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.
55
total hours / 2 years
4
ethics hours
Biennial · renewal date depends on the licensee's issue date.
Maine LPC & LCPC requirements
| Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|
| Total continuing education | 55 hours every 2 years. |
| Renewal | Biennial cycle: counted from your license anniversary. |
| Ethics | 4 hours required each cycle. |
| New licensees | First renewal is different: new licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements (proration and/or first-cycle-only rules), which we apply 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 and recognized associations in counseling, mft, and pastoral counseling. |
| Board audit | The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance. |
| Late renewal | A late renewal allows a 90-day grace period after expiration and a late fee. |
Limits on how the hours are earned
Board caps and floors on where the 55 hours can come from.
- informal home study or prerecordedmax 5 hrs
- teaching or presentationmax 5 hrs
- professional writingmax 20 hrs
- field supervision of internsmax 5 hrs
- peer consultationmax 15 hrs
Keeping the proof in order: what to keep for a CE audit, with every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.
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.
We turn every category, format limit, and one-time rule on this page into a live checklist on your Maine LPC / LCPC record, and reapply board changes automatically as they happen.
Track Maine LPC / LCPC CE free →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. Biennial cycle: 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?
Biennial cycle: counted from your license anniversary.
Is the first renewal different for new Maine LPC / LCPC licensees?
First renewal is different: new licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements (proration and/or first-cycle-only rules), which we apply automatically.
Sources & verification
- State source
- Maine board rule
- Profession source
- NBCC continuing education guidance
- Last verified
- August 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.2
Reviewed against the Maine board source and refreshed 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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What to keep for a CE audit
What boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, what the notice looks like, and a printable checklist.
Maine mental health workforce data
9,452 active providers, or 668 per 100,000 residents, ranked 6 of 51. County density map and free CSV downloads.