Maine Behavioral health Complaint Route

Authority and scope

Check the license and concern

Maine has separate boards for psychologists; counseling professionals; social workers; and alcohol/drug counselors. The counseling board’s license list includes professional counselors, clinical professional counselors, marriage/family therapists, pastoral counselors and conditional credentials. Psychology also lists psychological examiners. The social-work board covers licensed clinical social workers and other social-work levels. These boards sit within the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (OPOR) and provide the shared online complaint entry. Confirm the exact social-work or addiction credential before choosing the board.

Supporting guidance: Maine Psychology Board ↗Maine Counseling Professionals Board ↗Counseling board license categories ↗Maine Social Worker Board ↗Maine social-work license categories ↗Maine Alcohol and Drug Counselors Board ↗

Match the route to the credential

Use the license listed in the practitioner’s records or official license lookup. A psychiatrist is a physician; psychiatric nurses have nursing credentials. Some psychologists have prescribing authority, so medication alone does not identify the licensing board.

Choose the right licensing authority

Psychologists and psychological examiners

Separate board; shared OPOR procedure checked; conditional form requirements limited.

Open this official route ↗

Professional/clinical counselors, MFT and pastoral counselors

Counseling Professionals Board, including conditional credentials; shared OPOR procedure checked; conditional form requirements limited.

Open this official route ↗

Social workers, including clinical social workers

Separate board; confirm clinical or other license level and select that board in the shared OPOR form.

Open this official route ↗

Alcohol and drug counselors

Separate state credential board; shared OPOR procedure checked; conditional form requirements limited.

Open this official route ↗

Submission

Checked steps and filing details to confirm

Use OPOR’s File a Complaint link and select the board matching the credential. The public form asks for the licensee, license number, contact details, event chronology and supporting files, and includes an accuracy acknowledgment. It also has an unlicensed-practice option.
Describe dates, people and events concretely and attach relevant copies. Its instructions direct oversized-file questions to OPORcomplaints.PFR@maine.gov; the Complaint Office is 207-624-8660.
The online form has conditional healthcare questions that were not exercised. Ask OPOR which patient/representative authorization is needed before providing therapy records. Alternative delivery, notarization and the complete conditional record-release flow remain unverified.

Supporting guidance: OPOR: online consumer complaint form ↗

Limits

What this route may not provide

OPOR cannot order damages. Consent agreements may include voluntary restitution; civil penalties do not go to complainants. Facilities, insurers and private certifications may need other routes.

Supporting guidance: OPOR: administrative complaint procedure ↗

Anonymity

Do not guess about confidentiality

OPOR exchanges complaints/replies with the licensee. Pending investigations are generally confidential, then public subject to legal protections; treatment records stay confidential. The form requests identity; anonymous acceptance was not established.

Supporting guidance: OPOR: administrative complaint procedure ↗OPOR: online consumer complaint form ↗

Complaint timing

Ask promptly; document-exchange periods are separate

No filing deadline was established. OPOR requests a licensee response within 33 days and optional complainant reply within 15 days of receipt; these are processing periods, not filing or completion promises.

Supporting guidance: OPOR: administrative complaint procedure ↗

Process

What may happen after filing

After document exchange, committee review may lead to investigation, dismissal, consent agreement or hearing. The complainant is not a consent-agreement party.

Supporting guidance: OPOR: administrative complaint procedure ↗

Evidence

Prepare a reviewable submission

State the concern you want reviewed, give a short chronology and factual consequences, and explain your request. Keep supporting records and follow the receiving authority’s instructions before attaching or sending them.