Counseling License from Ohio to Maine: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC) ↗
A counseling license transfers from Ohio to Maine by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC), verify your Ohio license, and meet Maine's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken. For LCPC endorsement, the other jurisdiction's initial-licensure pathway must require a passing NCMHCE score (Board Rule Ch. 6-A Sec. 2(B)(ii)). No Maine jurisprudence exam is listed..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Maine has enacted the Counseling Compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so your Ohio license cannot reach it through the compact yet. The route is endorsement through the Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC): your Ohio license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Maine's own exam rule, and Maine applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Maine tier corresponds to your Ohio license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What changes, Ohio → Maine
| Ohio (current) | Maine (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Counseling Compact member — compact privilege to practice | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $100 (LPCC reciprocity application fee per OAC 4757-1-05 and the Board's out-of-state page ('$100 + $3.50 processing', re-read 2026-09-27); + $3.50 eLicense processing fee; BCI/FBI fingerprinting paid separately to the vendor; NBCC score-transfer fee separate. NOT the Counseling Compact privilege fee (Ohio charges $25 + $30 commission admin fee = $55 for a privilege, per the commission's fee table).) | $200 (license fee listed on the Board's Licensing and Forms page; + $21 criminal history record check fee; non-refundable; biennial renewal $200. Maine is not yet issuing Counseling Compact privileges.) |
| Processing time | the Board publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications; applicants track status in eLicense (Review Status checklist) | the Board publishes no processing timeframe; endorsement applications are decided at public Board meetings |
| Licensing authority | Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board (CSWMFT) | Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Maine sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Maine's current requirements on the Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a valid, active clinical counseling license from a U.S. jurisdiction whose licensing requirements the Board finds substantially equivalent to the Maine LCPC.
- Show the other jurisdiction's pathway requires a 60-semester-hour accredited (or equivalent) counseling master's, NCMHCE passage and supervised clinical experience.
- Be in good standing in every jurisdiction ever licensed: no pending complaint, restriction, surrender or revocation.
- Submit official license verifications for all professional licenses held or ever held.
- Submit the application, the fee, a proposed disclosure statement and a criminal history record check.
- Pay the fees ($200 (license fee listed on the Board's Licensing and Forms page; + $21 criminal history record check fee; non-refundable; biennial renewal $200. Maine is not yet issuing Counseling Compact privileges.)) and allow the Board publishes no processing timeframe; endorsement applications are decided at public Board meetings.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Maine accept an Ohio counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Ohio to Maine by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC), verify your Ohio license, and meet Maine's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken. For LCPC endorsement, the other jurisdiction's initial-licensure pathway must require a passing NCMHCE score (Board Rule Ch. 6-A Sec. 2(B)(ii)). No Maine jurisprudence exam is listed..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Ohio to Maine?
National exam is not retaken. For LCPC endorsement, the other jurisdiction's initial-licensure pathway must require a passing NCMHCE score (Board Rule Ch. 6-A Sec. 2(B)(ii)). No Maine jurisprudence exam is listed.
What does the move cost?
$200 (license fee listed on the Board's Licensing and Forms page; + $21 criminal history record check fee; non-refundable; biennial renewal $200. Maine is not yet issuing Counseling Compact privileges.)
How long will it take?
the Board publishes no processing timeframe; endorsement applications are decided at public Board meetings.
Maine joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. Maine had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in Maine takes Maine's own authorization, normally a Maine license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure: Licensing and Forms (LCPC description, exams, fees, endorsement per Rule 6-A) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Board Rules Chapter 6-A: Licensure by Endorsement (effective 2023-04-01) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- 32 M.R.S. §13857: Nonresidents; applicants licensed in another jurisdiction; licensure by endorsement ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Board minutes 2026-03-23 (LCPC endorsement comparable-jurisdiction vote) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ohio CSWMFT Board: Out of State Applicants (counselor reciprocity steps and fees) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ohio CSWMFT Board: Counselors (LPC/LPCC application instructions, exam policy) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ohio CSWMFT Board Laws and Rules compilation (ORC 4757.18; OAC 4757-1-05, 4757-13-03, 4757-13-06) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ohio CSWMFT Board: Counseling Compact Privileges (eligibility, $25 state fee, go-live 2026-01-05) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Counseling Compact: state privilege fees and jurisprudence requirements ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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