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.

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 of odd years.

What the board saysVirginia board rule
Marriage and family therapists shall be required to have completed a minimum of 20 hours1 of continuing competency for each annual licensure renewal1. A minimum of two of these hours2 shall be in courses that emphasize the ethics, standards of practice, or laws2 governing behavioral science professions in Virginia … Up to two hours3 of the 20 hours required for annual renewal may be satisfied through delivery of counseling services, without compensation3, to low-income individuals receiving health services through a local health department or a free clinic … A marriage and family therapist who was licensed by examination is exempt4 from meeting continuing competency requirements for the first renewal4 following initial licensure.
What it means
  1. 20 hours every year
  2. 2 hours of ethics, standards of practice, or Virginia law
  3. No more than 2 hours of volunteer service
  4. No CE is required for the first renewal after licensure by exam
18VAC115-50-95Last verified September 2026Ruleset 2026.5How we verify
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Requirements

Virginia LMFT requirements

Total

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

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 of odd years.
New licensees
The first renewal is different. New licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements, such as prorated hours or first-cycle-only rules, and we apply them 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 adds a late fee.
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 LMFT CE hours calculator

Also hold a Virginia LPC or LCSW license? Each board runs its own CE cycle. See the Virginia LPC and Virginia LCSW requirements.

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.

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. The renewal cycle is annual, and CE is 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.

How often do Virginia LMFT licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is annual, and CE is due by June 30 of odd years.

Is the first renewal different for new Virginia LMFT licensees?

The first renewal is different. New licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements, such as prorated hours or first-cycle-only rules, and we apply them automatically.

Sources and verification

State source
Virginia board rule
Last verified
September 2026
Ruleset version
2026.5

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 LCSWVirginia PsychologistVirginia Addiction CounselorVirginia PMHNP

LMFT CE requirements in other states