Clinical Supervision Guides›Supervisor CE Requirements
Last updated: October 2026
California supervisors carry a continuing education duty of their own, separate from the 36 hours every licensee completes to renew a license. It applies only to supervisors licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS), it can be met with activities other than courses, and it runs on the supervisor's own renewal period. For supervisors of MFT trainees and AMFTs the rule is in Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations, section 1834; section 1871 sets the matching rule for supervisors of ASWs and section 1821.3 for supervisors of APCCs.
What Does the BBS Require of Supervisors Each Renewal Period?
Supervisors complete a minimum of six hours of continuing professional development in supervision during each renewal period that follows their initial training, for as long as they provide supervision (16 CCR 1834(c)). The Board's Summary of Supervisor Qualifications puts it as six hours "during each renewal cycle that follows their initial supervisor training." A BBS license renews every two years, so in practice the requirement is six hours every two years.
The six hours come on top of the initial training. A licensee who starts supervising in California for the first time takes 15 hours of supervision training, within two years before or 60 days after starting, or within four years before for graduate-level coursework, and the six hours apply in each renewal period after that. How to Become a Clinical Supervisor in California covers the 15 hours and the topics they must include.
Two other situations follow their own rules. A supervisor who has not supervised for the past two years takes six hours of supervision training within 60 days of resuming (16 CCR 1834(b)), and a break of less than two years needs no new course. Supervisors who were already supervising on January 1, 2022 never had to take the 15 hours, but the Board's 2021 guidance on the new rules applies the six hours to them in every renewal period that falls on or after that date.
Who Is Exempt from the Six Hours?
Three groups are exempt. Holders of a valid and active approved supervisor certification from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work (ABECSW), the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) or the Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE) meet all three training requirements through the certification, and the Board also accepts a certification from another entity whose requirements meet or exceed one of those (16 CCR 1834(d)). Licensed psychologists and board-certified psychiatrists who supervise BBS registrants are outside the rule, which applies to persons licensed by the BBS, and the Board strongly encourages them to complete supervision training anyway.
The certification counts only while it is valid and active, and each certifying body sets its own renewal terms, which CAMFT Certified vs. AAMFT Approved Supervisor compares. A psychologist who is also a primary supervisor for psychology trainees or psychological associates answers to a separate Board of Psychology rule, six hours of supervision coursework every two years (16 CCR 1387.1(b)), and our guide to psychologists as clinical supervisors explains how the two boards' rules fit together.
What Counts Toward the Six Hours?
Any of five activities, alone or combined, counts toward the six hours (16 CCR 1834(c)).
| Activity | What qualifies | Proof to keep | Also counts toward the 36 CE hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Supervision training or coursework | Training specific to the topic of supervision from a government agency or an acceptable continuing education provider | Certificate of completion | Yes, when the provider is an acceptable CE provider |
| 2. Teaching | Teaching a supervision course of the kind described in activity 1 | A record from the provider showing the course and dates | Yes, when taught for a Board-accepted CE provider: the same credit as attending, each course once per renewal period, and no more than 18 teaching hours per renewal period |
| 3. Published research | Research directly focused on supervision and published professionally, such as quantitative or qualitative studies, literature reviews, peer-reviewed articles or books and monographs; opinion papers, editorials and blogs do not count | A copy or full citation of the publication | No |
| 4. Mentoring or consultation | Collaboration with another licensee who is also a board-qualified supervisor | A log signed by both of you (required by the regulation) | No |
| 5. Supervisor peer discussion group | Attendance at a peer group of licensees who are board-qualified supervisors | A letter or certificate from the group leader or facilitator (required by the regulation) | No |
The regulation names the proof only for mentoring and peer groups. For the other activities, keep whatever shows completion, such as a certificate, a provider's confirmation or the publication itself. The time you spend supervising your own supervisees is not on the list, and the pending proposal to credit it as CE would not change that.
Do the Six Hours Count Toward Your 36 CE Hours?
Courses you take or teach for an acceptable CE provider can count toward both; published research, mentoring and peer groups count only toward the six. LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and LEPs complete 36 hours of continuing education in each renewal period, including six hours of law and ethics (BBS continuing education requirements; BPC 4980.54; 16 CCR 1887.1). A supervision course from an acceptable CE provider counts toward the supervision requirement and the license requirement at the same time (16 CCR 1834(c)(1)), so a six-hour supervision course covers the supervision hours and a sixth of the license hours. The Board's 2021 guidance on the supervision rules counted only courses toward the license requirement, and its continuing education page now also gives CE credit for teaching a course for a Board-accepted provider: the same credit as attending, each course once per renewal period, and no more than 18 teaching hours per renewal period.
Law and ethics courses need one extra check. A law and ethics course a supervisor takes to meet the supervisor training requirement counts toward the 36 hours but not toward the six hours of law and ethics (16 CCR 1887.3), so a supervisor still needs a separate law and ethics course for license renewal.
Which Providers Does the Board Accept?
Supervision courses must come from a government agency or a continuing education provider the Board accepts. The Board no longer keeps a list of individual providers and cannot confirm whether a provider's approval is current, so the check falls to you. Its continuing education page names the approval agencies and providers it recognizes:
- Approval agencies: the American Psychological Association, the Association of Social Work Boards, the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, the California Psychological Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of Social Workers and the National Board for Certified Counselors.
- Recognized providers: the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and its California Division, the California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors, the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, the National Association of Social Workers California Chapter, the California Society for Clinical Social Work, the California Association of School Psychologists, the California Psychological Association, the California Counseling Association and the American Counseling Association.
- Schools: postsecondary institutions that meet the Business and Professions Code requirements or hold approval from the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.
Before you pay for a course, confirm two things: that the provider holds one of these approvals, and that the course is about supervision. A general clinical course from an approved provider counts toward the 36 hours but not toward the six.
What Records Should You Keep, and What Does an Audit Check?
Keep the records of your supervisor training, continuing professional development and any approved supervisor certification for seven years after supervision ends, and produce them if the Board asks (BPC 4980.43.5). The Board's 2021 guidance applies the seven years to all of these documents.
The Board audits supervisors who have filed the Supervisor Self-Assessment Report. Its July 2026 enforcement update reported 175 audits since December 2025 to verify the continuing education the regulations require: 145 supervisors passed, 28 failed and 2 were pending, and a supervisor who does not answer the Board's letter fails the audit. The Board's FAQ for supervisors treats a failure to keep or produce these records as unprofessional conduct that may lead to discipline.
The consequences fall on the supervisor. The regulation states that the Board will not deny a supervisee's hours of experience because the supervisor failed to complete the training or continuing professional development (16 CCR 1834(e)). Every other record a supervisor keeps is listed in BBS Supervision Forms for California Supervisors.
Will Supervising Associates Count as CE?
Not yet. The Board has proposed crediting licensees with up to six hours of continuing education per renewal cycle for directly supervising MFT trainees, AMFTs, ASWs and APCCs, at one CE hour for each full hour of supervision. Under the proposal those hours would count toward the 36-hour requirement but not toward law and ethics, and not toward any supervisor training requirement, including the six hours of continuing professional development in supervision. The supervisor would keep the dates and hours of supervision and a copy of each supervisee's signed Supervision Agreement.
The Board approved the second modified text on May 8, 2026, and its September 2026 regulation update listed the proposal as in the Department of Consumer Affairs' final review process. It had not taken effect as of October 2026. A 2026 Board publication, The Power of Guiding Growth, still describes 18 hours, the figure in the December 2025 proposal; the Board's modified text of February 2026 cut it to six.
Where Can You Complete the Six Hours?
A supervision course, live or online, from an accepted provider is the simplest route, and a peer group of board-qualified supervisors can supply hours too. The Sentio MFT program offers the six hours as a $249 online course built around three hours of recorded deliberate practice supervision videos and three hours of live weekly supervisor meetings, and its free supervisor training, given in exchange for supervising two Sentio Counseling Center trainees, carries up to 50 CE credits. The Board accepts CE from schools approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, which include Sentio.
Keep reading
How to Become a Clinical Supervisor in California, who qualifies and the 15-hour training.
15-Hour Clinical Supervision Course in California, how to compare initial training courses.
CAMFT Certified vs. AAMFT Approved Supervisor, the two certifications that replace the six hours.
BBS Supervision Forms for California Supervisors, every form a supervisor signs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours of supervision CE does a California supervisor need?
Supervisors licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences complete at least six hours of continuing professional development in supervision in each renewal period that follows their initial supervisor training, for as long as they supervise. A supervision course from a government agency or an acceptable continuing education provider is the simplest way to meet it.
Do the six hours of supervision CE count toward my 36 CE hours?
A supervision course from an acceptable continuing education provider counts toward both requirements, and so does teaching one for a Board-accepted provider, up to 18 teaching hours per renewal period. Published research, mentoring and peer discussion groups count toward the six supervision hours only.
Do psychologists need the six hours to supervise AMFTs, ASWs or APCCs?
No. The requirement covers supervisors licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences, so licensed psychologists and board-certified psychiatrists are not subject to it, although the Board strongly encourages them to complete supervision training.
Does a CAMFT Certified Supervisor or AAMFT Approved Supervisor credential replace the six hours?
Yes. The Board accepts a valid and active approved supervisor certification from CAMFT, AAMFT, ABECSW or CCE, or from another entity whose requirements meet or exceed one of those, in place of the 15-hour training, the six-hour training on resuming supervision and the six hours each renewal period.
What if I did not supervise during a renewal period?
The six hours apply to renewal periods in which you provide supervision. If you return to supervising after two years or more away, you take six hours of supervision training within 60 days of resuming.
What happens if a supervisor misses the six hours?
The Board audits supervisors and can treat missing records as unprofessional conduct. The Board will not deny a supervisee's hours because the supervisor missed the training or continuing professional development requirements.
Can hours spent supervising associates count as CE?
Not yet. A proposed regulation would credit up to six hours of continuing education per renewal cycle for directly supervising trainees and associates, but it was still pending in October 2026, and those hours would not count toward the six hours of supervision development.
References
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (n.d.). Continuing education. Retrieved October 27, 2026, from https://www.bbs.ca.gov/licensees/cont_ed.html
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2024). Summary of supervisor qualifications (rev. 09/2024). https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/supervisor_qualifications.pdf
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2026). Important answers to frequently asked questions for supervisors (new 02/2026). https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/publications/faqs_for_supervisors.pdf
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2021). Supervision-related regulation changes for individuals pursuing LMFT, LCSW or LPCC licensure and supervisors. https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/law_changes_2022/supervision_reg_changes.pdf
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2026, July 28). Enforcement update [Memorandum to Board members, agenda item 19, August 2026 Board meeting]. https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/agen_notice/2026/20260813-14_agenda_item19.pdf
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2026, September 9). Regulation update [Memorandum, Policy and Advocacy Committee meeting of September 17, 2026, item 6]. https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/agen_notice/2026/20260917_pac_material_item6.pdf
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2026). Second modified text: Continuing education; law and ethics exam; renewal applications (Board approved May 8, 2026). https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/forms/ce_snt.pdf
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2026). The power of guiding growth: The benefits of supervising pre-licensed therapists (PDE_26-082). https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/publications/supervise_prelicensed_therapist.pdf
California Business and Professions Code § 4980.43.5. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=4980.43.5
Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 1834. https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I0192CC624C8211EC89E5000D3A7C4BC3
Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 1887.3. https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I2E8BEF901D2D11EDA157BC7AC74157CE
Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 1387.1 (Board of Psychology). https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/IE7EE50944C8111EC89E5000D3A7C4BC3
