Updated for 2026

Vermont LMFT Continuing Education Requirements

Vermont marriage and family therapists must complete 20 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LMFT license, including 4 hours of professional ethics and 1 hour of systematic oppression.

total hours / 2 years

professional ethics hours

systematic oppression hours

Biennial renewal · calculating the next statewide deadline

Vermont LMFT requirements

Requirement	Notes
Total continuing education	20 hours every 2 years.
Renewal	Biennial cycle: CE due by January 31 of odd years.
Professional Ethics	4 hours required each cycle.
Systematic Oppression	1 hour required each cycle.
Format limits	Up to 10 hours may be completed through home study / self-study.
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	All 20 hours must be continuing education approved by the Board. CE provided or approved by NBCC, the American Counseling Association, AMHCA, APA, or AAMFT is accepted without prior Board review; for a course not previously approved in Vermont, or when you are unsure whether it meets the rule, you may ask the Office of Professional Regulation to review the course and determine whether it qualifies. Course objectives must relate directly to counseling theory or its application, or clearly relate to maintaining skills for the safe and competent clinical practice of marriage and family therapy — a course that merely relates to the field is not enough.
Board audit	The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Provisional renewal	The board allows a provisional/conditional renewal for up to 3 months before full compliance is required. Under 3 V.S.A. section 129(k) the Board may give licensees 90 days to develop and complete a corrective plan to cure CE deficiencies identified on audit (rule 4.30(d)). Courses taken under a corrective plan count only for the licensing period being audited (rule 4.30(e)). Failure to comply with a corrective plan may result in discipline (rule 4.30(f)). A separate hardship extension of Board-discretionary duration may be granted only in cases of extreme hardship (rule 4.31).

Limits on how the hours are earned

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

home study / self-studymax 10 hrs
teachingmax 5 hrs

Keeping the proof in order: what to keep for a CE audit, with every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.

Full board policy details

No more than 10 of the 20 hours may be Individualized Learning Activities (home study, including online or interactive/asynchronous training) per rule section 4.32(b). At least 10 hours must therefore be formal activities (graduate courses; board-approved institutes, workshops, seminars, conferences).
Synchronous virtual continuing education credits are approvable and accepted as live in-person training (26 V.S.A. section 4040(a)(1), effective 2023-07-01). Asynchronous online/home study remains inside the 10-hour individualized-learning cap.
Instructor/presenter credit is capped at 5 hours of the 20 per cycle. Continuing education credit will be allowed only one time per subject taught, and will not be granted for teaching a program within the licensee's regular employment; credit is for actual presentation time, not preparation time (rule 4.32(c)). Credit for attendance is granted only for actual time spent as a learner (breaks and lunches excluded), and only for CE taken within the two years preceding the renewal (rules 4.28(b), 4.28(f)). The rule does not prohibit a learner from re-taking the same course within a cycle.
CREDIT ADMISSIBILITY — Every counted hour must be continuing education approved by the Board (26 V.S.A. section 4040(a)). Continuing education provided by or approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors, the American Counseling Association, the American Mental Health Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association, or the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy is approved without prior review by the Board (rule 4.33(c)). For a course that has not been previously approved in Vermont, or when the licensee is unsure whether the course meets the rule requirements for continuing education, the licensee may ask the Office of Professional Regulation to review the course and determine whether it qualifies for continuing education credit. Accepted courses must have objectives relating directly to counseling theory or its application, or clearly relating to maintaining skills for the safe and competent clinical practice of marriage and family therapy (rules 4.32(a), 4.33(a)); it is not sufficient that a course merely relate to the field of counseling or marriage and family therapy. Accepted provider types describe who may sponsor or approve CE; every individual activity must still satisfy the course-objectives standard above. Presenting, teaching, and academic coursework are NOT exempt from the approval requirement — where no auto-approved sponsor under rule 4.33(c) is involved, they qualify through OPR individual review.
LICENSE STATUS RULES — Vermont has no formal mid-cycle inactive election for LMFTs; a licensee inactivates by letting the license expire at cycle end, and a lapsed license carries no CE obligation while lapsed. Retired status is not addressed. Reinstatement of an expired license requires paying the reinstatement penalty and renewal fee and completing the CE for the applicable licensing period (rule 4.37(a)). If lapsed more than five years without practice under another U.S./Canadian license, reinstatement additionally requires re-registering on the roster, completing six months / no fewer than 750 hours of supervised practice, and passing the Vermont statutes-and-rules examination (rule 4.37(b)). A hardship extension may be granted by the Board only in cases of extreme hardship (rule 4.31, 3 V.S.A. section 129(k)).
Cross-profession CE crediting: a licensee who also holds another Vermont mental-health license (e.g. LCMHC) may count CE completed for one profession toward the other (26 V.S.A. section 4040(a)(2)). Informational only; the engine evaluates one license at a time.

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

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Vermont LMFT CE: frequently asked questions

How many CE hours do Vermont LMFT licensees need?

Vermont requires 20 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LMFT license. Biennial cycle: CE due by January 31 of odd years.

How many ethics hours are required for Vermont LMFT licensees?

Of the total, 4 hours must be in professional ethics.

How often do Vermont LMFT licensees renew?

Biennial cycle: CE due by January 31 of odd years.

Are there subject-specific CE requirements for Vermont LMFT licensees?

Yes. In addition to ethics, Vermont requires 1 hour of systematic oppression.

Can Vermont LMFT licensees complete CE online or by home study?

Up to 10 hours may be completed through home study / self-study.

Is the first renewal different for new Vermont 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

State source: Vermont board rule
Last verified: August 2026
Ruleset version: 2026.2

Reviewed against the Vermont 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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Vermontguides & data

What to keep for a CE audit

What boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, what the notice looks like, and a printable checklist.

Vermont mental health workforce data

4,623 active providers, or 717.1 per 100,000 residents, ranked 5 of 51. County density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Vermont CE requirement pages

Vermont LPC Vermont LCSW Vermont Psychologist