Licencia: Psychologist, School

Department of Health Professions Board of Psychology

6606 West Broad Street

4th Floor

Richmond, VA 23230-1717

(804) 662-9908

Education Requirement: A. The applicant shall hold at least a master's degree in school psychology, with a minimum of at least 60 semester credit hours or 90 quarter hours, from a college or university accredited by a regional accrediting agency, which was accredited by the APA, NCATE or NASP, or shall meet the requirements of subsection B of this section. B. If the applicant does not hold a master's degree in school psychology from a program accredited by the APA, NCATE or NASP, the applicant shall have a master's degree from a psychology program which offers education and training to prepare individuals for the practice of school psychology as defined in _x0015_54.1-3600 of the Code of Virginia and which meets the following criteria: 1. The program is within an institution of higher education accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education, or publicly recognized by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada as a member in good standing. Graduates of programs that are not within the United States or Canada must provide documentation from a credential evaluation service acceptable to the board which demonstrates that the program meets the requirements set forth in this chapter. 2. The program shall be recognizable as an organized entity within the institution. 3. The program shall be an integrated, organized sequence of study with an identifiable psychology faculty and a psychologist directly responsible for the program, and shall have an identifiable body of students who are matriculated in that program for a degree. The faculty shall be accessible to students and provide them with guidance and supervision. The faculty shall provide appropriate professional role models and engage in actions that promote the student's acquisition of knowledge, skills and competencies consistent with the program's training goals. 4. The program shall encompass a minimum of two academic years of full-time graduate study or the equivalent thereof. 5. The program shall include a general core curriculum containing a minimum of three or more graduate semester hours or five or more graduate quarter hours in each of the following substantive content areas. a. Psychological foundations (e.g., biological bases of behavior, human learning, social and cultural bases of behavior, child and adolescent development, individual differences). b. Educational foundations (e.g., instructional design, organization and operation of schools). c. Interventions/problem-solving (e.g., assessment, direct interventions, both individual and group, indirect interventions). d. Statistics and research methodologies (e.g., research and evaluation methods, statistics, measurement). e. Professional school psychology (e.g., history and foundations of school psychology, legal and ethical issues, professional issues and standards, alternative models for the delivery of school psychological services, emergent technologies, roles and functions of the school psychologist). 6. The program shall be committed to practicum experiences which shall include: a. Orientation to the educational process; b. Assessment for intervention; c. Direct intervention, including counseling and behavior management; and d. Indirect intervention, including consultation. Experience Requirement: A. Internship requirement. 1. Candidates for clinical psychologist licensure shall have successfully completed an internship that is either accredited by APA, APPIC or the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology, or one that meets equivalent standards. 2. Candidates for school psychologist licensure shall have successfully completed an internship accredited by the APA, APPIC or NASP or one that meets equivalent standards. B. Residency requirement. 1. Candidates for clinical or school psychologist licensure shall have successfully completed a residency consisting of a minimum of 1,500 hours in a period of not less than 12 months and not to exceed three years of supervised experience in the delivery of clinical or school psychology services acceptable to the board, or the applicant may request approval to begin a residency 2. Supervised experience obtained in Virginia without prior written board approval will not be accepted toward licensure. Candidates shall not begin the residency until after completion of the required degree as set forth in 18VAC125-20-54 or 18VAC125-20-56. An individual who proposes to obtain supervised post-degree experience in Virginia shall, prior to the onset of such supervision, submit a supervisory contract along with the application package and pay the registration of supervision fee set forth in 18VAC125-20-30. 3. There shall be a minimum of two hours of individual supervision per week. Group supervision of up to five residents may be substituted for one of the two hours per week on the basis that two hours of group supervision equals one hour of individual supervision, but in no case shall the resident receive less than one hour of individual supervision per week. 4. Residents may not refer to or identify themselves as applied psychologists, clinical psychologists, or school psychologists; independently solicit clients; bill for services; or in any way represent themselves as licensed psychologists. Notwithstanding the above, this does not preclude supervisors or employing institutions for billing for the services of an appropriately identified resident. During the residency period they shall use their names, the initials of their degree, and the title, "Resident in Psychology," in the licensure category in which licensure is sought. 5. Supervision shall be provided by a psychologist licensed to practice in the licensure category in which the resident is seeking licensure. 6. The supervisor shall not provide supervision for activities beyond the supervisor's demonstrable areas of competence, nor for activities for which the applicant has not had appropriate education and training. 7. At the end of the residency training period, the supervisor or supervisors shall submit to the board a written evaluation of the applicant's performance. 8. The board may consider special requests in the event that the regulations create an undue burden in regard to geography or disability that limits the resident's access to qualified supervisors. C. For a clinical psychologist license, a candidate may submit evidence of having met the supervised experience requirements in a pre-doctoral practicum as specified in 18VAC125-20-54 D in substitution for all or part of the 1,500 residency hours specified in this section. If the supervised experience hours completed in a practicum do not total 1,500 hours, a person may fulfill the remainder of the hours by meeting requirements specified in subsection B of this section. D. Candidates for clinical psychologist licensure shall provide documentation that the internship and residency included appropriate emphasis and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of persons with moderate to severe mental disorders.