Aspira's Website Screenshots - Online CEUs for MFTs, LCSWs, LPCs

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Aspira's Website Screenshots - Online CEUs for MFTs, LCSWs, LPCs

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Aspira Continuing Education - The Hidden Pearl

Navigating the web for online CEUs can be a daunting task.  There are many questions one must ask such as: “Are they approved in my state for my license?”, “Do they offer all the courses I need to renew my license?”, “Can I even find what I am looking for?”, and “Are their rates affordable and reasonable?”

There are many types of professions that require the licensees to obtain continuing education units (CEUs) in order to keep their respective licenses active.  Without the completion of this requirement, one could find themselves having their license revoked.  Each profession and each state has their own rules on how many “CEUs” are expected to be completed in each given renewal period.  Each licensee should be fully aware of the quantity of CEUs needed and the time frame in which to complete them.  This brings the licensee to the question, “Where do I go to get my CEUs?”

The internet has been a viable source for finding all kinds of “stuff”.  It can also be a great source for finding the right CEU provider.  The problem lies in sifting through the number of search results generated by whatever search engine being used.  Just because a website ranks high in the search engine results, doesn’t necessarily mean it is the best option.  Companies are constantly battling for rankings.  There is a company that ranks fairly well for many search terms, but deserves to be highlighted even more.  Aspira Continuing Education offers CEUs for MFT continuing education, Social Work continuing education and Professional Counselor continuing education.  Aspira stands out for many reasons.

First, let’s look at the questions posed in the beginning. “Are they approved in my state for my license?” For the professions of Marriage and Family Therapy, Licensed Social Work, and Professional Counseling Aspira meets this challenge with resounding results.  There is a table on their FAQ page that show the reader exactly where they are approved and where they are not.  With the table full of marks it is much harder to find where they are not approved than where they are approved.

Second, “Do they offer all the courses I need to renew my license?”  Great question to ask.  Looking at the course list on the Home page (the section “below the fold”) and scanning their course listing page there are ample of courses to fulfill the requirements of the licenses they cater to.  Not only do they have the required courses needed for each renewal period, but a wide selection of additional courses that will add to one’s continuing education experience.

Third, “Can I even find what I am looking for?”  How many times have you pulled up a website from a search result and spent way too much time searching for what you were interested in only to end up backing out of that site and returning to the search result list?  Sometimes this may be because the site was irrelevant to what you were searching for, however, most of the time it was probably because the website was so poorly designed that it made it way too difficult to find anything.  Aspira’s navigation is top notch.  Everything is straightforward and easy to find.  There are tabs across the top that take the user to all of the appropriate pages and well defined links within each page as well.  No wasting time here, which is critical in today’s busy, fast-paced world.

Fourth, “Are their rates affordable and reasonable?”  This is the brass tax of the matter.  What is the cost?  It has been said “You get what you pay for.”  For the most part this is correct.  That is why it is a good rule of thumb to never pay the highest amount and at the same time never pay the lowest amount.  The highest amount is usually overpriced.  The lowest amount is usually stripped of any value and may cost more in the long run in both time and  money.  Choosing a price more in the middle is usually the best bet.  Aspira’s CEU prices fall in this category.  There are many offerings charging more with no more value and others charging less with less value.  Aspira provides several pricing options that range from just purchasing a few units to a packaged deal for unlimited units over a 12 month period for only $129.99.  For someone who needs a lot of CEUs, this is a great deal.

For more information regarding Aspira Continuing Education, visit their site at www.aspirace.com and check things out for yourself.

Receive 3 free CEUs at Aspira Online Continuing Education

Visit Aspira's Offer page to see the details on the latest savings opportunity for MFT, LCSW and LPC CEUs.  Only for the month of October.  Refer a colleague and receive even more FREE CEUs!

What features make for a good online CE Provider?

Providing online CEUs is a BIG endeavor.  What does it take to set a site apart from all the rest. This is a question that plagues all business people on the internet.  This is why I am reaching out to all who wish to contribute.  If you are a licensed professional who seeks their continuing education online, then I am interested in what you have to say.  Post your comments to my blog.  Let me know what would intrigue you from an online CEU provider.  And, what would turn you off.  It is not only good to know what people want, but to also know what they do not want.  This combination of information can help to create an ideal environment for those who are seeking to renew their license via online CE courses.  You can view Aspira's site at: www.aspirace.com. Thank you for your input. Have a great day!

Aspira Online CEUs for MFTs, LCSWs, and LPCs

Serpent Mound

Last week my wife and I visited Serpent Mound. The site has been added by the United States Government to the tentative lists of sites to be considered for UNESCO World Heritage status. The Great Serpent Mound is 1,330 feet in length along its coils and averages three feet in height. Excavation of Serpent Mound revealed wood charcoal that was radiocarbon dated to a time consistent with the Fort Ancient culture (AD 1000 to 1500). It is the largest documented surviving example of a prehistoric effigy mound in the world.

The coils of the snake appear to be chosen to point towards celestial sites, such as the the extreme points on the horizon for sunrise and sunset. The site chosen is a rock outcropping on the rim of an ancient meteor crater. Moreover, near the serpent mound on the site managed by the State of Ohio there are far mor ancient mounds.


After the visit I chatted with young people from nearby Indiana, discovering that they had never heard of Serpent Mound. Again, our schools seem not to do a very good job in acquainting their students with the pre-history of our region, even of globally significant artifacts that are near to them.

Hopewell Mound City

Last week I had the opportunity to visit Hopewell Mound City in southern Ohio. It is one of the nine archeological sites of monumental earthworks constructed by the Ohio Hopewell culture during the Woodland Period (1-1000 CE) which together have been added to the tentative list by the United States Government for consideration for World Heritage status.

The park protects the prehistoric remains of a dynamic social and ceremonial phenomenon that flourished in the woodlands of eastern North America between 200 B.C. and A.D. 500. The term Hopewell describes a broad network of economic, political, and spiritual beliefs and practices among different Native American groups. The culture is characterized by the construction of enclosures made of earthen walls, often built in geometric patterns and mounds of various shapes. The culture is known for a network of contacts with other groups, which stretched from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains. This network brought materials such as mica, shark's teeth, obsidian, copper, and shells to Ohio.

The visitor center includes a video presentation and a small museum which helped to understand the artifacts collected from the site as well as the historical importance of the Hopewell people. We were especially grateful for the attention of three National Park Service staff members who work in the visitors's center and who spent considerable time explaining the site and its history.

I was especially taken by the fact that the site included objects made of copper that came from Canada, Obsidian from deposits near Yellowstone, mica from the Carolinas, and shells from the Gulf coast. While this was a culture that lived on hunting and gathering, the Hopewell peoples also understood astronomy, could build large earthwork structures, and obtained materials that they valued from all over the North American continent.

World Heritage status for the sites preserving the monuments of the Hopewell culture may help Americans to recognize the accomplishments of the people who lived on the continent before 1492. I wish that all the school children in the United States would learn about the pre-Columbian cultures of the continent!

Images from the National Park Service.

More Candidates for Director General

Nominations are now closed for the post of Director General of UNESCO.

Yojana Sharma has published an update of her earlier article, identifying two new candidates, each of whom would add some luster to the list of Directors General of the Organization:

• Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union commissioner for foreign affairs and a former Austrian foreign minister
• Alexander Yakovenko, Russia's deputy foreign minister and former Ambassador to the United Nations.