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LicenseReciprocity

Counseling License from Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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

Both states have enacted the Counseling Compact, but neither was issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27. When both go operational, cross-border work between them could run on a privilege; a relocation would still need a Maine license. The route is endorsement through the Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC): your Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.

What changes, Pennsylvania → Maine

Side-by-side: Pennsylvania vs Maine (Counseling (LPC / LMHC)), verified 2026-09-27
Pennsylvania (current)Maine (destination)
Counseling Compact statusCounseling Compact enacted — not yet issuingCounseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing
Application fee$100 (application fee for licensure and original license issuance as an LPC per 49 Pa. Code 47.4(6); no separate endorsement fee is listed. Pennsylvania is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)$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 timethe Board publishes no processing timeframe for endorsement applications; an Act 41 applicant may be granted a provisional license at the Board's discretionthe Board publishes no processing timeframe; endorsement applications are decided at public Board meetings
Licensing authorityPennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional CounselorsMaine 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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).
  3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
  4. Hold a valid, active clinical counseling license from a U.S. jurisdiction whose licensing requirements the Board finds substantially equivalent to the Maine LCPC.
  5. Show the other jurisdiction's pathway requires a 60-semester-hour accredited (or equivalent) counseling master's, NCMHCE passage and supervised clinical experience.
  6. Be in good standing in every jurisdiction ever licensed: no pending complaint, restriction, surrender or revocation.
  7. Submit official license verifications for all professional licenses held or ever held.
  8. Submit the application, the fee, a proposed disclosure statement and a criminal history record check.
  9. 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

Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC) ↗Maine application ↗

Related guides

Reverse: Maine → PennsylvaniaCounseling in PennsylvaniaCounseling in MaineAll counseling statesThe Counseling Compact explained

Frequently asked questions

Does Maine accept a Pennsylvania counseling license?

A counseling license transfers from Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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.

Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27

How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]