CE Requirements for LMFTs

Below are the CE requirements for LMFTs as of 1/1/2026 in Massachusetts. Requirements may change within any licensure period and it's always best to check the Board of Allied Mental Health website [AMH Board] before completing your renewal for any changes. NEAFAST is not responsible for creating or enforcing LMFT education, licensure or renewal requirements. That is the sole discretion of the Board of Allied Mental Health and Human Services. If you have any questions or problem meeting CE requirements, contact the board directly at [email protected].

All Massachusetts MFT licenses will expire on December 31st of odd numbered years. It is easy, but not automatic, to get your license renewed. For most people, the only significant action you need to take is to be sure that you have fulfilled your continuing education requirement, and to complete the relevant attestation and renewal forms through the Health Profession Licensing Portal.

The Renewal Process:

Sometime in the fall (usually by mid November), the Massachusetts Bureau of Professional Licensing will email licensees to prompt for renewal utilizing the Health Profession Licensing Portal. If this is your first time renewing, instructions for enrolling and using the Licensing System may be found here. You will be asked to attest that you have met all licensure requirements (tax payment, continuing education requirements, etc.) If you have met all the requirements, you should complete the renewal process before December 31 and pay the associated processing fee. You will receive an email stating that your renewal has been approved and you will have the option of printing an updated license via the licensing portal. Massachusetts no longer mails physical licenses to mental health providers upon renewal. 

Understanding the Continuing Education (CE) Requirements in Massachusetts:

You can find the Board of Allied Mental Health and Human Service Professions' CE requirements for LMFTs on the Mass.gov website found here.

Basic Requirement: It is important for your license renewal that you understand and satisfy your continuing education requirements. You are required to complete 30 approved CE credits within each licensing period, which is set by law as 2 years. Licenses always expire at the end of odd numbered years and are renewed as of January 1 of the new year.

Exceptions to 30 hour requirement: If you have not been licensed a full two years, CEUs are prorated. Please use the chart located in the Mass.gov CEU requirements page to determine the number of CEUs you're required to complete. 

Timing of CE Activities: To receive credit for CEs during a licensing cycle, you must begin and complete the approved activity within the renewal period. For the 2026/2027 renewal period, activities must be started on or after 1/1/2026 and completed on or before 12/31/2027.

Partial Credit for Overlapping Programs: If you are in a training program that starts in September, 2025 (for example), and finishes in June, 2026, or any continuing program that begins prior to the expiration date and ends after the renewal date, you can receive credit only for hours attended up until the renewal deadline (12/31/25). To get this partial credit prior to the completion of the activity, you must obtain a written certificate of attendance from the CE sponsor. All hours completed after the renewal date can be counted toward the following renewal cycle.

Approved CE credits are those that you get when you attend an activity provided by the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (AAMFT), the New England Association for Family and Systemic Therapy (NEAFAST), or approved by NEAFAST to offer CEUs in Massachusetts. If a training does not specifically state that it has been approved by NEAFAST to offer CEUs in Massachusetts, please inquire with the sponsor as to whether or not approval is pending. If the sponsor does not apply for CE approval and a clinician would like to use the training toward their 30 required CEUs, the program must be submitted to NEAFAST for retroactive approval. LMFTs cannot claim CE credit toward their license renewal unless the activity is approved/provided by NEAFAST or provided by the AAMFT. If a clinician is audited post-attestation and all non-AAMFT CE programs have not been preapproved or retroactively approved by NEAFAST, the clinician may be subject to discipline by the AMH Board. Approval by any other mental health profession or association (such as social work or mental health counselors) or another state's LMFT association (e.g. Connecticut Association of Marriage and Family Therapy) will not be accepted by the AMH Board. 

Do not assume a program is pre-approved because it comes from a large national entity.  For further clarification on why programs are approved individually rather than by entity, please see this page. 

Pre-certified, approved activities: To verify approval of an activity, see the sponsor's advertising and the certificate of attendance you receive post-training. You will find a statement of its approval by the association (usually listed as NEAFAST), and you will also see a unique NEAFAST certification number for the activity. Certification by another mental health profession will not satisfy your license renewal requirement.

Retroactively certified approved activities: You can get credit for activities you have attended that were not pre-certified by NEAFAST or provided by the AAMFT. If you have already completed a professional mental health training program which has not yet been approved by NEAFAST, and you believe it is relevant to your continuing education as an MFT, you can request credit for attending this activity yourself. To do this, follow THIS LINK for information and to complete a brief application form.

If your request is approved, you will receive back a certificate of completion granting you NEAFAST approved CE credit. If it is denied, you will receive a denial notice.  All decisions are final so please send applications in a timely manner to account for potential denial and use the expedited option if needed. NEAFAST is not responsible for maintaining records for retroactive approvals. All clinicians must ensure they retrain retroactive approval certificates in case of audit by the AMH Board. Once you have the required number of approved CE credits, you can complete your license renewal.

NEAFAST recommends that all clinicians carefully monitor their CE completion and apply for retroactive continuing education approval as soon as a training is completed (if it has not been previously approved) as there is an influx of applications in the last two months of the renewal cycle, which can prohibit NEAFAST's ability to approve all retroactive applications prior to the new cycle starting. 

Retroactive Credit Only: Individual licensees' requests for approval is available retroactively ONLY. We are not permitted to evaluate a program prior to your attending it, unless an application for certification is made by the program sponsor. Therefore, if you attend a program that is not pre-certified by the sponsor directly with NEAFAST, you will not know for sure if you can get credit until after you attend and submit your application. Please do not call or e-mail to ask if you are likely to get credit for a particular activity retroactively. Check the criteria for certifying professional trainings here.

Timing is crucial. You must submit these applications to NEAFAST by November 15 of each renewal year, to insure that you receive a certificate of approval response within time to submit your license renewal to the board prior to license expiration on December 31. Waiting till the last minute can cause very undesirable bottlenecks in the entire CE approval/license renewal system. Please don't wait too long. Also consider that you don't want to receive a denial of 20 CE credits late in December, with only a few days left to scramble for credit. Applications received later than November 15th will be reviewed, but timely approval can't be guaranteed.

Late Approvals: You are required to have completed 30 certified CE hours prior to signing and returning your license renewal form. If your approvals are late, complete your renewal form when you get them, and submit to the board quickly. You can then request that the Allied Board grant you an exception to the deadline. This is not guaranteed, and technically you may be unlicensed for some period of time. Call the Allied Board directly to work this problem out at 617-727-3080 or email [email protected].