The Certified Employee Assistance Professional credential, better known as CEAP, is highly respected and valued in the EAP industry. Those with the CEAP credential possess extensive knowledge of the EAP business. In addition to passing an exam, they have years of experience, training, education and supervised advisement. The Employee Assistance Certification Commission, an organization affiliated with the Employee Assistance Professionals Association, administers the certification program. The EAP professional must meet certain criteria before the commission will approve taking the CEAP exam. Once you're certified, the CEAP credential is valid for three years.

Complete at least 1,000 hours as a paid employee in an EAP setting over a one- to 10-year period. You must be able to prove that you meet this requirement with a letter from your employer stating your dates of employment, a description of your job and your supervisor’s contact information.

Complete at least 60 professional development hours in domains specified by the Employee Assistance Certification Commission if you do not have an EAP-related graduate degree. For those with a related graduate degree such as psychology, 20 professional development hours are required in the specified domains.

Find a certified CEAP adviser through your local Employee Assistance Professionals Association chapter. The Employee Assistance Certification Commission can also assist in matching you with an adviser. Once you find an adviser, obtain approval for advisement by submitting the advisement documentation form and CEAP advisor attestation form to the Employee Assistance Certification Commission at 4350 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 410, Arlington, Virginia, 22203. Your adviser must advise you for at least 12 hours over three months.

Apply to take the CEAP exam by completing the Employee Assistance Certification Commission's CEAP exam application. Send the completed application, the signed CEAP advisement contact form, certificates of completion for professional development hours and proof of your graduate degree along with the associated application fees to the commission at the address in Step 3.

Wait for written approval from the Employee Assistance Certification Commission notifying you of your eligibility to take the CEAP exam. Upon receipt, contact the testing administrator, Applied Measurement Professionals Inc., by calling 888-519-9901 or visiting its website at goAMP.com to schedule your exam.

Take the exam. Upon receipt of a passing grade, forward the results to the Employee Assistance Certification Commission to receive your certification. If you do not pass, after a 90-day waiting period you can reapply to the commission for approval to retake the exam.