How to Become a Continuing Education Provider for Mental Health Professionals

Making the decision to become a continuing education (CE) provider is no small step. And we’re well aware that any new or unknown process can bring up feelings of uncertainty. 

That’s why we’ve created a straightforward and easy process for professionals to begin their continuing education careers. We know your hands are full running your practice, providing care, and staying on top of your own continuing education. 

We’ll walk you through, step by step, how to fill out and submit your co-sponsorship application so that you can offer CE credits for your first continuing education program.

How to Apply to Become a CE Provider through The CE Company

You only need two pieces of information to begin your co-sponsorship application: the instructor and the program. If you are the instructor of the program, make sure you have on hand your resume and a short, descriptive bio. If you don’t have a resume handy, you can also use your LinkedIn profile.

Create an Account

You can create a new account by visiting thececompany.com/register and filling out your name, email address, and password of your choice. We’ll also ask you a few questions regarding your organization, how you found us and what topics you’re most interested in.

Before you start filling out any information, it’s important to know that there are two primary types of account users: instructors and account holders. An account holder and an instructor can be the same person. You can also have multiple instructors listed under one account. 

An instructor needs to have demonstrated expertise in the program content in order to be approved for co-sponsorship and offer CE credits for a program. 

An account holder does not need to have a background in mental health and is responsible for participant approval, administration tasks, and payment. 

Create an Instructor Profile

The first information you’ll need to provide is about the instructor. The instructor could be yourself, someone within your organization, or a mental health professional in your network who wants to offer CE credits.

You do not need to be a psychologist to be an instructor, but you do need to have ample experience and expertise in your proposed program’s subject matter. For instance, you could have published articles related to the subject, prior teaching experience, or hold an advanced degree in psychology or related mental health field.

Using our software, you will only need to enter your instructor information into your account once. After an instructor’s information has been added, when you apply for a new program with the same instructor, you will be able to select that instructor without having to enter their information again.

Create a New Program 

This includes all of the required information needed to offer your program for CE credits. You can offer a live webinar or seminar, recorded webinar, or online course. 

According to the APA, you don’t need to be a psychologist to offer a program for CE credits. However, you need to have demonstrated expertise or experience in the program topic and the information provided needs to be at a postgraduate or post-doctorate level. Alternatives to a master’s degree or doctorate include clinical experience, prior teaching experience, references, and publications on relevant topics. 

Each proposed program requires the same information: 

Instructor

You can select the instructor profile you’ve already created or add a new instructor.

Title

Make sure your title is descriptive so that participants know what to expect from your program. 

Narrative

The narrative needs to connect the learning objectives and the references to fluidly describe the purpose of the program. A great narrative will answer questions about what you will include in your program and what your participants will take away after completing your program.

The easiest way to answer these questions is by expanding on the learning objectives and their relevance to the references. Expect to use the same or similar narrative as a description of the program in any promotional materials including the registration page. 

Level

When deciding what level your program will be offered to, it is important to ask who would benefit the most from the education provided in this program. 

Programs that are an introduction to a topic are for psychologists that have little to no experience on background on a specific topic or skill. Within an introductory program, a foundation of knowledge will be created where participants will expect to learn about the theoretical principles, methods, perspectives, and background of the skill or topic. 

A program that is created for intermediate practitioners should build upon introductory knowledge. Participants should expect to dive deeper into the topic or skill by understanding the application and limitations associated within its context. 

Programs for advanced practitioners should continue to build upon already established knowledge. Participants should expect to refine their understanding of the skill or topic through diverse applications and challenging concepts. 

Live or Distance Learning?

Both live seminars and live webinars offer participants live interaction with the instructor during the program. Live seminars allow you to educate within a specific geographical area, whereas live webinars can provide education for people all over the world.

Online courses, recorded audio/video, and books are self-paced and require methods to ensure full attendance and test comprehension before issuing CE certificates. Online courses also allow participants to gain continuing education on their own time, year-round, which can generate consistent passive income for busy program providers. 

Registration Page and/or Promotional Material(s)

We strongly recommend that your program has a registration page hosted on an external website. Many program providers use their own website or a third-party tool such as Eventbrite. 

If you do not have an online registration page, you may use digital or printed promotional materials to communicate your program to others. For example, you could provide printed handouts with your email to your colleagues asking them to contact you to register. 

Citations

Every program requires at least three relevant, evidence-based citations published within the last 10 years in APA format. Here are the types of references that should be utilized based on the type of program being offered:

Type #1: Focuses on psychological assessment and/or interventions. This program format should be supported by references that contain empirical, peer-reviewed scientific literature. 

Type #2: Focuses on ethical, legal, regulatory, or statutory policies, guidelines, and/or standards that would impact psychological education, research, and/or practice. References for this type of program need to be linked to the program content and provide evidence for any ethical concerns or considerations. It is important to note that the APA ethics code is not considered to be a relevant source for this type of program. 

Type #3: Focuses on psychological education, research, and/or practice that is not an assessment and/or intervention. References should provide support that the content of the program has been established with research procedures and scientific analysis. 

Credits Requested

This must be the same as the number of instructional hours you or an instructor will provide through the program. 

Learning Objectives

Create one learning objective per instructional hour. Learning objectives should clearly define what the participant will know or be able to do as a result of having attended that hour of programming.

When creating learning objectives some verbs to avoid using are know, understand, learn, appreciate, become aware of, or become familiar with. Instead, use verbs such as list, recite, describe, identify, list, demonstrate, analyze, utilize, assess, or critique. 

At the end of the program, your participants will be asked if they learned each of your objectives in an evaluation. 

Submit Your Program

We understand that program creation takes time and planning. If you do not have all of the information available or are still in the decision-making process, that’s ok. You can save your work and return to complete the form at any time. Submit your program when you are ready for it to be reviewed.

Cosponsorship Application Review

Our team reviews the instructor’s information and the program’s information together. 

We evaluate instructors based on their qualifications and expertise related to the program’s topic. Approval is not based on an instructor's resume alone. Whether or not you’re approved is related to your direct experience with the program topic you’d like to offer. If you are denied co-sponsorship for a program, you can continue to submit your same instructor profile, but we recommend that you propose a different program topic that’s more suited to your expertise. 

What to Do After Your Application Is Approved

After your co-sponsorship application is approved, your program will be updated and you will receive an email from us with specific information about the next steps. Included within the email is a link to your unique certificate request form where participants can add their information after your program.

You will also need to add our approval statement to your registration page and promotional materials:

The CE Company is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The CE Company maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Here’s what it means. Because we’re an approved sponsor of the APA, we’ll work with you to meet their standards for offering CE credits. 

We want to help first-time continuing education providers be able to offer CE credits. That’s why we want to make the process as straightforward as possible. 

Still thinking about why you should offer CE credits? Learn about the top five benefits of becoming a CE provider.