Continuing-education / CPD renewal requirements for behavioral and mental health licenses in Maine — hours or CPD model per cycle, mandated topics, live/interactive rules, and home-study limits. Pick a license for the full breakdown.
VerifiedMaine
LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker)
25hours / 2-year renewal cycle
15 live / interactive hours required
Mandated topics
- Ethics (social work ethics) — 4 hAt least 4 of the 25 hours must be in social work ethics; conditional licensees (LSW-Conditional/LSX) must earn 6 ethics hours plus 6 hours in psychosocial assessment.
- Family or Intimate Partner Violence — 12 hOne-time requirement (effective Jan 1, 2020) covering spousal/partner abuse screening, referral and intervention; may be satisfied by pre-licensure/degree coursework; counts toward the 25 hours. Attestation only.
Home study: At least 15 of the 25 hours must be interactive activities in which immediate interaction with the instructor is available (in-person or live virtual). No more than 10 hours combined may come from non-interactive distance learning, teaching, writing and independent study (Ch. 14 sec. 3, subsections 2 and 3).
Board notes: State Board of Social Worker Licensure; rule is Code of Maine Rules 02-416 Ch. 14 (32 M.R.S. sec. 7060). 25 contact hours per 2-year cycle by license issuance/renewal date. Board does not pre-approve individual CE providers/courses; licensee is responsible for meeting standards. Conditional licensees (LSX) have higher ethics (6) plus psychosocial assessment (6) requirements.
View full LCSW requirements → VerifiedMaine
LCPC (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor)
55hours / 2-year renewal cycle
No live / interactive hours required — all hours may be self-study
Mandated topics
- Ethics (Code of Ethics subjects) — 4 hAt least 4 of the 55 hours must relate to subjects in the Code of Ethics (Ch. 7-A sec. 2).
- Family or Intimate Partner Violence — 12 hOne-time requirement per 32 M.R.S. sec. 13858(2), effective Jan 1, 2020, applying to Clinical Professional Counselors; spousal/partner abuse screening, referral and intervention. Counts toward CE hours.
Home study: Informal home study or prerecorded programs: maximum 5 contact hours combined. Formal continuing education, including formal home-study courses and online/internet/other formal distance-learning programs, has NO cap and may total all 55 hours. Other sub-caps: peer consultation max 15, professional writing max 20, teaching/presenting max 5, field supervision of interns max 5.
Board notes: Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure; CE rule is Code of Maine Rules 02-514 Ch. 7-A. 55 contact hours per 2-year (biennial) cycle. No rule mandates any live/in-person hours because formal distance-learning courses count without limit; only the 5-hour informal/prerecorded cap constrains self-study format. The 12-hour family/intimate partner violence course is statutorily required for the Clinical Professional Counselor credential.
View full LCPC requirements → VerifiedMaine
Licensed Psychologist
40hours / 2-year renewal cycle
No live / interactive hours required — all hours may be self-study
Mandated topics
- Ethics — 3 h3 hours of ethics per 2-year CE cycle.
- Family/Spousal/Intimate Partner Violence (screening, referral, intervention) — 3 hOne-time requirement (since Jan 1, 2020); satisfied once for initial licensure or renewal.
Home study: No cap - all 40 hours may be earned through self-study/home study from APA-approved sponsors or other board-accepted providers. No minimum live/in-person requirement.
Board notes: Board of Examiners of Psychologists. License renews annually (by April 30), but the 40-hour CE requirement is measured over a 2-year cycle and attested at the biennial (even-year) renewal. Ethics (3 hrs) each cycle; one-time 3-hour family/intimate partner violence training.
View full Licensed Psychologist requirements → VerifiedMaine
LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist)
55hours / 2-year renewal cycle
No live / interactive hours required — all hours may be self-study
Mandated topics
- Ethics (Code of Ethics subjects) — 4 hAt least 4 of the 55 hours must relate to subjects in the Code of Ethics (Ch. 7-A sec. 2).
Home study: Informal home study or prerecorded programs: maximum 5 contact hours combined. Formal continuing education, including formal home-study courses and online/internet/other formal distance-learning programs, has NO cap and may total all 55 hours. Other sub-caps: peer consultation max 15, professional writing max 20, teaching/presenting max 5, field supervision of interns max 5.
Board notes: Licensed under the same Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure and same CE rule (Code of Maine Rules 02-514 Ch. 7-A) as counselors: 55 contact hours per 2-year cycle, min 4 ethics, informal home study/prerecorded capped at 5 hours, formal distance learning uncapped. IMPORTANT: the 12-hour family/intimate partner violence coursework requirement in 32 M.R.S. sec. 13858 applies only to Clinical Professional Counselors (subsection 2), NOT to Marriage and Family Therapists (subsection 3); some provider summaries erroneously extend it to MFTs.
View full LMFT requirements → VerifiedMaine
BCBA (national BACB certification; no separate Maine state license)
32hours / 2-year renewal cycle
No live / interactive hours required — all hours may be self-study
Mandated topics
- Ethics — 4 hBACB standard: 4 ethics CEUs per 2-year recertification cycle.
- Supervision — 3 hBACB standard: 3 supervision CEUs per cycle, required only for certificants who supervise others or supervise trainees/RBTs.
Home study: No state cap. BACB allows learning, teaching, and other CEU types; recorded/online BACB-authorized ACE CEUs are broadly accepted with no live/synchronous minimum.
Board notes: Maine does not license or register behavior analysts and has no state board or state CE rule for them; there is no state statute/regulation to correct against. In practice the national BACB certification standard governs: 32 CEUs per 2-year cycle including 4 ethics and 3 supervision (for supervisors); BCaBA is 20 CEUs. BCBA certification is effectively mandatory in Maine because insurers and MaineCare (Section 28) require it for ABA reimbursement.
View full BCBA requirements → How many CE hours do behavioral health licenses require in Maine?
In Maine, hour-based licenses require 25 to 55 continuing-education hours per renewal cycle depending on the license type; some credentials follow a CPD model instead. See the table above for each credential.
Do CE requirements differ by license type in Maine?
Yes. Social work, counseling, psychology, marriage & family therapy, and behavior-analysis credentials each have their own requirements, mandated topics, and renewal cycles in Maine. This page lists each one separately.
Does Maine require ethics CE?
Maine requires dedicated ethics continuing education for: BCBA, LCPC, LCSW, LMFT, Licensed Psychologist. Exact hour counts are on each license's page.
Updated July 2026 from official licensing-board, regulatory-college, and government sources. CE / CPD requirements change often — always confirm current rules directly with your licensing board or regulator before you renew. Informational only, not legal advice.