2023-08-11. Home-study/technology-assisted distance-learning courses must still be Board-approved (OAC 86:15-13-4(e), (c)(3)(A)).
- No minimum for live/in-person hours. The former face-to-face requirement for the 3 ethics hours ("Beginning renewal year 2009") was deleted effective 2023-08-11, so no delivery-format restriction on ethics remains. "Face-to-Face learning" includes synchronous instructional delivery (live-interactive webinars count as face-to-face); asynchronous delivery is treated as home-study / technology-assisted distance learning (OAC 86:15-1-3).
- Teaching confers CE at 2 clock hours of CE per hour taught, provided the teaching is not part of the LMFT's regular employment (OAC 86:15-13-4(d)). College coursework converts at 15 clock hours per college credit hour (OAC 86:15-13-4(b)(1)). These are conversions, not caps; the current rule sets no numeric cap on teaching-derived hours or per-course/per-instructor limits.
- REQUIRED-TOPIC CONTENT RESTRICTIONS — both required topics carry subject-matter limits that the engine cannot mechanically enforce from credit metadata, so they are recorded here rather than as unenforceable structured fields. (1) Mental health ethics: the 3 hours must "address ethics issues specifically pertaining to the practice of therapy, as defined in Section 1925.2(7)" and "address regulations as promulgated in Subchapter 3 of this Chapter" (OAC 86:15-13-4(b)(2)(A)-(B)). (2) Therapy supervision (Approved LMFT Supervisors only): the 3 hours must be "therapy supervision specific to Oklahoma law" and must fall within one of the supervision knowledge areas enumerated in the rule (OAC 86:15-13-4(b)(3), (m)(1)). Generic out-of-state supervision training does not satisfy the supervision topic. Both topics must come from programs approved by the Board or its designee; the supervision hours must be "provided by the Board or its designee" (OAC 86:15-13-4(b)(2), (b)(3)).
- COURSE REPEAT RESTRICTIONS — Not expressly addressed in the rule. There is no explicit rule barring credit for repeat presentations of the same material by an instructor. General limits apply instead: teaching must not be part of regular employment, and all CE (received or presented) must be targeted toward a professional audience. The Board's CE page lists ineligible activities (staff orientation, administrative/case-management meetings, agency policy training, book reports/journal-article critiques) but does not address course repetition.
- LICENSE STATUS RULES — Inactive status (OAC 86:15-13-5): a license may be placed on inactive status by written request plus a one-time $25 fee; an inactive license forfeits all rights and privileges, so no CE accrues while inactive. Reactivation requires CE prorated to the renewal year: inactive >= 1 year reactivates upon a prorated renewal fee plus prorated CE required during the renewal year; inactive < 1 year reactivates with the required renewal fee and CE. Retired status (OAC 86:15-13-6): a retired license shall not be reinstated — return to practice requires a new application (all fees, passing the exam, meeting all requirements in effect at reapplication); no CE-only reactivation path exists from retired status. Military (OAC 86:15-17-2 / 59 O.S. § 4100.6): an active-duty service member's license is automatically extended and placed inactive during active duty and for one year after, and may renew without fees and without obtaining CE when a waiver is submitted and military duty prevented obtaining training. No general hardship/illness/disability waiver exists.
- Failure to fulfill the CE requirement by the renewal date renders the license in suspension; all rights are null and void until the requirement is fulfilled and a late renewal fee is paid. The LMFT has 12 months from the date of suspension to become reinstated, or the license is revoked. This is not a renewable provisional-practice status (OAC 86:15-13-4(j)).
We turn every category, format limit, and one-time rule on this page into a live checklist on your Oklahoma LMFT record, and reapply board changes automatically as they happen.
Track Oklahoma LMFT CE free →Oklahoma LMFT CE: frequently asked questions
How many CE hours do Oklahoma LMFT licensees need?
Oklahoma requires 20 continuing education hours per year to renew a LMFT license. Annual cycle: CE due by December 31 each year.
How many ethics hours are required for Oklahoma LMFT licensees?
Of the total, 3 hours must be in mental health ethics.
How often do Oklahoma LMFT licensees renew?
Annual cycle: CE due by December 31 each year.
Is the first renewal different for new Oklahoma LMFT licensees?
If your initial license expires in January, February, or March, the interim renewal that moves you onto the calendar year requires 20 CE hours, including 3 hours of mental health ethics.
Sources & verification
- State source
- Oklahoma board rule
- Last verified
- July 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.1
Reviewed against the Oklahoma board source and refreshed 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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