4 Reasons Why Getting CE Is Hard for Mental Health Professionals (Even Though It Shouldn’t Be)

You’d think that in a field literally built around personal growth, reflection, and “meeting people where they’re at,” continuing education for mental health professionals would be… you know, easy to access, relevant, and helpful.

Spoiler alert: it’s not.

If you’ve ever found yourself doom-scrolling through CE websites at midnight trying to find anything that isn’t either (a) painfully boring or (b) way outside your budget, you’re not alone. At The Counselor Edge, we’ve talked to a lot of early-career counselors, and the consensus is clear: you want to keep learning—but the system makes it weirdly hard.

Here are four reasons why getting CE is way more complicated than it has any right to be:

1. You Have No Idea Where to Start (and Google Isn’t Helping)

Sure, CE options are “everywhere”—but good luck figuring out which ones are worth your time. One minute you’re looking for a trauma-informed training, the next you’re on a sketchy site offering “10 CEUs in 1 Hour” for $7.99 and a promise that it’s “probably legal.” The professional guidance you get? Basically nonexistent. It’s like being handed a compass and dropped in the middle of the clinical desert.

2. Cheap or Free? Might as Well Spin a Wheel

Look, we love a freebie. We give them away all the time. But let’s be honest: not all low-cost CE is created equal. Some are solid, some are… absolutely not. And unless you’ve got a secret decoder ring for deciphering CE quality (you don’t), you’re stuck guessing whether that free ethics webinar is going to enlighten you—or just recycle last year’s APA headlines with Comic Sans slides.

And yet, your license clock is ticking. Fun.

3. It’s Giving “Checklist Energy”

You didn’t get into this field to become a CE scavenger hunter, but here you are—collecting hours like Pokémon cards just to keep your license. And when you finally find something that meets the requirement, it’s either so dry you forget your own name halfway through, or so vague it could apply to literally any profession. (“Enhance client outcomes through relational frameworks”—what does that even mean?!)

4. You’re Doing It Alone, Again

Remember grad school? The endless group chats, the shared trauma of practicum, the camaraderie of burning out together? Yeah, CE after graduation is not that. It’s mostly you, your laptop, and a weird feeling that you’re either doing too much or not enough. You want to grow, but you also want someone to say, “Hey, here’s something that actually makes sense and doesn’t suck.”

We Get It—And We’re Over It, Too.

That’s why The Counselor Edge exists. We’re not here to hand you more fluff. We’re here to build real, valuable, and actually interesting CE experiences that feel like they were made by people who get you. Like, at ACA this year? Over 100 counselors grabbed our free CE course “Telehealth or In-Person Therapy: Who Decides What’s Best?” just by showing up and saying hi. That’s it. No weird hoops. No gimmicks. Just a useful course, for free, because we like you.

And guess what? You don’t have to go to a conference to get the good stuff. Sign up for our newsletter and you’ll get the same kind of perks—freebies, real talk, and CE opportunities that don’t make you want to rip your lanyard in half.

We’re not here to sell you fluff. We’re here to help you learn, grow, and feel a little less alone while doing it.

With love, snark, and better CE,
Dr. O’H🌸 & Dr. Rose🌹– Your Edgy Educators

Hey, want cool free stuff?

Sign up for The Edge newsletter right below this blog. We’re talking exclusive CE freebies, early access to the good stuff, and occasional emails that won’t make you roll your eyes or hit “unsubscribe.” You deserve better CE—and we’ve got it. Go ahead, treat yourself. 🌸🌹