Logging hours FAQs

Below, you'll find answers to the frequently asked questions we've seen about logging hours in Track Your Hours.

In this guide, we'll answer:

• How do I indicate the status of hours that I enter into Track Your Hours?
• How do I log 45 minutes of client contact? (NY LCSW)
• When can I begin counting hours towards the LPCC requirements? (CA LPCC)
• When can I begin counting hours towards the LCSW requirements? (CA ASW)
• How do I log individual/group psychotherapy hours? (CA ASW)
• Why do my weekly logs have blank columns?
• What is the restriction on logging indirect hours? (NY LMHC)
• How do I log partial hours? (NY LCSW)
• Can I track hours for dual licensure as an LMFT and LPCC?

How do I indicate the status of hours that I enter into Track Your Hours?

Track Your Hours automatically assigns the appropriate status to your hours based on the dates you enter at Account & Billing > School & Status Information tab. 

These statuses are:

• Pre-degree
• Post-degree 
• Trainee
• Trainee in practicum
• Post-degree with application pending for intern registration
• Registered intern

As long as your information is kept up-to-date, when you log your hours, TYH will group them under the appropriate categories and subcategories and reflect the appropriate statuses on your forms.

How do I log 45 minutes of client contact? (NY LCSW)

The LCSW requirements in New York state that 45 minutes of client contact are equal to one hour. If you provide 45 minutes of direct client contact, it should be logged as 1.0 (1 hour) in TYH.

When can I begin counting hours towards the LPCC requirements? (CA LPCC)

Unlike LMFT applicants, LPCC applicants can’t count pre-degree hours toward licensure. An applicant can count post-degree hours completed before they receive their associate registration number if they applied for associate registration within 90 days of their graduation date.

If their associate registration application was submitted more than 90 days after graduation, the hours earned between the graduation date and receipt of the associate registration number can’t be counted toward licensure. This is known as the 90-day rule, and there are no exceptions to this requirement.

When can I begin counting hours towards the LCSW requirements? (CA ASW)

You can only count hours completed after you receive your associate registration number toward your LCSW licensure. There are no exceptions to this requirement.

How do I log individual/group psychotherapy hours? (CA ASW)

Consistent with the BBS weekly log and Experience Verification form, individual and group psychotherapy hours are a subset of the Clinical Psychosocial Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment category in Track Your Hours. You cannot enter psychotherapy hours until you have first entered Clinical Psychosocial Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment hours. When you enter hours in the individual and group psychotherapy row you’re not adding hours to your total, you’re actually indicating how many hours out of your total Clinical Psychosocial Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment hours were individual or group psychotherapy.

To enter individual or group psychotherapy hours, first enter the number of Clinical Psychosocial Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment hours, including individual and group therapy hours. This total is entered on the first row (6 hours have been entered in the example below). Next, on the second row you indicate how many of these hours were individual or group therapy (2 hours have been entered in the example below). The example below would increase your recorded total hours by 6 (you have logged 6 hours and indicated that 2 of the hours were individual or group therapy).

It’s very important for you to enter the hours in this manner to avoid double counting your psychotherapy hours. The rows on the TYH form are designed to precisely match the way the hours are reported on the weekly log and Experience Verification Form.

Why do my weekly logs have blank columns?

The forms produced by Track Your Hours are designed to match the expectations of the BBS. The BBS expects that a new page start in your weekly logs whenever either of the following occurs:

• Your status changes
• A new calendar year begins

Track Your Hours automatically groups your hours by status and year, so if you notice that a new weekly log begins, even though the previous log’s columns weren’t entirely complete, it’s because your status changed or the calendar year has ended.

What is the restriction on logging indirect hours? (NY LMHC)

According to NYSED regulations: "When an applicant completes less than 3,000 hours in a setting, at least one-half of the hours must be direct; the remainder may be indirect. It’s not acceptable to complete direct and indirect activities in different settings under different supervisors and attempt to combine these hours to meet the experience requirement."

Track Your Hours monitors this ratio for you. To see whether you’re currently meeting the 50% requirement for each of your sites, navigate to Alerts:

How do I log partial hours? (NY LCSW)

Partial hours should be entered as decimals:

• 15 mins: 0.25
• 30 mins: 0.5
• 45 mins: 0.75
• 60 mins: 1

Note: Per the NY LCSW regulations, 45 minutes of client contact is equivalent to 1 hour. This means that you should log 45 minutes of client contact as 1.0 in Track Your Hours.

Can I track hours for dual licensure as an LMFT and LPCC?

There’s no way to log hours toward LMFT and LPCC licensure in one TYH account. Since each license type has different guidelines and forms that need to be generated, you’ll want to create a free secondary TYH account to track your LMFT and LPCC hours separately.

To learn more, see Setting up a secondary account.