Updated for 2026

West Virginia Psychologist Continuing Education Requirements

West Virginia psychologists must complete 20 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their Psychologist license, including 3 hours of ethics, 10 hours of sponsored continuing education, and 2 hours of veterans' mental health.

20hours every 2 years
Topic minimums, counted within the 20
10sponsored continuing education
3ethics
2veterans' mental health

The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.

What the board saysWest Virginia board rule
Licensed Psychologists and Supervised-Psychologists are required to obtain a minimum or 20 Board approved Continuing Education hours per two year renewal cycle1 … Three (3) hours of Continuing Education in the area of ethics2 are required within each renewal period for all license holders and supervisees. 20.8. A minimum of 50 percent of Continuing Education must be obtained from professional associations identified in 20.43 … Formal professional presentations given by a licensee to a recognized professional audience. Licensees may acquire up to 6 continuing education hours for the initial presentation only4. 4. Publications, Peer Reviewed Journals or Texts for up to 6 Continuing Education hours5 … two hours of the 20 hours6 required for each two year renewal period shall be about mental health conditions common to veterans and their family members6.
What it means
  1. 20 hours every 2 years
  2. 3 hours of ethics
  3. At least half (10 hours) from Board recognized sponsors
  4. No more than 6 hours for a first time presentation
  5. No more than 6 hours for publications
  6. 2 hours on veterans' mental health
17CSR3 17-3-20Last verified August 2026Ruleset 2026.2How we verify
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Requirements

West Virginia Psychologist requirements

Total

20 hoursYou need 20 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.

Topic minimums, counted within the 20

The remaining 5 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
Sponsored Continuing Education
10
You need 10 hours each cycle.
Ethics
3
You need 3 hours each cycle.
Veterans' Mental Health
2
You need 2 hours each cycle.

Limits on how the hours are earned

First time presentation
max 6 hrs
Publication
max 6 hrs
Grand rounds
max 10 hrs
Academic coursework
max 20 hrs

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.
Renewal fee
The board renewal fee is $405 every 2 years.
Approved providers
Provider classification is enforced only for the association-tier credits tagged sponsored_continuing_education: those must come from programs approved by the American Psychological Association or any of its sponsors, the Academies of the Specialty Boards of the American Board of Professional Psychology, the West Virginia Psychological Association, the West Virginia Association of Professional Psychologists, the National Association of School Psychologists and its affiliated regional organizations, or the West Virginia School Psychologists Association (W. Va. Code R. § 17-3-20.4) — these "never need pre-approval by the Board" (CE Guidelines section A, whose auto-accept list also names the Canadian Psychological Association: "All forms of programs approved by APA, CPA, WVPA, WVSPA, WVAPP, NASP, State or Regional Boards or Associations of Psychology" — hence international professional associations are accepted alongside the § 17-3-20.4 organizations). The remainder of the 20 hours may come from the § 17-3-20.8 activity classes without provider approval. must_be_within_cycle_window is set because no carryover is permitted: nothing in § 17-3-20 or the CE Guidelines allows hours earned in excess of the requirement to be carried into a succeeding renewal period, and CE is reported per renewal period on the board's CE Audit Form ("CE's that a psychologist ... has taken during the last renewal period"), so every credited hour must fall within the current two-year cycle. Attendees may repeat a course (no rule forbids it); only presenter credit is restricted to the initial delivery.
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.

Your hours

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 Psychologist CE hours calculator

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

Full board policy details
  • TIER STRUCTURE: W. Va. Code R. § 17-3-20.8 splits the 20 hours into (a) an association tier, at least 50 percent (10 hours) from programs approved by the § 17-3-20.4 organizations (APA or its sponsors, ABPP specialty-board academies, WVPA, WVAPP, NASP and its regional affiliates, WVSPA), and (b) a remainder tier of enumerated activities: presentations attended, APA-approved self-study, formal presentations given (≤6 hours, initial delivery only), publications (≤6 hours), grand rounds (Guidelines cap: ≤10 hours), graduate psychology coursework, and other options in the CE Guidelines. There are no lettered activity categories and no rule requiring hours from a minimum number of categories.
  • FORMAT: There is no self-study or home-study cap, no live or in-person minimum, and no per-day or per-course cap. "APA approved self-study programs" are an enumerated remainder-tier activity (§ 17-3-20.8 item 2), and the board's CE page confirms "psychologists can attend psychological associations and/or complete continuing education online." All 20 hours may be earned online or by self-study, subject only to the 10-hour association-tier floor.
  • QUARTERLY LICENSE DATING: "License periods shall be dated quarterly (first day of January, April, July and October) and shall expire two (2) years after the granting of the license for psychologists" (§ 17-3-20.1); the statute matches ("The license shall be valid for a period of two years from the date issued", W. Va. Code § 30-21-8(b)). The engine models the cycle as a 24-month anniversary from the license issue date; the board's records date each period to the quarter boundary, so a licensee's recorded issue date IS the quarter start and the anniversary tracks it exactly. Thirty days before expiration the board mails a renewal notice, but failure to receive it does not excuse renewal (§ 17-3-20.2).
  • COURSE REPEAT RESTRICTIONS: Presenter credit is limited to the first delivery, "up to 6 continuing education hours for the initial presentation only" (§ 17-3-20.8 item 3; CE Guidelines: "One (1) credit hour for each presentation hour for the initial time the presentation is made."). The rule imposes no general ban on an attendee repeating a course for credit.
  • LICENSE STATUS RULES: There is no inactive or retired CE-exempt tier. The fee rule defines a reduced "Non-practicing Psychologists" renewal at $120, but "Licensee must complete continuing education requirements. A letter will be issued." (17CSR1 § 17-1-2.3.2), so non-practicing status reduces the fee, never the CE. A licensee or supervisee under an ethical inquiry "may not circumvent or prevent investigation and/or resolution of the ethical complaint by deactivating their license or supervised-psychologist status" (§ 17-3-20.10). Retired psychologists donating care to indigent patients may hold the no-fee Special Volunteer Psychologist license (W. Va. Code § 30-21-17; § 17-3-22), whose holder "agrees to participate in continuing education as required by the board for a special volunteer license", board-set terms, manual review. No hardship waiver, extension, or exemption provision exists in the CE rule.
  • LATE RENEWAL / REINSTATEMENT: No grace period or late-fee schedule is codified. "The Board reserves the right to renew a license after the normal expiration date if the circumstances justify such action." (§ 17-3-20.9), discretionary, case by case, with a $90 reinstatement fee in the fee rule (17CSR1 § 17-1-2.10). Manual review for any lapsed license.
  • DUAL PSYCHOLOGY + SCHOOL-PSYCHOLOGY LICENSURE: the 20-hour requirement satisfies both licenses for dually licensed individuals, with at least 3 hours per cycle in each area (§ 17-3-20.5), encoded as a conditional keyed on also holding the school psychologist license: a 3-hour school psychology floor plus a 17-hour school psychology ceiling that enforces the symmetric 3-hour primary-area (psychology) floor by arithmetic. Licensed psychologists who obtained school-psychology licensure under the original grandfather provisions maintain that school license by meeting the psychology renewal requirements (§ 17-3-18).
  • PROGRAM PRE-APPROVAL PROCESS: programs that do not clearly fall within the recognized classes need advance board approval, "Programs which do not clearly meet any of the categories described in these Guidelines require prior approval, which must be obtained at least three (3) weeks in advance of the program. Special program approval will not be given retroactively." (CE Guidelines section F). Organizations may also apply to have specific courses board-approved: application approval fee $180 for for-profit organizations, $45 for non-profits, plus $25 to list the approved course on the board's webpage (17CSR1 § 17-1-2.11), sponsor fees, not licensee renewal fees.
  • OVERLAYS: West Virginia has enacted PSYPACT (W. Va. Code ch. 30, art. 21A, definitions including the E.Passport, the Interjurisdictional Practice Certificate, and the Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology at § 30-21A-1). PSYPACT authority is a mobility overlay on the home-state license administered through ASPPB credentials and carries no separate West Virginia CE obligation. West Virginia grants no prescriptive authority to psychologists, ch. 30, art. 21 contains no RxP provision.

West Virginia Psychologist CE: frequently asked questions

How many CE hours do West Virginia Psychologist licensees need?

West Virginia requires 20 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a Psychologist license. The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.

How many ethics hours are required for West Virginia Psychologist licensees?

Of the total, 3 hours must be in ethics.

How often do West Virginia Psychologist licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.

How much does West Virginia Psychologist license renewal cost?

The board's renewal fee is $405 every 2 years, per the West Virginia board fee schedule. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.

Are there subject-specific CE requirements for West Virginia Psychologist licensees?

Yes. In addition to ethics, West Virginia requires 10 hours of sponsored continuing education, 2 hours of veterans' mental health.

Sources and verification

State source
West Virginia board rule
Fee schedule
West Virginia board fee schedule
Last verified
August 2026
Ruleset version
2026.2

We reviewed this page against the West 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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West 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.West Virginia mental health workforce data →5,546 active providers, or 314 per 100,000 residents, ranked 40 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other West Virginia CE requirement pages

West Virginia LPCWest Virginia LMFTWest Virginia LCSWWest Virginia PMHNP

Psychologist CE requirements in other states