Updated for 2026

Virginia LMFT Continuing Education Requirements

Virginia marriage and family therapists must complete 20 continuing education hours per year to renew their LMFT license, including 2 hours of ethics standards or law.

20

total hours / year

2

ethics standards or law hours

Annual renewal · calculating the next statewide deadline

Virginia LMFT requirements

RequirementNotes
Total continuing education20 hours per year.
RenewalAnnual cycle: CE due by June 30 of odd years.
Ethics Standards or Law2 hours required each cycle.
New licenseesFirst renewal is different: new licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements (proration and/or first-cycle-only rules), which we apply automatically.
Approved providersFormal learning and home-study hours must come from a provider or sponsor recognized by 18VAC115-50-96 B 1. Individual professional activities listed in subsection B 2 are qualifying activity types rather than provider-delivered courses; the provider-gate exemptions below prevent those activities from being rejected solely because they have no outside provider. They remain subject to their activity-specific criteria and caps. Academic coursework is not exempt and must come from a regionally accredited college or university.
Late renewalA late renewal allows a late fee.

Limits on how the hours are earned

Board caps and floors on where the 20 hours can come from.

  • journal articlemax 8 hrs
  • book authorshipmax 18 hrs
  • first time presentationmax 8 hrs
  • teaching new coursemax 8 hrs
  • dissertationmax 18 hrs
  • clinical supervision receivedmax 10 hrs
  • leadership servicemax 8 hrs
  • practice related programmax 8 hrs
  • volunteer servicemax 2 hrs
Total hours
20 hours per year.
Renewal
Annual cycle: CE due by June 30 of odd years.
Ethics Standards or Law
2 hours required each cycle.
New licensees
First renewal is different: new licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements (proration and/or first-cycle-only rules), which we apply automatically.
Approved providers
Formal learning and home-study hours must come from a provider or sponsor recognized by 18VAC115-50-96 B 1. Individual professional activities listed in subsection B 2 are qualifying activity types rather than provider-delivered courses; the provider-gate exemptions below prevent those activities from being rejected solely because they have no outside provider. They remain subject to their activity-specific criteria and caps. Academic coursework is not exempt and must come from a regionally accredited college or university.
Late renewal
A late renewal allows a late fee.
Full board policy details
  • Formally organized learning activities and home study count at full hour value. The rule sets no self-study cap and no live or in-person minimum.
  • Individual professional activities carry distinct ceilings: journal articles or chapters in edited books, 8 hours; books, 18; presentations, 8; new program development, 8; dissertation, 18 once; clinical supervision or consultation received, 10; leadership, 8; and practice-related programs, 8. These are activity categories, not interchangeable delivery formats.
  • Up to 2 of the 20 hours may be satisfied by uncompensated counseling for low-income individuals through a local health department or qualifying free clinic, at 1 CE hour for every 3 service hours.
  • The same presentation may be counted only once in a two-year period, and only actual presentation time counts. New-program credit requires a genuinely new graduate or undergraduate college or university course, seminar, or workshop. Dissertation credit may be counted only once.
  • License status rules: inactive licensees do not complete the ordinary annual requirement while inactive and may not practice. Reactivation requires continuing-competency hours that scale with the number of years inactive, capped at 80 hours and obtained within the four years immediately preceding the application. This duration-dependent calculation and lookback require manual verification because the current engine cannot represent them faithfully.
  • A license expired less than one year may be renewed with evidence of all applicable continuing-competency requirements and the required fees. Reinstatement after one year or more requires applicable continuing competency capped at 80 hours within the four years immediately preceding application.
  • Dually licensed individuals under the Virginia Board of Counseling complete one applicable 20-hour block rather than a separate block for every covered license.
  • The Board may grant a good-cause extension of up to one year when requested in writing before renewal; the extension does not relieve the underlying requirement. It may also grant a full or partial exemption for circumstances beyond the licensee's control.
  • Approved activity type and approved provider are separate concepts in the Virginia rule; provider-gate exemptions do not make an otherwise unapproved activity admissible. Formal learning and home-study hours must satisfy 18VAC115-50-96 B 1's provider or sponsor criteria. Subsection B 2 separately recognizes individual professional activities that do not have an outside course provider; activity_type_exemptions model only that provider-metadata distinction. Every credit must still be an approved statutory activity and satisfy its content and cap rules. Academic coursework remains provider-gated through the accredited-university provider type.

We turn every category, format limit, and one-time rule on this page into a live checklist on your Virginia LMFT record, and reapply board changes automatically as they happen.

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Virginia LMFT CE: frequently asked questions

How many CE hours do Virginia LMFT licensees need?

Virginia requires 20 continuing education hours per year to renew a LMFT license. Annual cycle: CE due by June 30 of odd years.

How many ethics hours are required for Virginia LMFT licensees?

Of the total, 2 hours must be in ethics standards or law.

How often do Virginia LMFT licensees renew?

Annual cycle: CE due by June 30 of odd years.

Is the first renewal different for new Virginia LMFT licensees?

First renewal is different: new licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements (proration and/or first-cycle-only rules), which we apply automatically.

Sources & verification

Last verified
August 2026
Ruleset version
2026.1

Reviewed against the Virginia 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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Virginiaguides & data

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Other Virginia CE requirement pages

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