Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The Committee may disallow
any continuing education contact hours claimed for continuing education credit that are not relevant to the
practice of alcohol and drug counseling in the State of New Jersey.
(b) The following continuing education courses and programs shall be deemed
automatically approved, as long as the courses or programs fall within the content areas set forth in (d)
below:
1. Courses and programs approved by a regionally accredited
institution of higher learning; the APCBNJ or any other ICRC member board; NAADAC, the Association for
Addiction Professionals; American Society on Addiction Medicine; National Board of Certified Counselors; the
American Counseling Association; the American Psychological Association; the American Psychiatric
Association; the National Association of Social Workers; the American Association for Marriage and Family
Therapy; the National Council on Compulsive Gambling; and the American Compulsive Gambling Counselor
Certification Board;
2. Teaching a course or program in the
related content areas set forth in (d) below;
3. Completing
coursework in the content areas set forth in (d) below;
4.
Completing a distance learning course or program approved by one of the organizations listed in (b)1 above;
and
5. Being the primary author of a peer reviewed article
published in a refereed professional journal or publication.
(c) If a licensee or certificate holder attends a course or program that
has not been approved by any of the organizations listed in (b)1 above, and the applicant seeks approval for
continuing education, the applicant may submit the course or program to the Committee for approval prior to
the biennial renewal date.
(d) The following are acceptable
course and program content areas for continuing education as long as the licensee or certificate holder
distributes his or her contact hours among the following content areas:
1.
Counseling theory and practice, which includes the study of basic theories, principles and techniques of
counseling and their application to professional counseling settings;
2. The helping relationship, which includes studies that provide a broad
understanding of philosophic bases of helping processes, basic and advanced helping skills, consultation
theories and their applications, client and helper self-understanding and self-development, and facilitation
or consultee change;
3. Human growth and development and
maladaptive behavior, which includes studies that provide a broad understanding of the nature and needs of
individuals at all developmental levels, normal and abnormal behavior, personality theory, life-span theory,
and learning theory within cultural contexts;
4. Lifestyle and
career development, which includes studies that provide a broad understanding of career development theories,
occupational and educational information sources and systems, career and leisure counseling, guidance and
education, lifestyle and career decision-making, career development program planning, resources, and career
option identification;
5. Group dynamics, processes, counseling
and consulting, which includes studies that provide a broad understanding of group development dynamics,
group counseling theories, group leadership styles, basic and advanced group counseling methods and skills,
and other group approaches;
6. Assessment of individuals, which
includes studies that provide a broad understanding of group and individual educational and psychometric
theories and approaches to assessment, data and information gathering methods, validity and reliability,
psychometric statistics, factors that influence assessment, use of assessment results in helping process and
the specific ability to administer and interpret tests and inventories to assess abilities, interests, and
identify career options;
7. Social and cultural foundations,
which include studies that provide a broad understanding of societal changes and trends, human roles,
societal subgroups, social mores and interaction patterns, multicultural and pluralistic trends, differing
lifestyles, and major societal concerns including stress, person abuse, substance abuse, discrimination and
methods of alleviating these concerns;
8. Research and
evaluation, which include studies that provide a broad understanding of types of research, basic statistics,
research-report development, research implementation, program evaluation, needs assessment, publication of
research information and ethical and legal considerations;
9. The
counseling profession, which includes studies that provide a broad understanding of professional roles and
functions, professional goals and objectives, clinical supervision, professional organizations and
associations, professional history and trends, ethical and legal standards, professional preparation
standards and professional credentialing;
10. Physiology,
pharmacology, neurobiology related to substance use, abuse, dependency, chemical and behavioral addictions,
genetics, chemotherapies used in treating chemical and behavioral addictions as well as mental illness and
dual diagnosis;
11. Spirituality and religious issues as they
relate to the client pre and post treatment, during the treatment process, religious and belief systems as
they impact upon the treatment and recovery process, understanding and assessing clinical aspects of
spirituality (both theistic and non-theistic approaches to spirituality); and
12. Prevention and education issues related to substance abuse which will
include the six domains of prevention: program coordination; education and training; community organization;
public policy; and planning and evaluation.
(e) A
course or program in the subject area of social and cultural competence for the purpose of fulfilling the
three contact hours of continuing education requirement shall be obtained consistent with (b) above or shall
be subject to the approval of the Committee. A course or program in the subject area approved by the Board of
Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners, the Board of Social Work Examiners or the Professional Counselor
Examiners Committee shall be deemed acceptable by the Committee.
