License Requirements for Psychology

The practice of psychology or use of the title "psychologist" or terms "psychologist, psychology, or psychological" or any derivative thereof within New York State requires licensure as a psychologist, unless otherwise exempt under the law.

To be licensed as a psychologist in New York State you must:

• be of good moral character
• be at least 21 years of age
• meet education, examination, and experience requirements

Submit an application for licensure and the other forms indicated, along with the appropriate fee, to the Office of the Professions at the address specified on each form. It is your responsibility to follow up with anyone whom you have asked to send us material.

The specific requirements for licensure are contained in Title 8, Article 153, Sections 7603 and 7604 of New York's Education Law and Part 72 of the Commissioner's Regulations. The Rules of the Board of Regents on Unprofessional Conduct are available on this site (Part 29, Unprofessional Conduct).

You should also read the general licensing information applicable for all professions.

The fee for licensure is $294.

The fee for a limited permit is $70 (the limited permit fee is not refundable).

Fees are subject to change. The fee due is the one in law when your application is received (unless fees are increased retroactively). You will be billed for the difference if fees have been increased.

• Do not send cash.
• If you apply for licensure electronically using the online Application for Licensure, you will be required to pay by credit card.
• Other payments must be made by personal check or money order payable to the New York State Education Department. Your cancelled check is your receipt.
• Mail any required forms and fees to the indicated address on the form.

NOTE: Payment submitted from outside the United States should be made by check or draft on a United States bank and in United States currency; payments submitted in any other form will not be accepted and will be returned.

Individuals who withdraw their licensure application may be entitled to a partial refund.

• For the procedure to withdraw your application, contact the Psychology Unit at opunit5@nysed.gov or by calling 518-474-3817 ext. 592 or by fax at 518-402-5354.
• The State Education Department is not responsible for any fees paid to an outside testing or credentials verification agency.

If you withdraw your application, obtain a refund, and then decide to seek New York State licensure at a later date, you will be considered a new applicant, and you will be required to pay the licensure and registration fees and meet the licensure requirements in place at the time you reapply.

To meet the professional education requirement for licensure, you must:

• Have a doctoral degree in psychology that was granted on the basis of the completion of a doctoral program in psychology registered by the Department as licensure qualifying, or a doctoral program accredited by the American Psychological Association as a program in health service psychology, or determined by the Department to be the substantial equivalent in accordance with the Regulations of the Commissioner. You must meet the requirements in effect on the date you apply.
• Satisfy the Child Abuse Identification Reporting requirement by completing coursework or training in the identification and reporting of child abuse in accordance with Section 6507(3)(a) of the Education Law. See additional information and a list of approved providers for this training.

The doctoral programs in psychology in New York State that have been approved as licensure-qualifying should include that information in their course catalog. You may also find that information in the Inventory of Registered Programs compiled by the Office of Higher Education at http://www.nysed.gov/heds/IRPSL1.html.

To be determined to be the substantial equivalent of a New York State program registered as licensure qualifying, a program must be offered by an institution accredited by an accrediting organization acceptable to the Department or recognized by the appropriate civil authorities of the jurisdiction in which the school is located as an acceptable doctoral program in psychology. The program must be designed and conducted by the degree-granting institution to prepare graduates to practice professional psychology independently, and it must be shown to be the substantial equivalent to the requirements for the registration of a licensure qualifying doctoral program in psychology in New York State. The program must consist of at least three years of full-time study, or the part-time equivalent, and must include at least 30 semester hours of course work obtained at the doctoral degree-granting institution. The Department has determined that doctoral programs in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) are acceptable.

The program must be a doctoral program in psychology which requires at least three years of full-time study or the equivalent, including seminars, tutorials, or other graduate level coursework representing two years of full-time study or the equivalent and include:

• coursework in research, ethical and legal standards, individual and cultural diversity, professional values, attitudes and behaviors, communication and interpersonal skills, assessment and diagnosis, intervention, supervision, consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills, and
• one year of supervised practicum, internship, field experience, or applied research, which is appropriate to the practice of psychology as the practice is defined in Section 7601-A of Title 8 of the Education Law. To meet this requirement, a "practicum" must be the equivalent of an "internship."

You must present evidence satisfactory to the State Board for Psychology, of two years of full-time supervised experience (defined as 1750 clock hours per year) or the part-time equivalent, consistent with the scope of practice in psychology in Section 7601-A of the State Education Law.

No more than one year of full-time supervised experience or its equivalent, consisting of 1,750 clock hours completed as part of the internship required for the doctoral degree, may be submitted to meet the experience requirement. The remaining experience must be completed after receipt of the qualifying doctoral degree.

Your experience must consist of a planned programmed sequence of supervised employment or engagement in appropriate psychology activities performed in accordance with the definition of the practice of psychology provided above in Education Law §7601-A, and satisfactory in quality, breadth, scope and nature.

One year of the following types of experience may be accepted provided that it integrates psychological knowledge and application:

• A university approved doctoral level practicum, internship, field experience or applied research as long as the research experience is not a part of your dissertation or thesis requirement;
• Teaching psychology, as a university or college faculty member may be accepted provided it meets all the requirements for supervised experience.

Experience that is completed in New York must be in an authorized setting, as defined in the Commissioner's Regulations:

• The setting must provide services defined in the practice of psychology, as set forth in Section 7601-A of the NYS Education Law. This may include, but is not limited to:
  • a professional corporation, registered limited liability partnership, or professional service limited liability company authorized to provide services that are within the scope of practice of psychology;
  • a sole proprietorship owned by a licensee who provides services that are within the scope of his or her profession and services that are within the scope of practice of psychology;
  • a professional partnership owned by licensees who provide services that are within the scope of practice of psychology;
  • a program or service operated, regulated, funded, or approved by the Department of Mental Hygiene, the Office of Children and Family Services, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, the state Office for the Aging and the Department of Health or a local governmental unit as that term is defined in section 41.03 of the Mental Hygiene Law or a social services district as defined in section 61 of the Social Services Law;
  • an entity holding a waiver issued by the Department pursuant to section 6503- a or 6503-b of the Education Law to provide services that are within the scope of practice of psychology;
  • a program or facility authorized under federal law to provide services that are within the scope of practice of psychology; or
  • an entity authorized under New York law or the laws of the jurisdiction in which the entity is located to provide services that are within the scope of practice of psychology;
• provide psychological services as defined in Section 7601-A of NYS Education Law;
• provide supervision to you by a qualified psychologist responsible for the design, coordination, integrity and quality of your experience;
• provide a title for you that conforms to the requirements in Section 7605 of NYS Education Law that clearly designates your training status such as, "psychological intern or psychological trainee," or as "psychologist" if you hold a limited permit;
• provide a title that meets the conditions of Section 17-A of Chapter 676 of the Laws of 2002 when you provide services in a program authorized under that section, which does not include the word "psychology, psychological, or psychologist", and
• accept responsibility for your services while securing licensure-qualifying experience.

Acceptable experience must consist of a continuous experience. Experience in academic settings must consist of a continuous within a period of not less than one semester and, in the case of teaching experience, must consist of not less than six credit hours per semester.

Acceptable full-time experience gained prior to January 1, 1998 may consist of no more than 35 hours a week. For experience gained on or after January 1, 1998, full-time experience may consist of 35 to 45 hours a week.

Full-time experience must consist of at least 35 hours per week, and not more than 45 hours per week.

Acceptable part-time experience must consist of at least 16 hours, but no more than 34 hours a week and must be gained in a minimum of two days a week.

Supervision must be provided by a psychologist licensed in the jurisdiction where the supervised experience occurs. The supervisor must be the owner of, employed by, or be a consultant to the entity in which the experience occurs. In all settings in New York State, including exempt settings, as defined in section 7605(1) of the Education Law, the supervisor must be licensed and registered to practice psychology under Article 153 of the Education Law or have qualifications satisfactory to the department, based on a review of factors which include but are not limited to: educational attainment of the supervisor and position held by the supervisor.

For experience to be acceptable, the following requirements must be met:

1. For every full-time experience, supervision must occur weekly and must include at  least one hour per week of individual, face-to-face supervision pertaining to services you provided and one additional hour of supervision which must be either face-to-face supervision, group supervision, seminars or workshops, or apprenticeship activities.
2. For every part-time experience you must have two hours of supervision within every two-week period, one hour of which must be face-to-face supervision; and one  hour that must be either face-to-face supervision, group supervision, seminars or workshops, or apprenticeship activities .
3. Face-to-face supervision as used in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph may utilize technology acceptable to the Department, including secure video-conferencing to protect confidentiality.

You must pass the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) developed by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) with a converted score of at least 75 as determined by the State Board for Psychology. New York State will only require EPPP (Part 1 – Knowledge) as a basis for licensure. EPPP (Part 2-Skills) has not been adopted in New York State.

To be eligible to sit for the examination you must:

• apply for licensure with the Department,
• pay the fee for initial licensure and the first registration, as prescribed in Education Law; and
• present satisfactory evidence of having  had a doctoral degree in psychology conferred and your education verified and approved by the Department.

When the Department has determined your eligibility, we will send notice of your eligibility to the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB). Once ASPPB receives your information, you will receive an automated email from eppp@asppb.org notifying you that you can go online to register for the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP).

Follow the instructions in the email to create an on-line account. You must create the on-line account when you receive the email. You do not have to take the exam when you create the on-line account. After you establish your on-line account, you may take the exam whenever you choose. For more information go to: www.asppb.net/?page=EPPPSignup.

The examination is administered by:

Pearson Vue
Pearson Vue EPPP Helpline
Toll free: 800-513-6910
Toll: 952-905-7369
Mon.-Fri. 8 AM- 8 PM EST

NOTE: New York candidates may only take this exam four times a year.

For further information regarding the examination contact Pearson Vue (above) or ASPPB:

Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards
P.O. Box 3079
Peachtree City, GA 30269
Phone: 678-216-1175

Reasonable Testing Accommodations

To receive special accommodations for the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) you must:

• Indicate your need for reasonable testing accommodations by checking the appropriate box in item 21 of the Application for Licensure (Form 1) and send the Form 1, application fees and any other required application-related supporting documentation to the Office of the Professions at the address on the form. We will forward the Reasonable Testing Accommodations request form to you. (You can also request the form directly from the Bureau of Professional Examinations at opexams@nysed.gov, by calling (518) 474-3817 ext. 290, by fax at (518) 473-8577 or print it from our Web site.)
• Complete the Reasonable Testing Accommodations request form and submit it and the required reasonable testing accommodation documentation to the New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions at the address on the form.
• Complete the Special Accommodations Notification Form included with the examination application materials you receive from Pearson Vue and forward it with your examination application.

NOTE: If you are requesting reasonable accommodations, do not attempt to schedule a test appointment before forwarding your reasonable accommodations documentation and being informed that your request has been approved by New York State.

If you are licensed in another jurisdiction, you must file a complete application for licensure and have supporting forms submitted to the Department. The Department may accept an examination that has been used for licensure in another jurisdiction. If you have taken the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) and have received a score that is at or above the passing scaled score adopted by New York State for that administration of the examination, you should ask the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards to send your score to the Department. If your jurisdiction did not use the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology, you may ask them to submit a copy of the examination that you took to the Department. It will be reviewed to determine if it is comparable in content to the examination used by New York State.

You should submit Form 3 to all jurisdictions where you are or have been licensed and request that each jurisdiction complete the form.

New York State does not accept the Certificate of Professional Qualification (CPQ) for licensure purposes.

Licensure by Endorsement
An applicant seeking endorsement of a license in psychology issued by another jurisdiction must present evidence of having completed 5 years of licensed practice in the 10 years prior to applying for licensure in New York State. You must have been licensed in the other jurisdiction by meeting the following requirements:

• be at least 21 years of age;
• hold a doctoral degree in psychology that at the time of completion qualified you for licensure as a psychologist in the other jurisdiction;
• complete supervised experience in psychology that qualified you for initial licensure in the other jurisdiction; and
• pass an examination acceptable to the New York State Education Department for the practice of psychology.

You must be of good moral character, as determined by the Department, and complete the required course work in the identification and reporting of child abuse or the exemption from such course work, as required in Section 6507(3) of the Education Law.

If you cannot certify 5 years of acceptable post-licensure experience in the 10 years prior to applying for a New York State license, you are not eligible for licensure by endorsement and must apply as an applicant for initial licensure. If your initial license in Psychology was issued by a jurisdiction that does not have significantly comparable licensure requirements to New York State, you will need to submit all the documentation required of an applicant for initial licensure, so that the Education Department can determine whether your qualifications are substantially equivalent to New York State's licensure requirements.

To apply for licensure by endorsement you must submit:

• an Application for Licensure (Form 1) along with the $294 fee and identify the licensed colleague(s) in the other jurisdiction(s) that will attest to your 5 years of licensed practice; and
• a Certification of Professional Education (Form 2); and
• verification of your licensure status from the jurisdiction in which you were initially licensed, and from any other jurisdiction in which you are or have been licensed. Each licensing authority must complete and submit a Verification of Other Professional Licensure/Certification (Form 3); and
• a Certification of Licensed Experience (Form 4F) completed and submitted by the licensed psychologist or other licensed colleague in that jursidction who is attesting to your 5 years of post-licensure experience within the last 10 years.

In addition, you must have ASPPB submit your EPPP-1 examination scores to the Department. No other examination is acceptable (see Examination section).

The Department may issue a limited permit to practice as a psychologist to an applicant:

1. who needs to gain the supervised experience required to meet the experience requirement for licensure (Form 5A). In order to apply for a limited permit, you must have:
   • completed all doctoral degree requirements, including your doctoral dissertation, and
   • met all other licensure requirements, including moral character, except for the examination and/or professional experience requirements.

   A permit holder must work under the supervision of a New York State licensed and currently registered psychologist. A limited permit must be valid for a period of not more than 12 months. At the discretion of the Department and upon submission of a permit application and prescribed fee for each permit, the permit may be extended for no more than two additional 12-month periods. The time authorized by such permits must not exceed an aggregate of more than three years. The one-year extensions may be granted for good cause as determined by the Department.

   You may apply for a limited permit at the same time or any time after you submit your Application for Licensure (Form 1) and initial licensure fee.

   OR

2. holding a certificate or license to practice psychology issued in another state or country (Form 5B)
   • with qualifications that have been approved for admission to the examination for licensure,
   • who has resided in this state for a period of not more than six months prior to filing of such application and;
   • whose education, experience and proof of residency has been received and approved by the Department.

   The limited permit must be valid for a period of not more than 12 months, or until 10 days after notification to the applicant of failure of the professional licensing examination or until the results of a licensing examination for which the applicant is eligible are officially released, whichever comes first.