The Board of Behavioral Health Examiners certifies counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers and substance abuse counselors. Behavioral health professionals can obtain certification by demonstrating competence in three areas: education, supervised work experience and examination.

In the past, the Board experienced serious delays in providing certification in a timely manner. In response, the Board made a number of significant changes in 2000 to decrease processing times. As a result of these changes, the Board currently has no backlogs in processing applications.

Applications are processed in the order they are received. An administrative review is conducted to determine whether an applicant has provided all the information necessary for certification. If an applicant has complied with all certification requirements, the application is scheduled for immediate review by the Credentialing Committee. The Credentialing Committee meets once each month for the substantive review of applications. If all required certification elements have been met, the application is scheduled for final review by the Board, which meets once each month.

The actual time needed to process an application depends on whether it is complete when submitted to the Board. Current processing times for complete applications average 60-90 days. Processing times for deficient applications vary according to the time needed for the applicant to obtain the necessary information and establish that all certification elements have been met. Again, the Board currently has no backlogs in processing applications so deficient applications are processed as soon as the application is complete.

Although processing delays due to deficient applications are not within the Board’s control, Board staff make every effort to help professionals complete their applications as quickly as possible. In addition, the Board has developed a number of guides to help professionals understand certification requirements before they submit their applications. These guides have made the credentialing process much easier and more understandable for professionals. Application guides and other helpful information can be found on the Board’s website at http://aspin.asu.edu/partners.

The Board is committed to helping professionals obtain certification in a timely manner and will continue to partner with working professionals to make the credentialing process easier and faster. The Board welcomes input and suggestions from the professionals it serves. Please call us at 602-542-1864 with your comments regarding Board services or e-mail your comments to Behavioral_Health@pop.state.az.us.