Maine recognizes multiple counseling titles for licensed professionals, including:  Conditional Professional Counselor (XC), Professional Counselor (PC), Conditional Clinical Professional Counselor (XL), and Clinical Professional Counselor (CC).

The premier professional organization for professional counselors in the state is the Maine Counseling Association, whose mission is to “enhance individual human development and to advance and promote the discipline of counseling.”Licensure for Maine counselors is overseen by the Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure within the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. Licensure requirements for counselors in Maine, including those relating to education, supervision, examination, fees, and renewal, are examined in further detail below, along with salary information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as well as public and private scholarships available to aspiring Maine counseling applicants.

To be licensed as a professional counselor (PC) or clinical professional counselor (CC) in Maine, applicants must hold a qualifying master’s or doctoral degree from a regionally accredited institution. For the non-clinical PC pathway, the degree must include at least 48 graduate credit hours; rehabilitation counseling degrees may still qualify if they were CORE-accredited or otherwise satisfy board coursework requirements. Programs that are not CACREP-accredited may still qualify if they satisfy the board’s required content areas.

To become a licensed clinical professional counselor in Maine, applicants must complete a 60-credit degree program accredited by CACREP or meet the standards set forth by the Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure. Coursework includes:

Additional coursework requires at least nine semester hours in the following:

Applicants with doctoral degrees in clinical or counseling psychology from programs accredited by the American Psychological Association or the Canadian Psychological Association are also accepted.

In addition to the coursework listed above, counselor licensure in Maine requires both a practicum and an internship completed as part of a graduate counseling program. The practicum is designed to help students build foundational counseling skills through supervised client experience. The internship provides more extensive supervised counseling training in a professional setting.

For the professional counselor path, Maine requires a 600-hour graduate counseling internship. For the clinical counselor path, Maine requires a graduate clinical counseling internship of at least 600 hours. Students who complete a 900-hour clinical internship may qualify for a reduced post-degree supervised experience requirement, lowering it from 4,000 hours to 3,000 hours.

Graduate internship requirements are distinct from the post-degree supervised experience required for PC and CC licensure.

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“Supervision” is shorthand for post-degree, directed experience in professional counseling under supervision in a work setting. Maine requires aspiring PCs to complete at least 2,000 hours of licensed supervised work experience over at least two years. At least 1,000 hours of direct counseling experience must be documented, and applicants must complete 67 hours of supervision, including at least 34 hours of individual supervision.

Supervised experience must be completed while the applicant holds an active conditional license and while under the supervision of a board-approved Maine licensee or other qualifying licensee under board rules.

For CC licensure, Maine requires post-degree hours for the graduate clinical internship. Applicants need at least 2 years of supervised experience, with a total of 3,000 hours if the graduate internship was 900 hours, or 4,000 hours if it was at least 600 hours.

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Maine’s current board guidance requires a passing NCE score for the XC, PC, and XL counselor licenses. NBCC describes the NCE as a 200-item multiple-choice examination used for licensure in many states.

For the clinical CC license, Maine requires a passing NCMHCE score and, if not previously submitted, documentation of NCE passage. The NCMHCE is an exam designed to assess the knowledge, skills, and abilities important for providing effective counseling services.

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Counselors in Maine can expect to pay the following fees for their license, application, renewal, and examination:

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Maine counselor licenses renew every two years based on the initial issue date. Main considers standard renewals from 60 days before expiration through 90 days after expiration; after that window, reinstatement rules apply. Renewal requires payment of the applicable fee and completion of continuing education.

Maine counselors must complete 55 hours of continuing education during each two-year renewal cycle, including at least four contact hours on subjects addressed in the code of ethics. The board also lists a one-time first-renewal requirement of 12 contact hours in family or intimate partner violence.

CE may be earned through optional peer consultation, graduate academic courses, institutes, workshops, seminars, conferences, in-service training, informal home study courses, prerecorded programs, online or distance learning programs, and informal home study, professional writing, teaching graduate academic courses, and field supervision of interns.

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For Counselors Licensed in Other States

Maine accepts alternative licensure routes for counselors who meet its licensure-by-endorsement requirements.

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The following types of counselors in Maine can expect to earn the following median annual wages, according to May 2024 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

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The following scholarships and loan repayment programs are available to aspiring LPCs and LCPCs in Maine:

Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS)

National Health Service Corps State Loan Repayment Program (NHSC SLRP)

APA Interdisciplinary Minority Fellowship Program (IMFP)

Predoctoral Fellowship in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (MHSAS-Doc)

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*Licensure information including requirements, salaries, renewals, and fees were retrieved as of March 2026. Information may have changed since, check with the state’s board of licensing for more information.