CE tracking and practice logs

Verify before you rely on this. The continuing education (CE) requirements below are for mental health counselors: the Washington licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) credential (WAC 246-809-630, as amended effective October 2025) and the Rhode Island mental health counselor (MHC) license (216-RICR-40-05-11). Social workers and marriage and family therapists have their own rules in both states. Check the current rule and your state's Department of Health CE page for your credential.

Requirements at a glance

WashingtonRhode Island

Washington

	Washington (LMHC)
Renewal	Annually, on your birthday
CE required	32 hours per 2-year window
Ethics & law	6 hours per 2 years
Professional roles & boundaries	2 hours per 2 years, separate from the ethics hours
Suicide	6 hours every 6 years, from a Department of Health (DOH)-approved course
Health equity	2 hours every 4 years
Approved supervisor (if you supervise associates)	15 clock hours of supervision training, one-time
Keep certificates	Through at least the audit period
Deadline trap	Don't let it lapse. Practicing on an expired credential is a violation

Rhode Island

	Rhode Island (MHC)
Renewal	Every 2 years; cycle runs July 1 to July 1
CE required	40 credits per 2-year cycle
Format rules	At least 20 must be Category I, which in practice means ordinary courses, workshops, and web-based programs. Category II is the unusual stuff: publishing, teaching a semester course, holding national office.
Ethics & law	No separate mandate
Approved supervisor (if you supervise associates)	Check RI rules if you supervise
Keep certificates	4 years; random audits
Deadline trap	Renew before the late-fee date (about a month before the cycle ends)

Licensed in both? Courses from National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) Approved Continuing Education Providers (ACEP) are widely accepted in both states. A course completed after a new RI cycle starts counts toward that cycle and your current Washington window.

Timing

Washington counts CE in a rolling 2-year window ending at each renewal, so self-study just before a window opens can miss it by days. If your renewal was ever off-cycle, call DOH to confirm how your window is anchored.
Rhode Island has fixed cycles; credits used for one renewal can't be reused for the next.
In both, record the completion date, not just the year, and check which window or cycle each course lands in.
About 1.5 to 2 hours a month covers either state (or both, with courses that count in both) with no year-end scramble. Do the Washington mandates (ethics, boundaries) early.

CE log

One row per course. File each certificate in a folder by year.

Download: ce-log.csv

Completed	Course	Provider	Hours	Ethics Hours	Mandate Satisfied	Certificate Filed
2026-02-12	Example: Law & Ethics of Roles and Boundaries	Provider	2	0	WA roles & boundaries; RI Category I	✓

Time-off log

One row per practice day off: a 3-day trip is three rows. It helps you plan next year, notice when you haven't had a break in months, and ground any income projection that assumes weeks off.

Download: time-off-log.csv

date	type	who	description	notes
2026-07-14	vacation		Family beach trip
2026-09-02	sick	self

type = vacation / sick / holiday / personal. who only for sick days (self, or a family member).

Business mileage log

Log business drives (a networking event, a colleague lunch, the post office for a referral mail-out) the same day. The IRS expects a contemporaneous record, and it's nearly impossible to rebuild at tax time.

Download: mileage-log.csv

Date	Vehicle	From	To	Miles	Business Purpose	Rate	Deduction
2026-05-05	Car	Home	Coffee shop	6.2	Dropped referral cards	IRS rate for the year

Check the IRS standard mileage rate each January.