Maine LP Requirements: Hours, Exams & Step-by-Step Guide

In Maine, the Licensed Pastoral Counselor (often abbreviated LPC by the Board, but described in statute as “licensed pastoral counselor”) is a full mental‑health clinical license with authority to diagnose and treat mental health disorders, equivalent in clinical status to Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists. (legislature.maine.gov)

Below is a structured walkthrough of what the Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure currently requires, with particular focus on hours and how the Board’s own rules describe them.

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1. Baseline statutory requirements

Under Maine Revised Statutes, Title 32, §13858(3‑A), an applicant for licensure as a licensed pastoral counselor must: (legislature.maine.gov)

• Be at least 18 years old and pass any exam the Board prescribes (general requirement for all counseling licenses). (legislature.maine.gov)
• Demonstrate “trustworthiness and competence” to practice counseling in a way that safeguards the public. (legislature.maine.gov)

For the pastoral counselor category specifically, the statute then layers on:

1. An approved degree and specific graduate training.
2. A minimum amount and type of direct clinical experience.
3. A specified amount and structure of supervision.
4. A religious “call to ministry”.
5. Successful completion of the Board’s examination. (legislature.maine.gov)

The Board’s Chapter 5 rules then flesh out how many hours and what kind of supervised experience you must accumulate. (regulations.justia.com)

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2. Education and clinical pastoral training

Statute requires that a pastoral counselor applicant must have: (legislature.maine.gov)

• A Master of Divinity (M.Div.) or Doctor of Divinity (D.Div.), or an equivalent degree approved by the Board, from an accredited institution or a program the Board approves.
• Academic preparation that includes:
  • At least 20 graduate credit hours in counseling and human relations.
  • 400 hours of clinical pastoral education (CPE).

These CPE hours are part of the educational core, not part of the post‑degree supervised experience totals described below, unless a particular employment/placement arrangement was both after degree conferral and under a conditional license and otherwise meets the Board’s supervised experience rules.

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3. Supervised experience: total hours and structure

The Board’s Chapter 5 rule, §514‑5‑5 (Supervised experience), sets the overarching hour requirements for Licensed Pastoral Counselors: (regulations.justia.com)

• You must complete 3,000 hours of supervised clinical counseling experience in pastoral counseling,
  • Accumulated over not less than 2 years after you earn the qualifying degree.
• Of those 3,000 hours, at least 1,000 hours must be “direct clinical client contact hours of pastoral counseling.”

The regulation states that supervision is to occur “with substantial regularity” across this period, and that the 3,000 hours include this minimum of 1,000 direct client-contact hours. (regulations.justia.com)

In short:

• Total supervised clinical counseling hours in pastoral counseling:
  3,000 hours minimum
• Within those 3,000 hours:
  • 1,000+ hours must be direct clinical client contact (face‑to‑face counseling work with clients).

The remaining hours (up to 2,000) can be other clinical counseling activities within pastoral counseling (e.g., documentation, case consultation, treatment planning, outreach activities closely tied to treatment), as long as they meet Board expectations under “clinical counseling experience” and occur within an approved supervised setting.

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4. What “direct clinical client contact hours of pastoral counseling” means

While the rules do not give a long narrative definition, the Board’s phrase “direct clinical client contact hours of pastoral counseling” is used in contrast to supervision and non-direct activities. (regulations.justia.com)

In practice, this typically means:

• Time spent directly providing counseling services to:
  • Individuals
  • Couples
  • Families
    as specifically referenced in the statute’s requirement for at least 1,000 hours of “direct clinical contact with individuals, couples and families.” (legislature.maine.gov)
• Sessions are usually:
  • In person, or
  • Real‑time telehealth/video, where allowed under Board and site policy.

These hours do not include:

• Supervision meetings
• Administrative meetings unrelated to cases
• Note‑writing done outside of session (unless the Board/your supervisor explicitly counts some limited portion as clinical time under agency/Bureau policies).

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5. Supervision hours: 200 hours with specific sub‑requirements

The statute requires that your clinical experience includes “two hundred hours of supervision” with a specific internal breakdown. (legislature.maine.gov)

5.1. Total supervision requirement

• Total supervision required: 200 hours. (legislature.maine.gov)

The Board’s Chapter 5 rule clarifies that: (regulations.justia.com)

• These 200 hours are part of your 3,000 supervised clinical counseling hours, not in addition to them.
• Your supervisor must be Board‑approved and must meet particular license and experience criteria (see Section 7 below).

5.2. Supervisory hours that must be with a certified pastoral counseling supervisor

The rules specify that: (regulations.justia.com)

• At least one‑third of the 200 supervision hours – that is, at least 67 hours – must be with a certified pastoral counseling supervisor approved by the Board.

5.3. Required types of supervision within the 200 hours

The statute breaks the 200 supervision hours into certain required categories: (legislature.maine.gov)

Within the 200 hours, you must have at least:

1. 30 hours of interdisciplinary supervision

   • This involves supervision which includes professionals from other disciplines (for example, social work, psychology, psychiatry, or other relevant fields) and is designed to ensure exposure to multiple professional perspectives.

2. 30 hours of individual supervision focusing on long‑term cases

   • Specifically, individual supervision by one supervisor of no more than three cases, followed from intake to termination.
   • These are in‑depth case‑focused hours designed to ensure you can carry pastoral counseling cases through a complete clinical process.

3. 70 hours of individual supervision of multiple case material

   • Supervision focused on a wider range of cases (more than the three long‑term cases above), still in a one‑to‑one supervisory format.

These three categories total 130 of the 200 required supervision hours. The remaining 70 hours can be allocated according to Board rules and your supervision plan (e.g., additional individual or group supervision) as long as they still meet the supervision standards.

5.4. Format of supervision (in‑person vs. tele‑supervision)

The rules allow the approved supervisor to participate in up to 50 hours of individual supervision via live audio or live videoconference instead of being physically present. (regulations.justia.com)

All remaining individual supervision must be in‑person or in whatever format the Board accepts as equivalent under current policy.

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6. When and how the supervised hours must be earned

The Board’s Chapter 5 rule is explicit that: (regulations.justia.com)

• The 3,000 supervised hours (including the 1,000 direct client hours and the 200 supervision hours) must be earned after you obtain the qualifying degree (M.Div., D.Div., or equivalent).
• These hours must be completed over a period of at least 2 years.
• The supervised experience must be earned during the applicant’s period of conditional licensure as a pastoral counselor.

In other words:

1. You complete your degree and required academic/practicum (including the 400 hours of clinical pastoral education).
2. You obtain a conditional pastoral counselor license from the Board (under Chapter 5, §514‑5‑6). (regulations.justia.com)
3. While holding this conditional license, you accumulate:
   • 3,000 supervised clinical counseling hours in pastoral counseling,
   • Of which at least 1,000 are direct client contact, and
   • 200 are structured supervision hours meeting the breakdown described above.
4. You then apply for full licensure as a Licensed Pastoral Counselor under §514‑5‑7, showing you have met all education, supervised experience, supervision, ministry call, and exam requirements. (regulations.justia.com)

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7. Who may supervise you

The Chapter 5 rules add specific supervisor qualifications for pastoral counseling supervision: (regulations.justia.com)

• Supervisors must be approved by the Board and:
  • May not be related to you, live with you, or have a personal relationship with you.
  • Must be one of the following Maine license types and not under suspension or probation:
    • Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
    • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
    • Licensed Pastoral Counselor
    • Licensed Clinical Social Worker
    • Certified Social Worker–Independent Practice
    • Licensed Psychologist
    • Licensed Psychiatrist
  • And they must meet at least one of these:
    • Licensed practice for at least 5 years (with some limits on counting entry‑level conditional practice),
    • National certification in training/supervision (e.g., recognized supervisor credential),
    • Or 30 contact hours of training in supervision plus at least one year of licensed practice at a level above conditional.

These requirements are independent of, and in addition to, the requirement that at least one‑third of your 200 supervision hours be with a certified pastoral counseling supervisor.

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8. Call to ministry / religious organization requirement

Beyond hours and training, statute requires evidence that your counseling work is genuinely part of ministry: (legislature.maine.gov)

• You must have a “call, appointment or charge” from a:
  • Church,
  • Synagogue,
  • Religious order, or
  • Other clearly defined legal religious organization
    to perform pastoral counseling services as a function of ministry.

The Board will typically require documentation from the religious body (letter of call, employment contract, etc.) to confirm this.

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9. Examination requirement

To finalize licensure, you must: (legislature.maine.gov)

• Successfully complete the examination prescribed by the Board for Licensed Pastoral Counselors.
• The exam is written and designed to test your fitness to practice counseling at the pastoral clinical level.
• The Board sets the passing score and holds exams at least twice per year.

You may initially be conditionally licensed while awaiting the exam, but you must pass it to obtain full licensure.

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10. Hour requirements summarized plainly

Putting all of the above into the kind of breakdown you asked for:

• Education / Training

  • M.Div. or D.Div. (or approved equivalent).
  • 20 graduate credits in counseling/human relations.
  • 400 hours of clinical pastoral education (as part of academic program).

• Post‑degree supervised experience (earned under conditional licensure)

  • Total supervised clinical counseling in pastoral counseling:
    • 3,000 hours minimum.
  • Within that 3,000 hours:
    • At least 1,000 hours must be direct clinical client contact (face‑to‑face or live telehealth counseling with individuals, couples, or families).
    • 200 hours must be formal supervision, with:
      • 67+ hours (at least one‑third) with a certified pastoral counseling supervisor.
      • 30+ hours interdisciplinary supervision.
      • 30+ hours of individual supervision following up to three cases from intake through termination.
      • 70+ hours of individual supervision reviewing multiple cases.
      • Remaining supervision hours allocated in line with Board rules and your supervision plan.
  • Minimum time frame: 2 years after the qualifying degree.

• Other requirements

  • Evidence of a formal call/appointment from a religious body to provide pastoral counseling as ministry.
  • Demonstrated ethical conduct and fitness to practice.
  • Successful completion of the Board’s licensing exam.
  • All supervised experience must be:
    • After the qualifying degree,
    • Under Board‑approved supervision, and
    • Completed during your period of conditional licensure as a pastoral counselor.

For the latest nuances (especially because an amended Chapter 5 took effect February 2, 2025 and some unofficial sites note that the updated text may lag online), it is wise to verify with the Maine Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure or the official Maine Government rules database before you submit an application or commit to a supervision plan. (regulations.justia.com)