Washington LMHC CEU Requirements: Associate and Full License Renewal

An Associate License and a Full License Renew Differently

Washington runs three paths to a therapy credential, an LMHCA becoming an LMHC, an LSWAIC becoming an LICSW, and an LMFTA becoming an LMFT, and every one of them carries two separate renewal clocks rather than one. The associate license renews on its own one-year cycle with its own CE load. The full license that follows renews on a different schedule with its own CE cycle. The full path from associate to full license, across all three tracks, is in how to become a therapist in Washington State.

The two clocks do not share a renewal date, a CE total, or a set of required subjects, which is where most of the confusion starts.

The Associate License Renews on Its Issue Date, Not a Birthday

An associate license, whether it is an LMHCA, an LSWAIC or an LMFTA, is "valid for one year and must be renewed every year on the date of issuance" (WAC 246-809-990(2)). That is a fixed anniversary tied to when the credential first issued, and it has nothing to do with the license holder's birthday. Anyone still holding an associate credential, from the newly issued what an LMHCA is in Washington stage onward, works against that issue-date anniversary until the full license replaces it.

16 Hours a Year, With Subjects on Their Own Schedule

Every associate, on every track, owes 16 hours of continuing education each year (WAC 246-809-632(1)). Inside that yearly total, three subjects run on longer cycles rather than every year: 6 hours of professional ethics and law every two years, attested at the second, fourth and sixth renewal, 2 hours of professional roles and boundaries, and 2 hours of health equity every four years (WAC 246-809-632(2) through (4)). None of those three subjects is owed at every single renewal; each has its own cycle inside the yearly 16-hour total.

The rule's own text has a leftover from before the current framework: a later subsection, the one on social work associates' suicide training, still reads "the total 18 hours of CE" (WAC 246-809-632(5)(c)), a figure carried over from the statute that applied before October 2025 (RCW 18.225.145(6)(a)). The associate CE total the current rule sets is 16 hours, stated plainly in WAC 246-809-632(1); 18 is not a current figure to plan around.

One Extra Item for Social Work Associates: Suicide Training

An LSWAIC carries one requirement the counseling and marriage and family therapy associates do not: 6 hours of suicide assessment, treatment and management, completed after initial licensure and before the first renewal (WAC 246-809-630(2), -632(5)). The same 6-hour requirement applies to the advanced social work associate credential as well, not to the LSWAIC alone. Everything else on the associate CE list, the 16 hours a year, the ethics and law cycle, the roles and boundaries hours, and the health equity hours, applies the same way across all three associate tracks.

For how this associate stage compares to the full clinical social work license it leads to, see LSWAIC vs LICSW in Washington.

No Limit on Associate Renewals Since June 6, 2024

An associate license "may be renewed" with no stated cap on the number of times (RCW 18.225.145(6)(a)). Washington did once cap it at six renewals, but that limit ended June 6, 2024. Anyone who lost their associate license to the old six-renewal limit before the repeal "shall be treated as if the person's license expired," which routes them back to active status through the same process as any other lapsed license (RCW 18.225.145(6)(b)).

There is no maximum to plan around.

What Happens If an Associate License Lapses

"Failure to renew shall invalidate the license" (RCW 18.225.150). Coming back from a lapse includes an updated declaration: "the person shall submit an updated declaration" that they are still working toward full licensure, the same kind of declaration the original associate application required (RCW 18.225.150; RCW 18.225.145(1)).

DOH's fee schedule lists a separate $40 expired reissuance fee, on top of whatever late renewal penalty already applies (WAC 246-809-990). Renewing before the license lapses avoids both the reissuance fee and the gap in active status.

Associate Renewal, Late and Reissuance Fees

All fees are nonrefundable (WAC 246-809-990(3)). Figures are from WAC 246-809-990; the $16 line inside the LMHCA and LSWAIC renewal fee is the HEAL-WA fee.

Full Licenses Renew Yearly on the Birthday

Once an LMHCA becomes an LMHC, an LSWAIC becomes an LICSW, or an LMFTA becomes an LMFT, the renewal clock changes entirely. A full license renews every year on the license holder's birthday and owes 32 hours of continuing education every two years, made up of 6 hours of ethics and law and 2 hours of professional roles and boundaries within that 32, plus 2 hours of health equity every four years and 6 hours of suicide training every six years (WAC 246-809-630(3), -990(1)).

32 hours every two years averages out to the same 16 hours a year, which is arithmetic, but on a two-year cycle tied to a birthday, with suicide training every six years added to the required subjects.

Full License Renewal and CE, by Credential

Fee figures are from WAC 246-809-990. Exam fees, which are separate from renewal, are set by the testing organizations and are not published by DOH.

A One-Time 36 Hours, Separate From Every Renewal Cycle

Before DOH issues a full license on any of the three tracks, the applicant completes 36 hours of continuing education, including 6 hours of professional law and ethics, after meeting the academic requirements and before the license issues (DOH continuing education page; DOH 670-209, December 2018). This is not part of the associate's yearly 16 hours and not part of the full license's 32-hour cycle either. It is a single, one-time item attested on the Continuing Education Attestation form.

Applicants moving through the LMHCA application in Washington and the parallel social work and marriage and family therapy applications should plan for this 36-hour requirement well before their supervised hours and exam are finished, since it has to be complete before the full license can issue, not after.

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FAQ: Washington Associate License Renewal and CE