Washington LMHC Continuing Education Requirements
Washington counselors must complete 32 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LMHC license, including 6 hours of law & ethics and 2 hours of professional roles and boundaries.
The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.
A licensed counselor shall complete 32 hours of continuing education (CE) every two years1. (a) At least six of the 32 hours must be in professional ethics and law2, which may include topics under RCW 18.130.180 . (b) At least two of the 32 hours must be in professional roles and boundaries3. These hours must be taken separate from the requirements in (a) of this subsection.
- 32 hours every 2 years
- 6 hours of ethics and law
- 2 hours on professional roles and boundaries, separate from the ethics hours
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Washington LMHC requirements
Total
Topic minimums, counted within the 32
- Law & Ethics
- 6
- You need 6 hours each cycle.
- Professional Roles and Boundaries
- 2
- You need 2 hours each cycle.
Limits on how the hours are earned
- Agency sponsored training
- max 26 hrs
- Other learning experience
- max 6 hrs
Cycle and record rules
- Renewal
- The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.
- Board audit
- The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
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.
Check where you stand
Enter the hours you have completed this cycle to see what is left before your renewal.
Your result appears here as you enter hours.
Open the full LPC CE hours calculatorAlso hold a Washington LMFT or LCSW license? Each board runs its own CE cycle. See the Washington LMFT and Washington LCSW requirements.
Washington LMHC required trainings and mandates
Beyond the 32-hour CE total, Washington requires specific trainings. Some are due once around initial licensure, and others run on their own recurring schedule.
Recurring mandates outside the 2-year cycle
- Two hours of health-equity CE every 4 years.
- Six hours of Department-model-list suicide assessment, treatment, and management training every 6 years.
Full board policy details
- All CE may be completed through online distance learning. Asynchronous courses must include a comprehension test; Washington has no general distance-learning cap.
- Agency-sponsored training is an employer-training activity category capped at 26 hours, regardless of whether delivery is in person or online.
- Panels, professional boards or councils, community service, research, peer consultation, and professional publication share one 6-hour other-learning-experience cap. Credits in any subset must be tagged other learning experience.
- A licensee may not count the same course twice in one reporting period. Presenter credit is limited to first presentation of a topic during that period.
- Qualifying programs have an industry-recognized sponsor, instructor, speaker, panel, or institution of higher learning. The Department does not enforce a closed provider list.
- Six hours of qualifying suicide assessment, treatment, and management training are required every 6 years, and 2 hours of health-equity training every 4 years. Both count toward the 32-hour total when completed within the current CE window.
- The first suicide training is due in the first full CE period after initial licensure. A qualifying 6-hour course completed within 6 years before initial licensure can defer the first post-license course for 6 years; that historical-course exception remains a manual review.
- Inactive status requires no CE while inactive. Reactivation requires a declaration that the most recent 2 years of CE were met. Retired-active status has a different 18-hour biennium and is not represented by this active-license rule.
Washington LMHC CE: frequently asked questions
How many CE hours do Washington LMHC licensees need?
Washington requires 32 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LMHC license. The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.
How many ethics hours are required for Washington LMHC licensees?
Of the total, 6 hours must be in law & ethics.
How often do Washington LMHC licensees renew?
The renewal cycle is biennial, and your license renews at the end of your birth month.
Are there subject-specific CE requirements for Washington LMHC licensees?
Yes. In addition to ethics, Washington requires 2 hours of professional roles and boundaries.
Sources and verification
- State source
- Washington board rule
- Profession source
- NBCC continuing education guidance
- Last verified
- August 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.3
We reviewed this page against the Washington 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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Washington guides & data
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