Washington didn't invent suicide-prevention CE, but it set the template most states copy: a substantial block of hours, recurring on a multi-year clock, drawn from a board-approved list. If you understand how Washington does it, you can read almost any other state's version. Behavioral-health clinicians are the most commonly covered, though some states reach physicians and nurses too.
Here's how several states structure it, with the actual hours.
Washington: the 6-hour standard
Washington applies suicide training across professions on a six-year cycle. Psychologists owe 6 hours of state-approved suicide prevention training every six years. Clinical social workers owe a 6-hour course in suicide assessment, treatment, and management every six years, counting toward their 36 biennial hours. Licensed counselors face the same 6-hour, every-six-years requirement, selected from the Department's model list. The consistency is deliberate — Washington built one standard and applied it broadly. The psychologist details sit in Washington psychologist CE, alongside the state's health-equity hours.
California: one-time, but heavy
California front-loads it. Both the Board of Behavioral Sciences (for LMFTs and LPCCs) and the Board of Psychology require a one-time 6-hour course in suicide risk assessment and intervention for licensees renewing or reactivating after certain dates. Six hours, once. The LMFT version is in California LMFTs and the law & ethics hours, and the psychologist version is bundled into the psychologist CE overview. Because it's one-time, established California clinicians may have already cleared it — but it's a hard gate for anyone newly renewing.
Connecticut: veterans-focused, recurring
Connecticut takes a narrower angle. Rather than a general suicide course, it requires content on mental health conditions common to veterans — including PTSD screening, depression, grief, and suicide risk and prevention. Psychologists owe at least 2 such hours once every six years; professional counselors owe at least 2 contact hours on the same topic on the same six-year cadence. It's a smaller block aimed at a specific population, and it lives inside Connecticut's annual renewal structure, which has its own quirks covered in Connecticut's annual-renewal trap.
Kentucky: tied to initial licensure
Kentucky requires nurses to complete a one-time 2-hour suicide prevention course within three years of initial Kentucky licensure. It's a smaller, front-loaded version aimed at new licensees rather than a recurring obligation. That "within X years of licensure" framing is common for nursing requirements and easy to overlook once you're past your first cycle.
Reading the pattern
Three variables define every suicide-CE rule: how many hours, how often, and from which approved list. Washington is 6 hours every 6 years from a model list. California is 6 hours, once. Connecticut is 2 hours every 6 years, veterans-focused. Once you know those three values for your state, you know your obligation. The recurring-versus-one-time split is the same one we unpack in one-time vs recurring mandates — get it wrong and you either over-buy or fall short.
Suicide content frequently sits next to ethics and law hours in behavioral-health requirements — see ethics hours almost everyone shares — and next to cultural and equity content. If your board mandates suicide training, scan for those neighbors too.
Multistate clinicians
A California one-time course won't satisfy Washington's recurring requirement. If you're licensed in both, you track them separately — the logic is in a plan for each license. The Social Work Compact won't change this soon, since it's not issuing licenses yet.
For official wording, the Washington Department of Health psychologist CE page shows how the model-list structure reads. Find your specifics on psychologist CE by state or social worker CE by state.
White Glove CME pins down your three variables — hours, frequency, approved list — and confirms whether you've already cleared a one-time requirement, for $99 per license renewal. We plan; we don't grant credit. Tell us your state and license and we'll sort it.
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