Maine XL Requirements & Hours Tracker

Maine’s Conditional Clinical Professional Counselor (XL) license is the state’s entry‑level clinical counseling credential for master’s‑ or doctoral‑level counselors who will be diagnosing and treating mental health disorders under supervision. The XL period is when you complete the supervised clinical hours required for full Clinical Professional Counselor (CC) licensure.

Below is how the Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure defines the requirements, with a focus on the types and amounts of hours.

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1. Overview of the XL (Conditional Clinical Professional Counselor) license

The Board describes the XL license as a “clinical, graduate level, conditional license.” It is clinical (you can diagnose and treat), but conditional, meaning you must practice under the supervision of a Board‑approved Maine licensee. (maine.gov)

XL licensees:

• May diagnose and treat mental health disorders and may work in private practice,
• But may not practice except under supervision, and
• Must use the designation “conditional” in all documentation and materials. (maine.gov)

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2. Education prerequisites

To qualify educationally for the XL license, the Board requires: (maine.gov)

• A graduate counseling degree of at least 60 semester credit hours, either:
  • A master’s degree in counseling that is CACREP‑accredited, or
  • A master’s counseling degree that meets specific coursework/content requirements in Board Rules Chapter 3, or
  • A doctoral degree in clinical psychology or counseling psychology from an American Psychological Association (APA) or Canadian Psychological Association‑accredited program.

Your program must also include a qualifying graduate clinical counseling internship (see next section).

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3. Required graduate clinical internship

The Board specifies two internship pathways, and they determine how many post‑degree supervised hours you must complete later:

1. Standard internship route (shorter supervised experience later)

   • A graduate clinical counseling internship of 900 hours.
   • With this internship, your XL license will be linked to a plan for 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience over at least two years. (maine.gov)

2. Reduced internship route (longer supervised experience later)

   • A graduate supervised clinical counseling internship of at least 600 clock hours (but not the 900‑hour internship referenced above).
   • In this case your XL license will be linked to a plan for 4,000 hours of supervised clinical experience over at least two years. (maine.gov)

In other words, you must have:

• Either: 900‑hour internship → later 3,000‑hour supervised experience plan
• Or: ≥600‑hour internship → later 4,000‑hour supervised experience plan

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4. National examination requirement

For conditional (XL) licensure, the Board requires a passing score on the National Counselor Examination (NCE) administered by NBCC/CCE. (maine.gov)

• You either submit proof of a passing NCE score with your application, or request approval to take the exam as part of the process.

(For full CC licensure later, you will also need to pass the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination—NCMHCE. (maine.gov))

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5. Supervision plan and supervisor qualifications

To be granted an XL license, you must file a “plan for supervision by an approved supervisor.” That plan must meet the supervised‑experience structure in Chapter 3, Section 4. (regulations.justia.com)

Who can be your supervisor?

Under Section 514‑3‑4(3), your supervisor must: (regulations.justia.com)

• Hold one of these licenses (not under suspension or probation):
  • Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC/CC),
  • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT/MF),
  • Licensed Pastoral Counselor (LP),
  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Certified Social Worker‑Independent Practice (CSW‑IP),
  • Licensed psychologist, or
  • Licensed psychiatrist; and
• Meet one of the following additional criteria:
  • At least 5 years of licensed practice, with no more than 2 of those years as an entry‑level conditional licensee; or
  • Certification by a national professional organization in training or supervision (for example, NBCC’s approved clinical supervisor credential); or
  • 30 contact hours of training in supervision plus at least 1 year of licensed practice at a level higher than entry‑level conditional.

The supervision plan you submit for XL must explicitly show how you will meet the required supervised‑experience hours (see Section 7 below).

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6. Application checklist for the XL license

According to the Board’s licensing page and Chapter 3 rules, an application for XL conditional licensure must include: (maine.gov)

1. Proof of education

   • Official graduate transcript documenting the qualifying 60‑credit degree.
   • If the program is not CACREP‑accredited: an Educational Worksheet and course syllabi.

2. Proof of internship

   • An Internship & Degree Verification Form completed by your graduate university.

3. Examination

   • Official documentation of a passing NCE score, or a request to sit for the exam.

4. Supervision plan

   • A Proposed Supervision Plan Form naming an approved supervisor and outlining:
     • That you will complete either the 3,000‑hour or 4,000‑hour supervised clinical counseling experience (depending on your internship), and
     • That supervision will meet the Board’s frequency and format requirements.

5. Disclosure statement

   • A proposed Disclosure Statement that complies with Chapter 8‑B (client bill of rights and disclosure). (regulations.justia.com)

6. License verifications and references

   • Official verifications for all professional licenses you have ever held (even if expired) in any jurisdiction.
   • Three professional reference letters on Board forms (per §514‑3‑5(1)(F)). (regulations.justia.com)

7. Application fee

   • The fee specified in Chapter 10 (fees rule). (regulations.justia.com)

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7. What your supervised experience must look like (hours and breakdown)

Once you hold the XL license, all post‑degree supervised clinical hours that will qualify you for full CC licensure must be earned during the period of conditional licensure, unless the Board grants a waiver. (regulations.justia.com)

The Board calls these required hours “supervised clinical counseling experience” and breaks them down as follows (Rule §514‑3‑4):

7.1 Standard route – 3,000 hours (for those with a 900‑hour internship)

If your qualifying degree included the Board’s 900‑hour graduate clinical counseling internship, you must complete: (regulations.justia.com)

• 3,000 total hours of supervised clinical counseling experience over not less than 2 years following your degree, while conditionally licensed.
  • At least 1,500 hours must be “direct clinical contact hours with individuals and groups.”
    • These are client‑facing hours: individual, couple/family, or group sessions and other direct therapeutic encounters.
  • At least 100 hours must be “clinical supervision” with your approved supervisor.
    • Supervision must occur “with substantial regularity” at approximately 1 hour of supervision per 30 hours of experience.
    • At least 50 of the 100 supervision hours must be individual supervision (one‑on‑one).
    • Your supervisor can provide up to 25 of those individual hours via live audio or videoconference instead of in‑person, as long as confidentiality is protected.

Practically, this structure means:

• Minimum 1,500 direct clinical hours
• Minimum 100 supervision hours (≥50 individual),
• The remaining ~1,400 hours may be indirect clinical activities (documentation, case consultation, treatment planning, training, etc.)—all within the “supervised clinical counseling experience” umbrella and under your supervisor’s oversight.

7.2 Alternate route – 4,000 hours (for those with only a 600‑hour internship)

If your qualifying degree did not include the 900‑hour internship but did include at least 600 clock hours of supervised clinical counseling internship, the Board requires a larger supervised‑experience package under §514‑3‑4(2): (regulations.justia.com)

• 4,000 total hours of supervised clinical counseling experience over not less than 2 years after your degree, while conditionally licensed.
  • At least 2,000 hours must be direct clinical contact with individuals and groups.
  • At least 150 hours must be clinical supervision with your approved supervisor.
    • Supervision must occur at about 1 hour per 27 hours of experience.
    • At least 75 of the 150 hours must be individual supervision.
    • Your supervisor may provide up to 38 individual supervision hours by live audio or videoconference.

Here the rough breakdown is:

• Minimum 2,000 direct clinical hours,
• Minimum 150 supervision hours (≥75 individual),
• The remaining ~1,850 hours as other supervised clinical counseling work.

7.3 General rules about how these hours are earned

Across both routes, the Board emphasizes that: (regulations.justia.com)

• All supervision must be by a Board‑approved supervisor who meets the specific qualifications above and is not related to you, not living with you, and not in a personal relationship with you.
• Supervision must be ongoing and regularly scheduled at roughly the required ratios (1:30 or 1:27).
• Both you and your supervisor must keep contemporaneous supervision records and produce them to the Board upon request.
• Supervisors must submit termination/evaluation reports when supervision ends or when your required hours are completed.

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8. Conditions and limits while you hold the XL license

Under §514‑3‑5 and the Board’s XL description, conditional licensees are subject to specific practice limits: (maine.gov)

• You may not practice except under supervision as defined by the Board.
• You may not change supervisors without prior written Board approval and a new proposed supervision plan.
• The supervisor must file a termination/evaluation report when:
  • There is a change of supervisor,
  • The supervisory relationship ends before hours are completed, or
  • You have completed all required supervised‑experience hours.
• You must always identify yourself as “Conditional Clinical Professional Counselor” or “XL (conditional)” in documentation and marketing materials.

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9. XL license term, renewal, and continuing education

The XL license is time‑limited. The Board states that: (maine.gov)

• The conditional license is issued for 2 years.
• It may be renewed twice, for a maximum 6‑year term (excluding periods in inactive status), to allow completion of supervised experience.
• Further renewal beyond 6 years is only allowed if the licensee shows “extenuating circumstances of genuine hardship” that prevented timely completion of hours.

For each 2‑year renewal period, XL licensees must complete: (maine.gov)

• 55 hours of continuing education, including:
  • At least 4 contact hours in ethics topics covered by the Code of Ethics (Chapter 7‑A), and
• One‑time requirement (first renewal only):
  • 12 contact hours in family or intimate partner violence, as required by Maine statute (Title 32 §13860).

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10. Transition from XL to full Clinical Professional Counselor (CC)

To move from the XL to the independent Clinical Professional Counselor (CC) license, the Board requires that you: (maine.gov)

• Hold the XL (or equivalent conditional clinical license) for at least 2 years,
• Complete the required supervised experience and supervision hours (3,000/1,500/100 or 4,000/2,000/150, depending on your internship),
• Pass the NCMHCE, and
• Submit a Supervisor’s Affidavit and documentation of 55 CE hours completed while conditional.

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In summary (hour structure in plain numbers)

For someone following the standard 900‑hour internship route, Maine’s Board‑defined hour requirements look like this:

• 900‑hour graduate clinical internship (pre‑licensure, as part of degree)
• Then, while holding the XL conditional license:
  • 3,000 hours total supervised clinical counseling experience, including:
    • 1,500 hours direct clinical client contact, and
    • 100 hours of clinical supervision (≥50 individual; ≈1 supervision hour per 30 hours of experience)

For someone whose degree included only a 600‑hour clinical internship, the supervised post‑degree requirement while holding XL becomes:

• 4,000 hours total supervised clinical counseling experience, including:
  • 2,000 hours direct clinical client contact, and
  • 150 hours of clinical supervision (≥75 individual; ≈1 supervision hour per 27 hours of experience)

All of these hours must be completed under a Board‑approved supervisor and within the timeframe of your XL conditional licensure, unless the Board grants a waiver. (regulations.justia.com)