counselor's choice award, llc

What counselor's choice award, llc does

Counselor's Choice Award, LLC is a Seattle-based, privately held, volunteer-run organization founded by Leo DeBroeck, MS, LMHC, CMHS, that operates an evidence-based peer-review award and continuing education (CE) platform for the mental and behavioral health field. Its core products are four free review services — Product Review, Service Review, Book Review, and Group/Practice Review — in which panels of Licensed Mental Health Therapists, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, and/or Social Workers evaluate claims against peer-reviewed scientific literature; reviewers are anonymous and donation flows are walled off from review decisions. The second product line is an accredited CE course catalog covering topics such as suicide prevention, ADHD treatment, ethics, and trauma, delivered as recorded home-study sessions via a web-based learning management system with post-tests and certificates, priced from free to $150 per course with a 35% revenue share to course creators.

The business model combines free, donation-supported reviews with three monetization streams: CE course sales (unit pricing $12–$150), an outcome-based Life and Wellness Coach Accreditation program starting at $899, and voluntary PayPal donations. The platform holds accreditations from NBCC (ACEP No. 7344), NASW Washington State Chapter (Provider #1975-490), Oklahoma State Board of Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors (Provider #20230154), and Washington State Department of Health, enabling CE credits to satisfy state and national licensure requirements. Go-to-market is community-led and direct-to-consumer: mental health professionals self-serve through the website and LMS, instructors apply to host courses, and applicants submit products, services, books, and facilities for review. Customers and honorees span a fragmented mix of startups (Neurture App, PsychMaven), SMBs (self-published authors), mid-market providers (Quiet Hour, Trauma Informed Counseling Center), nonprofits (DMHS), and enterprise treatment centers (Caron Treatment Centers), with no disclosed anchor accounts. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, no funding rounds have been raised, and the organization operates without formal institutional investment on a volunteer headcount model.

Name

counselor's choice award, llc

Legal name

Counselor's Choice Award, LLC

Website

https://counselorschoiceaward.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Counselor's Choice Award, LLC is a Seattle-based volunteer organization that provides free, evidence-based peer reviews of mental health therapy products, services, books, and facilities, and sells accredited continuing education courses and life coach accreditation to licensed counselors and wellness coaches.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mental Health Continuing Education and Professional Credentialing

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Behavioral Health & Counseling (Social Work, Psychology, Substance Use CE) (EDAAALAD)

Keywords

• Mental health reviews
• Continuing education courses
• Professional accreditation
• Therapy product evaluation
• Life coach certification

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. CE Course Sales: Sale of continuing education courses to mental health professionals. Courses range from free to $150, with prices like $20, $30, $35, $40, $45, $60, $80, $95. Revenue split of 35% to course creators with no exclusivity requirements.
2. Life Coach Accreditation Program: Accreditation program for life and wellness coaches starting at $899. Only charged if awarded. Includes video interview, social media promotion, trademark usage rights, and listing on website.
3. Donations: Accepts donations through PayPal to support operations. Donation information is not shared with reviewers to maintain impartiality.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Counselor's Choice Award, LLC reviews and publicizes mental health, addiction recovery, and personal/professional development products, services, books, and practices. The company also delivers continuing education (CE) courses for licensed mental health professionals and administers a Life Coach Accreditation program, supported by donations and course/accreditation fees.

Product overview

Counselor's Choice Award is an evidence-based review organization and continuing education provider offering four distinct review services (Product Review, Service Review, Book Review, and Group/Practice Review) to evaluate mental health tools, facilities, and services for scientific effectiveness. The company operates a learning management system delivering accredited continuing education courses for mental health professionals, with offerings ranging from free to paid courses covering suicide prevention, ADHD treatment, ethics, trauma, and various clinical topics. Additional offerings include Life and Wellness Coach Training and Accreditation, and a platform hosting approximately 18 hours of free NBCC-accredited CE courses. The review services are free to applicants (donation-supported), while CE courses generate revenue through course fees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Product Review Free review of mental health, addiction recovery, and personal/professional development products. The reviewed company submits its product for evaluation and receives a published review/endorsement from Counselor's Choice.
• Service Review Free review of mental health and related services delivered by service providers. Targeted at businesses offering mental health, addiction recovery, or development services that want an independent published endorsement.
• Book Review Free review of books related to mental health, addiction recovery, and personal/professional development. Targets authors and publishers seeking credibility endorsement from a professional counseling body.
• Group/Practice Review Free review of mental health groups, counseling practices, and treatment facilities. Targeted at practices/facilities seeking an independent published endorsement of their clinical operation.
• Continuing Education (CE) Courses Paid continuing education courses (priced between $12 and $150) for licensed mental health professionals (counselors, therapists, social workers) seeking CE credits. Delivered online through the company's web platform.
• Life Coach Accreditation Accreditation program for life coaches priced at $899. Targets aspiring and practicing life coaches who want a recognized credential issued by Counselor's Choice.

Quantifiable outcome

• 18+ hours of free CE courses available

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Course Creation StudiominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Course Creation Studio to provide step-by-step help for CE course creation. They offer a recording of a two-hour live training workshop (Idea to Paycheck Workshop) to guide instructors through course creation. Course Creation Studio helps therapists create and launch CE courses.
• National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC)coreOthersAccredited CE provider approved by NBCC as ACEP No. 7344. NBCC accreditation enables CE courses to meet national certification requirements for counselors.
• National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Washington State ChaptercoreOthersApproved continuing education provider through the NASW Washington State Chapter (Provider #1975-490). Offers approved clock hours for Licensed Social Workers, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapists, and Licensed Mental Health Counselors.
• Oklahoma State Board of Licensed Alcohol and Drug CounselorsminorOthersApproved continuing education provider (ACEP) for events meeting Oklahoma State Board requirements (Provider #20230154).
• Washington State Department of HealthcoreOthersApproved CE provider through Washington State Department of Health. Courses such as suicide prevention meet specific state training requirements (WSDOH Approval #TRNG.TG.60715084-SUIC).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• CE4W (Counselor Continuing Education for Wellness): CE4W offers online CE courses for licensed professional counselors and other behavioral-health professionals with NBCC and state-board approvals. It is a smaller, niche peer whose catalog breadth and target audience closely mirror CCA's counselor-renewal focus.
• SimplePractice Learning: SimplePractice Learning is the CE add-on from the practice-management platform SimplePractice, offering accredited on-demand CE to its large clinician user base. It is an emerging player that bundles CE into an existing EHR/PMS workflow, posing a distribution threat CCA does not yet match.

Broad incumbents

• American Counseling Association (ACA): ACA is the largest professional membership association for counselors and offers its own CE catalog, publications, and credentialing resources. It is a broader incumbent that has overlapping CE capabilities and member-driven content, but with a much wider portfolio that includes advocacy and journals.
• American Psychological Association (APA): APA is the largest professional association for psychologists and provides CE, continuing education approvals, and published clinical resources. It is a broad incumbent that overlaps with CCA's psychology reviewer pool and CE-accreditation functions, though it serves a wider audience than counselors alone.
• National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): NBCC is the principal national certification body for counselors and runs an approved CE provider program of which CCA is a participant (ACEP No. 7344). Although primarily an accreditor, NBCC also operates educational resources and certification-related training, making it both a regulator and a partial competitor.

Direct peers

• NetCE: NetCE (operating alongside CEU Direct) is an established online CE provider for counselors, social workers, and allied health professionals with multi-state board approvals. It is one of the most direct competitors for the same regulated CE hours and certificate delivery use case.
• GoodTherapy: GoodTherapy offers accredited CE courses and clinical resources to therapists and counselors via its directory and learning platform. It is comparable because it bundles a professional community, content/CE business, and credentialing-style features similar to CCA's honoree ecosystem.
• PESI: PESI is one of the largest accredited continuing education providers for mental health professionals, offering on-demand and live CE courses across counseling, social work, and psychology. It competes directly with Counselor's Choice Award for the same counselor renewal CE spend and has a far larger catalog and paid marketing footprint.
• Zur Institute: Zur Institute is a niche online CE provider specializing in mental health, ethics, and trauma-related continuing education for licensed counselors and therapists. It overlaps tightly with CCA's topic mix (suicide prevention, ethics, ADHD, trauma) and serves the same individual-licensee market.
• Therapy Training Institute: Therapy Training Institute delivers live and online CE events and recorded courses for licensed mental health professionals. It competes for the same counselor renewal wallet and partners with instructors in a similar way to CCA's 35% revenue-share model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/CounselorsAward
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCxzMHYya4Et-noPlYKxD1ag
• Facebookfacebook.com/Counselors-Choice-Award-107476437640709
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/counselors-choice-award
• Instagraminstagram.com/counselorschoiceaward

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about counselor's choice award, llc