201 Ky. Admin. Regs. 26:200

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 6, December 1, 2024

Section 201 KAR 26:200 - Education requirements

RELATES TO: KRS 319.050, 319.053, 319.064

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 319.032(1) (a) requires the Board of Examiners of Psychology to promulgate administrative regulations to establish requirements, standards, and tests to determine the moral, intellectual, educational, scientific, technical, and professional qualifications of applicants for licensure. KRS 319.050 establishes requirements for licensed psychologists. KRS 319.064 establishes requirements for licensed psychological associates. KRS 319.053(1)(c) requires an applicant for licensure as a licensed psychological practitioner to document at least sixty (60) hours of graduate study in psychology or a related field acceptable to the board. This administrative regulation establishes education requirements for licensure by the board.

Section 1. Psychology Degree Requirements. For purposes of licensure, a degree in psychology shall:

(1) Be from a recognized institution of higher learning as established in this administrative regulation;

(2) Be clearly identified by the granting institution as a psychology program wherever the program may be administratively housed;

(3) Be specified in pertinent institutional catalogs and brochures as intended to educate and train professional psychologists;

(4) Require a dissertation for the degree as psychological in method and content and an expected product of doctoral training in psychology;

(5) Require that any thesis required for the degree shall be psychological in method and content and an expected product of master's training in psychology;

(6) Stand as a recognizable, coherent, organized entity within the institution;

(7) Require within the psychology faculty clear authority and primary responsibility for the core and specialty areas whether or not the program cuts across administrative lines;

(8) Be an integrated, organized sequence of study;

(9) Require an identifiable psychology faculty and a psychologist responsible for the program;

(10) Require an identifiable body of students who are matriculated in that program for a degree; and

(11) Include educational experiences with titles, such as practicum, internship, or field training, including:

(a) For a doctoral degree, require a six (6) graduate semester-hour practica, three (3) hours of psychotherapy, counseling, or intervention and three (3) hours of assessment, excluding industrial and organizational psychology; or

(b) For a master's degree, require a minimum of 600 supervised hours in course-related field experience, practica, and formal internship, as part of the degree program.

Section 2. Psychology Curriculum Requirements.

(1) In determining the approval of curricular experiences and course work, the board shall consider:

(a) The duration of graduate study:

1. For a doctoral degree, a minimum of three (3) years, including a minimum of one (1) full academic year in residence at the institution, consisting of a minimum of 250 contact hours or its equivalent of curricular experiences and course work delivered through face-to-face in person context with other students and with faculty of the institution, without regard to the specific physical location in which the course work is conducted; or

2. For a master's degree, a minimum of forty-five (45) semester hours.

(b) In addition to instruction in scientific and professional ethics and standards, research design and methodology, statistics and psychometrics, the core program shall require each student to demonstrate competence by including a minimum of three (3) or more graduate semester hours (five (5) or more graduate quarter hours) in each of these four (4) areas:

1. Biological bases of behavior, including the subject matters of physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsychology, sensation and perception, and psychopharmacology;

2. Cognitive-affective bases of behavior, including the subject matters of learning, thinking, motivation, and emotion;

3. Social bases of behavior, including the subject matters of social psychology group process and organizational psychology and systems; and

4. Individual differences, including the subject matters of personality theory, human development, and abnormal psychology.

(c) In addition to the core program, the curriculum shall include appropriate course work in the specialty area of training. For candidates who seek to deliver or supervise psychological health services, the training shall include specific training in diagnosis, psychological testing, assessment of individual differences, and the design and implementation of appropriate intervention techniques, such as psychotherapy, counseling, and consultation.

(2) The applicant shall provide any relevant documentation requested by the board to confirm compliance with or satisfaction of the requirements of this administrative regulation.

(3) A deficiency in course work or other requirements shall be corrected by appropriate remedial work.

Section 3. Psychology Accreditation Requirements.

(1) A regionally accredited educational institution shall be accredited by one (1) of the following, or an equivalent accreditation entity:

(a) Southern Association of Colleges and Schools;

(b) Middle States Commission on Higher Education;

(c) Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools;

(d) New England Association of Schools and Colleges;

(e) North Central Association of Colleges and Schools;

(f) Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities;

(g) Northwest Accreditation Commission; or

(h) Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

(2) Accreditation shall include accreditation by one (1) of the associations established in subsection (1) of this section at:

(a) Level 3, master's degree granting accreditation;

(b) Level 4, doctoral degree granting accreditation; or

(c) Level 5, graduate or professional degree granting accreditation.

(3) Licensed psychological practitioner educational requirements.

(a) Graduate course work shall be related to psychological practice and may include independent study and distance learning. All graduate course work shall have been offered by a regionally accredited university meeting the standards described in this administrative regulation. Continuing education credits shall not qualify to meet this requirement.

(b) The applicant shall provide any documentation required by the board in the manner and form prescribed by the board to confirm compliance with or satisfaction of the requirements of this section.

(c) At the discretion of the board, any deficiency in course work or other requirements may be corrected by appropriate remedial work.

Section 4.

(1) A regionally-accredited educational institution shall be accredited by any one (1) of the following:

(a) Southern Association of Colleges and Schools;

(b) Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools;

(c) New England Association of Colleges and Schools;

(d) North Central Association of Colleges and Schools;

(e) North Western Association of Schools and Colleges; or

(f) Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

(2) Accreditation shall be by one (1) of the associations listed in this section at Level 3, master's degree granting accreditation.

201 KAR 26:200

8 Ky.R. 33; eff. 8-5-1981; 11 Ky.R. 1447; eff. 5-14-1985; 13 Ky.R. 239; eff. 9-4-1986; 14 Ky.R. 30; eff. 9-10-1987; 15 Ky.R. 1682; eff. 3-10-1989; 28 Ky.R. 1478; 1815; eff. 2-7-2002; 37 Ky.R. 1532; 1984; eff. 3-4-2011; 42 Ky.R. 507; 1719; eff. 12-16-2015; 43 Ky.R. 1831; 44 Ky.R. 34; eff. 7-17-2017; 45 Ky.R. 1335, 1463; eff. 1-23-2019; 47 Ky.R. 2058; 48 Ky.R. 323; eff. 8-26-2021.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 319.032, 319.053