From the Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors

Online CE for Missouri CounselorsMissouri-licensed counselors have an upcoming license renewal deadline of June 30, 2015. All licensees must obtain forty (40) hours of continuing education prior to the expiration date of a license and such hours should consist of at least twenty (20) hours of formal continuing education and at least twenty (20) hours of self study.

Professional Development Resources is approved by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) to offer formal continuing education hours to Missouri-licensed counselors (see #4 below).

Formal continuing education would include the following:

  1. Post graduate course work offered by a regionally accredited education institution. Such course work shall be relevant to professional counseling and shall not be part of the graduate course work required for licensure. One (1) semester hour of graduate credit constitutes fifteen (15) hours of continuing education.
  2. Presenting research at a formal professional meeting. A presentation shall include a paper presented in a professional journal, book, or original chapter in an edited book. Credit will be given at the rate four (4) hours for each paper or presentation. No credit would be granted for any subsequent presentation on the same subject matter during the same renewal period;
  3. Attending relevant professional meetings when such meetings include verification of attendance. Such meetings can be international, national, regional, state, or local, and must be related to the profession. The licensee would receive three (3) hours of continuing education credit for a full day of meeting attendance.
  4. Attending work shops, seminars, or continuing education courses relevant to counseling. The licensee would provide verification of attendance such as a certificate or letter of attendance indicating the date, time, and number of hours of continuing education from the workshop, seminar or course provider.
  5. Written contributions to relevant professional books, journals, or periodicals. A licensee would be eligible to receive three (3) hours of continuing education for publication in a non referee journal, six (6) hours of continuing education for publication in a referee journal, eight (8) continuing education hours for each chapter in a book, ten (10) continuing education hour for editing a book, and fifteen (15) continuing education hours for the publication of a book.
  6. Presenting at relevant professional meetings such as international, national, regional, state, or local professional associations. A licensee would be eligible for a maximum of three (3) hours per presentation.
  7. A licensee that is a faculty member at an accredited educational institution may receive up to a maximum of twenty (20) hours per year of continuing education credit for teaching at the educational institution. The area(s) taught by the licensee must relate to the following core areas; Counseling Theory Human Growth & Development, Social & Cultural Diversity, Helping Relationship, Group Counseling, Career Development, Appraisal, Research Methods, or Professional Orientation. For the purpose of the probable regulation, the licensee must teach a minimum of four (4) clock hours.
  8. A licensee teaching formal continuing education hours may receive up to a maximum of four (4) hours per biennial cycle of continuing education credit. The CE must relate to the following core areas; Counseling Theory Human Growth & Development, Social & Cultural Diversity, Helping Relationship, Group Counseling, Career Development, Appraisal, Research Methods, or Professional Orientation. For the purpose of the probable regulation the licensee must teach a minimum of four (4) clock hours.


Self Study – A licensee will be eligible to obtain at least twenty (20) hours of self study continuing education. Self study of professional material includes relevant books, journals, periodicals, tapes, and other materials and preparation for relevant lectures and talks to public groups. Preparation credit may not be claimed pursuant to this regulation for presentations that are used for CE in the aforementioned 2, 6, 7, or 8.

How will CE be reported to the committee? Prior to the expiration date of the license, a renewal form is sent. The renewal form will likely include a checklist regarding compliance with the continuing education requirements. No additional paperwork will be required at the time of renewal. Instead, the committee will likely conduct random audits of licensees to verify CE compliance.

How will a licensee verify completion of continuing education? The committee anticipates that the licensee will need to maintain documentation of completed continuing education hours for at least four years. The documentation would include the name of the CE course, CE provider name, content, date, location, hours earned, and any certificate of attendance or transcript issued by the continuing education provider. If the CE is self study such as journal articles, books, or online, the licensee will maintain documentation relating to the name of the publication, title of the article, book etc, publication date, number of pages, and time spent reviewing the information.

Licensees are reminded that the online renewal process must be completed prior to 7:00 p.m. on June 30th. It is recommended a licensee start the online renewal process no later than 6:45 p.m. on June 30th to insure s/he is able to complete all information to renew the license online.

Paper renewal forms, accompanied by the renewal fee, must be postmarked no later than June 30, 2015. If a renewal form is postmarked after June 30, 2015 the renewal fee and late fee will be required.

If a licensee needs to update an address or contact information, please send an email to profcounselor@pr.mo.gov or fax the information to 573/751-0735. When corresponding with the Committee for Professional Counselors by e-mail and/or facsimile (fax), please refrain from including any sensitive personal identifying information such as Social Security Number or Date of Birth. A licensee can obtain a renewal form by contacting the committee by email, fax, or call 573/751-0018. Remember: the online renewal system closes at 7:00 p.m. on June 30th.