75 Free Online Resources for Continuing Education for Mental Health Professionals
(Updated 10/23/21) Are you looking to expand your clinical knowledge or need CEs to renew your license? In-person workshops and seminars are ideal for learning up-to-date practices and the latest research, but the are often expensive and/or require travel. And while there are plenty of online education programs that offer CEs, most charge a fee.
This is a list comprised of over 75 sites that provide free online education, including training courses and webinars, some offering CEs.
Please share this resource for free online education with anyone you think might benefit!
For additional resources for professional development, click here.
Free Online Training Courses and Webinars
- 6-Module DBT Course | An educational course designed for professionals to learn the basic principles for the diagnosis and treatment of borderline personality disorder. There are six 20-minute modules.
- Addiction Treatment Forum: Online Continuing Education Free Training Modules | Trainings on Hepatitis/HIV/AIDS and medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction
- Alison – Mental Health Courses | Free courses on stress management, burnout, and more
- American Institute of Stress | Videos and online courses
- American Society of Addiction Medicine | Webinars
- Anxiety and Depression Association of America | Free monthly webinars. You can access archived webinars. You can also watch a six-part series for professionals on treating anxiety disorders.
- Battered Women’s Justice Project | On-demand webinars on sexual violence prevention and policy
- Brain & Behavior Research Foundation | A variety of webinars. (Sign up for the newsletter to be notified when new webinars are available.)
- CAMH – Mental Health 101 | Basic mental health tutorials
- CDC Train | Over 1,000 public health training opportunities, many offering free CEs. Create an account to access a variety of online courses.
- CE4less: Ethics and Boundary Issues | Free 5-hour course, account registration required, there may be a fee for CEs
- Center for Adolescent Studies – Resilience and Self-Care Basics for Helping Professionals – CAS Online Courses | 1.5-hour online course, registration required, free CEs
- Center for Deployment Psychology: Webinars & Online Courses | Free trainings, CEs for a fee
- Center for Healing Shame – Intro Healing Shame In Couples | 1-hour training video on-demand, no CEs
- Center for Youth Wellness: CYW Learning OnDemand Courses | Training courses on ACEs
- Clinical Provider Training | Online trainings (national provider webinars) offering free CEs (approved by the NBCC)
- Co-Occurring Disorders: A Training Series | Free training modules from the University of South Florida
- DSM-5 Online Training Course | Free course through Relias Learning
- Eating Disorders HOPE | View recorded webinars on topics related to eating disorders
- Free Mental Health Webinars | SocialWork.Career posts a list of free webinars every month
- Free Online Psychology Courses from Top Universities | LearningPath.org provides links to a variety of psychology courses
- Free Racialized Trauma Course | From Cultural Somatics Training & Institute
- FUTURES Without Violence | View recorded webinars on topics relating to violence against women and children.
- Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation: Webinars for Professionals | Online learning on topics related to substance use and behavioral health
- Health eKnowledge | Free online courses on a variety of topics including clinical supervision, substance use, and behavioral health. You must create a free account and login to access the courses.
- Healthy Minds | A public television series on mental health (and ending stigma)
- Honor Our Voices | A learning module that allows you to see domestic violence through the eyes and voices of children, includes a printable guide
- Implicit Bias Module Series | From the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
- Indiana Prevention Resource Center | Webinars and online modules on drug education and treatment. You must register to access the courses. Free CEUs.
- Institute for Creative Mindfulness (thinkific.com) | Several free on-demand courses
- Institute for Research, Education, and Training in Addictions | Register for a free account to access web-based training (webinars and online courses) on addiction and recovery topics. Free CEUs for NAADAC and Social Work.
- International Society for Bipolar Disorders | Free webinars. The site also offers videos and tools for clinicians.
- Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy | IPSRT is an evidence-based treatment for bipolar disorder. With registration, this course offers a free 8-hour online training.
- Just Detention International Webinars | Current and archived webinars on sexual abuse in detention centers, no CEs
- Mad in America Continuing Education | Free and low-cost courses
- Magellan Health E-Learning Center | Professional learning opportunities. Many of the continuing education courses offer free CEs approved by the following organizations: APA, ASWB, NBCC, and NAADAC.
- Maryland Behavioral Health (University of Maryland School of Medicine) – Online Training | Several free courses, some offering CEs. Must register for a (free) account.
- Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Academy | Search for free online education (CE credits) for mental health, primary care, and nursing professionals
- Mental Health America | Recorded webinars on various mental health topics
- Mental Health Professionals’ Network | Australia-based site. Webinars on topics ranging from complicated grief, complex trauma, anxiety, LGBT issues, and more.
- Mental Health Recovery: Wellness Action and Recovery Plan Webinars | On-demand webinars related to WRAP – Wellness and Recovery Action Plans
- Mindful Ecotherapy Center: Archived Courses | Several free courses, including a suicide risk and prevention course. Other courses for a fee.
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction | Learn mindfulness with this free 8-week course
- Minnesota Tobacco Prevention Quitlogix Training | Free online courses offering CE credits, must register for access 🆕
- NAADAC | Webinars on addiction, CEs for a low fee for nonmembers
- National Association for Continuing Education | For medical professionals
- National Center for Healthy Safe Children – Learning Portal | Modules and webinars, along with supporting materials and related resources
- National Center for PTSD | Training materials, online courses, information, and tools for professionals
- National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, & Mental Health | Free webinars and seminars. (You must register for the webinars.) The site also provides free toolkits and other resources.
- National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare | Sign up for free online tutorials. (An access key will be sent via email you register.) CEUs offered for NAADAC professionals.
- The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community: Webinars and Trainings | Recorded webinars, no CEs offered
- The National Child Traumatic Stress Center Network: The Learning Center | Online courses and webinars on childhood trauma. CEs for social workers, counselors, and psychologists
- National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women: Webinars | Several webinar series with slides and handouts, no CEs
- National Council for Behavioral Health | Webinars on various topics related to behavioral health
- National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center: Resource Library | Webinars to support Tribes, Tribal programs, and advocates working on issues of violence against Native women
- National Institute of Mental Health | Multimedia section has a variety of webinars and recorded series
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: Health Professions Education | Videos and CE opportunities
- National LGBT Health Education Center – Learning Resources | Free webinars and learning modules
- National Sexual Violence Resource Center: Online Learning Campus | Both free and certificate courses offered
- Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center | Online trainings, webinars, and other training tools, some trainings offer CEUs
- OMNI Behavioral Health Webinars | Both free and for-a-fee webinars on a variety of topics, some offering CEs
- Partnership to End Addiction: Online Learning | A skill-building (self-paced) course designed to address adolescent substance use
- Pathways to Positive Futures: Research and Training Center | Register for upcoming live webinars or access previous webinars on-demand
- PESI Free Trainings | Free CEs offered for select online courses, email registration is required
- Helping Clients Understand the Traumatized Brain (pesi.com)
- How Couples Stay in Love For a Lifetime (pesi.com)
- The Importance of Differential Diagnosis (pesi.com)
- Janina Fisher on Telehealth Treatment of Addictive Behavior (pesi.com)
- The Problem With Diet Culture (pesi.com)
- Self-Regulation Strategies & Techniques for Children with Autism, ADHD, and Sensory Processing Disorder (pesi.com)
- PsychAlive Webinars | Free and low-cost scheduled and on-demand webinars
- Psycharmor | Free courses on military cultural competence, PTSD, combat stress, and related issues
- Quantum Units Education | Several free CE courses available, account registration required
- SAMHSA – Practitioner Training | Tools, training, and technical assistance to practitioners in the fields of mental health and substance use disorders
- SBIRT for Health and Behavioral Health Professionals: How to Talk to Patients About Substance Use | A 3.5-hour self-paced course on screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment for substance use. Offers free CEs for NAADAC and NBCC (among others).
- SMI Adviser | Free on-demand and lives courses, search catalogue by credit type
- SOAR Works: SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery Online Course | A free 20-hour course with seven comprehensive classes that teaches how to navigate the SSI/SSDI application process with clients with mental illness, who are at risk of homelessness, have a medical impairment, or a co-occurring disorder. CEUs offered for NASW.
- Stanford Center for Continuing Medical Education | Free health and medical courses
- Suicide Prevention Resource Center | Online courses on suicide prevention, assessment, and recovery
- Teaching Tolerance: Professional Development | On-demand webinars
- TF-CBT Web 2.0 | Self-paced, online training course on trauma-focused CBT, $35 fee, 11 contact hours offered
- Uniformed Services University: Center for Deployment Psychology | Self-paced learning courses and webinars, CEs available for a fee
- VHA Train | Register for a free account to access on-demand trainings, some free CEs available for counselors and social workers
- YMSM & LGBT | Archived webinars on topics related to treatment services for the lesbian, gay, and transgender population. You can also access a monthly webinar series held on the 4th Friday of each month. CEs offered
- Zero Suicide | Articles, tools, videos, and webinars
Free Online College Courses
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