CBT Training for Therapists: Hours, CE Credit, Cost, and Credential

Course	Provider	Format	Hours
Foundations certificate	Beck Institute	On-demand or live, then an assessment	8-16 training hours per on-demand course; four courses
BICBT-CC	Beck Institute	Courses, a supervision term, and a work sample	One supervision term after the courses; 1-2 years on average
PESI CBT Certification Course	PESI	On-demand	Up to 29 CE hours
A-CBT application	Academy of CBT	Application and work-sample review	40 hours you document, not hours they teach

The same four purchases, scored on credit, price, and the name you can use after.

Course	CE credit	Cost	Leads to
Foundations certificate	Praxis credits; confirm your board	$100 to register, plus each course	Foundations certificate, not BICBT-CC
BICBT-CC	Praxis credits on the trainings	$300 work sample; supervision $1,000-$3,000 a term	Beck Institute CBT Certified Clinician
PESI CBT Certification Course	29.0 counselor hours; not NBCC	$999.99	Evergreen CBT-C application, not the credential
A-CBT application	Not a CE course	$450 to apply; $175 a year to renew	A-CBT Certified Member

Prices and plans were read on October 8, 2026. Educational only; confirm the current price before you buy.

How to read a row

Price CBT training for therapists on the last column, not on the word certificate. A certificate can mean you finished a course. A designation can mean a second body reviewed a work sample. Those are not the same line on a CV.

Use the first table when you are choosing how you will spend the hours. Use the second when you are choosing what you will be allowed to call yourself, and what you will pay to get there. If a cell says confirm your board, that cell is not a yes.

CBT courses for clinicians also split on who owns the credential. The PESI credit page states that Evergreen Certifications is owned by PESI, Inc. The Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies is a separate body. Beck Institute is a separate body. Do not treat three logos as three names for one purchase.

What each path asks of you

Foundations certificate

• Course: Certificate in Theoretical Foundations of CBT

• Provider: Beck Institute

• Format: On-demand or live coursework, then a knowledge assessment. The certification page lists no eligibility bar for this phase.

• Hours: Four required courses: Basics of CBT: Essentials I, CBT for Depression, CBT for Anxiety, and CBT for Personality Disorders. The FAQ says on-demand courses run 8-16 training hours each, over 4-8 weeks. Live trainings run 1-3 days. Do not add those ranges into a total the page does not print.

• CE credit: The continuing education page says Beck Institute trainings receive credits through Praxis Continuing Education and Training. That sentence does not name your board. Confirm the approval list before you count the hours.

• Cost: $100 to register. The certification page says that fee does not include the coursework or the knowledge assessment fee. The FAQ lists on-demand courses at $350-$590, live trainings at $300-$900, and a $200 knowledge exam fee. Discounts are not in those figures.

• Leads to: The Certificate in Theoretical Foundations of CBT. Not Beck Institute CBT Certified Clinician.

Price the four courses before you pay the $100. If the caseload is youth, Beck lists a separate youth designation. Do not assume the adult course list covers it.

BICBT-CC

• Course: Beck Institute CBT Certified Clinician (BICBT-CC)

• Provider: Beck Institute

• Format: On the ordinary route, finish phase one, then CBT in Practice: Essentials II, a supervision term, and a work sample. The experienced-clinician bypass removes the phase one coursework and the supervision requirement. It still requires Essentials II and a passing work sample.

• Hours: On the ordinary route, the same coursework range as the foundations certificate is followed by one supervision term. The experienced-clinician bypass removes the phase one supervision requirement. The FAQ estimates 1-2 years on average once you are eligible for the clinical phase.

• CE credit: The same Praxis path for the trainings. The continuing education page does not say the supervision term carries CE credit. Do not count it until a page says it does.

• Cost: The fees above, plus a $300 work sample. On the ordinary route, add supervision at $1,000-$3,000 a term. The experienced-clinician bypass removes that supervision requirement. The FAQ says those figures exclude discounts.

• Leads to: The designation Beck Institute CBT Certified Clinician.

The certification page requires a terminal degree in a behavioral or mental health field, an independent license where your locale requires one, and 2,000 supervised clinical hours. Applicants in the United States and Canada must have that license documentation and liability insurance. The work sample is a session recording plus a case write-up and a cognitive conceptualization diagram. Each recording must score at least 22 on the Cognitive Therapy Rating Scale-Revised.

If you have more than 10 years providing CBT as a fully licensed clinician, the certification page offers a bypass. A score of 80% or above on the knowledge exam can stand in for Basics of CBT: Essentials I, CBT for Depression, CBT for Anxiety, and CBT for Personality Disorders. Passing that exam also removes the phase one supervision requirement. You still complete Essentials II and a passing work sample. You request the bypass when you register. Staff confirm it. You do not grant it to yourself.

PESI CBT Certification Course

• Course: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Certification Course

• Provider: PESI. The sales page features Leslie Sokol, PhD.

• Format: On-demand. The sales page says you keep unlimited access to the videos and materials.

• Hours: Up to 29 CE hours on the sales page. The credit page says the counselor self-study is 29.0 clock hours. Other license lines on that page are not all 29. Illinois counselors are listed at 28.5. New York counselors are listed at 35.0. Read your line.

• CE credit: Not offered for NBCC credit. The credit page tells you to save the outline and the completion certificate and to contact your state board for filing rules. A marketing line that says accredited is not your board’s answer.

• Cost: $999.99. The sales page also prints a $1,506.95 value line. Pay the price on the register button, not the value line. The sales page says two case consultations are included at no additional cost, and that the CBT-C certification fee is free with that purchase. It also says professional standards apply, and that no other coupon applies.

• Leads to: An application toward Evergreen Certified CBT Clinician (CBT-C). Not the credential by purchase alone.

Evergreen’s own standards, not the sales page, set the credential. You need a master’s degree and an independent license in a profession that list names. You need at least 28 hours of continuing education: 6 in theoretical foundations and 22 in clinical application. You need two case consultations with an Evergreen-approved consultant, completed within 2 years of the education hours, with an overall score of 3 or 4 in each category. You submit the license, the certificates, a signed application, and evidence of the consultations. The standards still list payment of a certification application fee. Ask Evergreen which fee the PESI purchase waives before you treat it as paid. The credential, if granted, runs 3 years. Renewal takes 18 CE hours related to CBT and a renewal fee. The standards say certification does not imply endorsement of clinical competency, and that you review your own scope of practice.

A-CBT application

• Course: Certification application

• Provider: Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies

• Format: Application and work-sample review. This row does not teach the 40 hours.

• Hours: You document a minimum of 40 hours of education in cognitive therapy. The certification page says the format can be lecture, didactic, online, or clinical supervision, and that the training must have focused on cognitive interventions and cognitions.

• CE credit: Not a CE course. Hours you already earned stay on the certificates you already hold.

• Cost: $450 to apply. Part I is reviewed in 2-4 weeks. The page does not list a separate Part II fee. Renewal is $175 a year plus processing fees. The certification policy page says certification fees are nonrefundable. Read that before you pay.

• Leads to: Certified Member of the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies, after the work sample is approved.

You need a terminal degree and a license for independent practice, or alternative credentials if licensing is not available where you practice. You need malpractice insurance where it is required. You need at least one year using cognitive therapy with a minimum of ten individual patients. Part II is an audio file and a case write-up. The page points to the CTRS and the CRRS as the rating scales. Part III says to expect scores in 4-8 weeks. The page also says the process is about 6-12 weeks, depending on how fast you submit the audio and the write-up.

If you do not yet have the 40 hours, this row is a later purchase. It does not replace the course you still need to take.

If the hour is not adult CBT

The four rows above are CBT training for therapists who see adults. They do not sequence a child trauma narrative.

If you still need the model before you spend the money, start with CBT basics for therapists. A certificate does not pick the intervention for Tuesday.

If the next hour needs paper the client can hold, use the CBT worksheets pack. The worksheet is the page in the room. It is not the course.

If the client is a child, a caregiver is in the room, and the work is a trauma narrative, price that protocol on the TF-CBT guide. Keep it off this comparison.

Download the professional development plan

Write the CBT training for therapists course you chose on one line: the focus, the one thing you will try, and the hours you will log. A certificate in a folder is not that line.

References

• Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. (n.d.). Your path to Beck Institute CBT certified clinician.
• Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. (n.d.). Frequently asked questions.
• Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. (n.d.). Continuing education.
• PESI, Inc. (n.d.). Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) certification course.
• PESI, Inc. (n.d.). Credit information for the CBT certification course.
• Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies. (n.d.). Application criteria for CBT certification.
• Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies. (n.d.). Certification policy.
• Evergreen Certifications. (n.d.). Evergreen certified CBT clinician (CBT-C) certification standards.