We get lots of questions! And honestly, we enjoy answering most of them. We know that most of the answers we’re able to offer provide clarity about the testing process and reduce anxiety.
Here are five of the questions we receive most often related to exam prep. We’re happy to help with your exam process, and hope you find the information here helpful!
1. Will you ever have a program for the National MFT Exam, ASWB Clinical Exam, EPPP, NCE, or NCMHCE?
We’re constantly keeping an eye on the world of licensing exams in mental health care, and do plan to expand our program lineup in the years ahead. At the same time, we’re a small team, and we want to make sure that any new programs we create are up to the quality and effectiveness standards of our existing programs. That’s a pretty high bar.
For each exam listed in that question, we’re considering it as a possible future project.
2. What’s the passing score for my actual exam?
For licensing exams, please see our page that’s all about this: Passing scores on BBS exams.
For our CE courses, you need to complete the quiz at the end of the course with a score of 80% or higher.
3. Can one program suffice for both California LMFT and LPCC Law & Ethics?
With some important caveats, yes. While most of the legal stuff (other than scope of practice) is the same between the two professions, there are a number of significant differences between the professions’ codes of ethics. That’s what makes the exams different, and why our programs to prepare folks for the two exams are different.
However, most folks pursuing dual licensure as an LPCC and LMFT in California don’t actually need two different prep programs. We’ve had a lot of customers who passed both exams by using one Law and Ethics Exam prep program (more commonly, people do the MFT exam prep first) and then carefully studying the codes of ethics side-by-side to understand the differences before attempting the other test.
4. What’s the definition of an elder in California?
There’s been some incorrect information floating around about this since 2022. The short answer is this: For the purposes of mandated reporting of elder abuse in California, an elder is anyone 65 years old or older who is residing in the state.
Here’s the longer answer: On January 1, 2022, the previous year's Assembly Bill 135 changed the definition of an elder for some purposes related to Adult Protective Services functioning. However, that bill did not change the definition for abuse reporting purposes – which is the definition that clinicians tend to care about. You can see that definition yourself here, or in fuller context here.
5. Can I lose hours once I’m in the Clinical Exam process?
As long as you remain active in the Clinical Exam process, your hours are locked in and you will not lose any, even if it takes you multiple attempts to pass your clinical exam. If more than a year goes by between your approval to take a clinical exam, or if more than a year goes by between your clinical exam attempts, the BBS will consider your license application to be abandoned. In that situation, you’ll need to reapply for clinical exam eligibility, and any hours of experience that are more than six years old will not count. (There’s a small exception for MFTs, who can count up to 500 client contact hours from practicum forever.)
