Maine LPC & LCPC Continuing Education Requirements
Maine counselors must complete 55 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LPC / LCPC license, including 4 hours of ethics.
55hours every 2 years
Topic minimums, counted within the 55
4ethics
The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.
What the board saysMaine board rule
All licensees other than registered counselors shall attest at time of license renewal to completion of 55 contact hours1 of continuing education activities directly relating to the theory and practice of professional counseling during the preceding license biennium1. … Up to 15 hours2 of the 55 contact hours of continuing education required by this chapter may consist of peer consultation2 … At least four hours3 of the 55 contact hours of continuing education required by this chapter shall relate to subjects addressed in the Code of Ethics3 … Up to five contact hours for informal home study or prerecorded programs4, combined; … Professional writing may account for no more than 20 contact hours5 … the total of such teaching or presentation activity may account for no more than five contact hours6
What it means
- 55 hours every two years
- No more than 15 hours of peer consultation
- 4 hours of ethics
- No more than 5 hours of informal home study or prerecorded programs
- No more than 20 hours for professional writing
- No more than 5 hours for teaching or presenting
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Requirements
Maine LPC & LCPC requirements
Total
55 hoursYou need 55 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.
Topic minimums, counted within the 55
The remaining 51 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
- Ethics
- 4
- You need 4 hours each cycle.
Limits on how the hours are earned
- Informal home study or prerecorded
- max 5 hrs
- Teaching or presentation
- max 5 hrs
- Professional writing
- max 20 hrs
- Field supervision of interns
- max 5 hrs
- Peer consultation
- max 15 hrs
Cycle and record rules
- Renewal
- The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.
- New licensees
- The first renewal is different. New licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements, such as prorated hours or first-cycle-only rules, and we apply them automatically.
- Approved providers
- Qualifying CE may be offered or sponsored by accredited university, national professional association, state professional association, local professional association, public human services organization, private human services organization, and individual approved provider.
- Board audit
- The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
- Late renewal
- The board allows a 90-day grace period after expiration. A late renewal adds a late fee.
To keep your proof in order, see what to keep for a CE audit, which covers every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.
Your hours
Check where you stand
Enter the hours you have completed this cycle to see what is left before your renewal.
Your result appears here as you enter hours.
Open the full LPC CE hours calculatorAlso hold a Maine LMFT or LCSW license? Each board runs its own CE cycle. See the Maine LMFT and Maine LCSW requirements.
Full board policy details
- All continuing education content must directly relate to the theory and practice of professional counseling (including marriage and family therapy). At least 4 of the 55 hours must address Code of Ethics subjects; the remaining hours may cover any aspect of counseling/MFT theory or practice, there is no other subject distribution requirement.
- No maximum on formal home study, online, internet, or other distance learning programs, these may account for all 55 hours. Live interactive webinars and virtual courses count as distance programs and are fully creditable; the board does not distinguish live-online from in-person for CE credit. Live in-person training is not required by rule.
- Informal home study or prerecorded programs (combined) are capped at 5 contact hours per cycle. Additional self-study beyond that must be through formal courses with certificates.
- Teaching a graduate course or presenting a workshop is capped at 5 contact hours per cycle (preparation time excluded). Teaching the same course multiple times in one cycle does not increase credit beyond the 5-hour cap; credit for a given course is effectively claimed once per cycle.
- Professional writing (books, journal articles) is capped at 20 contact hours per cycle; credit given in the biennium the work is accepted for publication.
- Field supervision of a counseling/MFT intern in a program meeting the board's educational criteria is capped at 5 hours per cycle. Conditional (associate) licensees CANNOT claim CE for supervising others.
- Peer consultation with a licensed mental health professional is capped at 15 hours per cycle. Supervision required under a disciplinary order does not count.
- COURSE REPEAT RESTRICTIONS: CE credit may not be claimed more than once for completing the same prerecorded program, home-study program, or online/distance-learning program. The rule does not impose a general repeat ban on every kind of CE activity, so this narrower restriction remains descriptive.
- LICENSE STATUS RULES: Continuing education is waived during inactive status, and CE is required for reactivation. The current rule does not state a fixed 55-hour amount or a two-year inactivity tier for reactivation, so no structured approximation is applied. If a license lapses, renewal and possible examination waiver are governed by the statutory late-renewal provisions.
- PROVIDER ELIGIBILITY: No board pre-approval of providers is required. Per rule, eligible CE may be offered by departments of regionally-accredited institutions, national, state or local professional organizations or associations, public or private human services organizations, or private consultants or individuals. The burden is on the licensee to choose relevant content and obtain proper documentation, individuals and consultants do NOT need advance board approval.
- DOCUMENTATION: All CE activities (including informal home study, formal home study and online programs) must be documented by a signed certificate issued by the sponsor or peer consultant, an official academic transcript, or other reliable written proof of completion acceptable to the board, showing the date and time span of the activity, the presenter, the course/program title, and the contact hours earned.
- Content exclusions: Training focused substantially on office management, billing, general computer skills, or purely personal-growth/alternative therapies not directly related to counseling practice is not eligible for CE credit. Academic courses must be from regionally-accredited institutions.
- Dual license holders: Maine's rules do not address counting the same CE hours toward more than one license the board issues. In practice a single pool of relevant CE may be used to renew both credentials (e.g. LMFT and LCPC), and there is no explicit rule requiring separate hours per license. Informational only, the engine evaluates one license at a time.
Maine LPC & LCPC CE: frequently asked questions
How many CE hours do Maine LPC / LCPC licensees need?
Maine requires 55 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LPC / LCPC license. The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.
How many ethics hours are required for Maine LPC / LCPC licensees?
Of the total, 4 hours must be in ethics.
How often do Maine LPC / LCPC licensees renew?
The renewal cycle is biennial and is counted from your license anniversary.
Is the first renewal different for new Maine LPC / LCPC licensees?
The first renewal is different. New licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements, such as prorated hours or first-cycle-only rules, and we apply them automatically.
Sources and verification
- State source
- Maine board rule
- Profession source
- NBCC continuing education guidance
- Last verified
- August 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.4
We reviewed this page against the Maine board source, and we refresh it from the compiled ruleset above. Methodology and disclaimer. Compliance data is for guidance only, not legal or board advice. Always confirm requirements with your licensing board before renewing. See something wrong? Report it
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Maine guides & data
What to keep for a CE audit →Learn what boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, and what the notice looks like, then use the printable checklist.Maine mental health workforce data →9,452 active providers, or 668 per 100,000 residents, ranked 6 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.
Other Maine CE requirement pages
LPC CE requirements in other states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming