About ABE

The American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work (ABE), founded in 1987, is a national certification board created by and for the profession of Clinical Social Work. It is the credentialing unit of the Center for Clinical Social Work, a national education and advocacy organization.

ABE’s main purposes are to issue advanced credentials to Clinical Social Workers based on uniform national standards of practice, and to educate the public and various audiences about the value of these certifications and the services of those who hold them. ABE maintains an Online BCD Directory for the use of the public and referral-makers.

To advanced Clinical Social Workers, ABE offers standards-based national certifications in the following areas of practice:

• Advanced generalist (BCD, or Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work)
• Children & Their Families (BCD-Children)
• Clinical Supervision (BCD-Supervisor)
• Psychoanalysis (BCD-Psychoanalyst)

ABE conducts outreach to the public, government, and healthcare systems on behalf of its certificants. This national outreach includes exhibiting at healthcare conferences; educating service-users; distributing information products and services; interacting with professional and regulatory associations; and intervening with entities and systems that discriminate against board-certified Clinical Social Workers.