Ohio Admin. Code 4732-9-01

Current through all regulations passed and filed through December 9, 2024

Section 4732-9-01 - Requirements for admission to the examination for a psychologist license

The requirements for admission to the examination for a psychologist license, which are generally set forth under division (B) of section 4732.10 of the Revised Code, include that the applicant be at least twenty-one years of age. In addition, he/she shall have received from an accredited (see paragraphs (E) and (F) of rule 4732-3-01 of the Administrative Code) educational institution an earned doctoral degree in psychology or school psychology. In addition, all applicants shall have had at least two years (thirty-six hundred hours total) of supervised professional experience in psychological work of a type satisfactory to the board. Applicants seeking admission to examination under division (B)(2)(a) of section 4732.10 of the Revised Code shall provide evidence of an earned doctoral degree from a program holding accreditation or designation from an entity listed in divisions (B)(2)(a)(i) to (B)(2)(a)(iv) of section 4732.10 of the Revised Code, and one of the two years of supervised experience shall be a pre-doctoral internship. Applicants with a doctoral degree in a non-applied branch of psychology from a regionally accredited institution who subsequently earn a certificate of specialty retraining from a clinical, counseling, or school psychology program holding program accreditation from the American psychological association, office of program consultation and accreditation, or the Canadian psychological association office of accreditation at the time the certificate is earned shall also be deemed in possession of a qualifying academic degree under this rule. For applicants seeking admission to examination under division (B)(2)(b) or (B)(2)(c) of section 4732.10 of the Revised Code, at least one year of the two years of supervised experience shall be post-doctoral. In addition, graduates of doctoral programs accredited by one of the entities listed in divisions (B)(2)(a)(i) to (B)(2)(a)(iv) of section 4732.10 of the Revised Code within two years of when the applicant was awarded the doctoral degree shall be considered graduates of an accredited or designated program. With regard to such requirements, the board hereby further prescribes that:

(A) For persons seeking admission to examination under division (B)(2)(b) or division (B)(2)(c) of section 4732.10 of the Revised Code, the two years of supervised professional experience in psychological work of a type satisfactory to the board, at least one year of which shall be subsequent to attainment of the doctoral degree required by this rule, shall comply with all of the following requirements:

(1) Psychological training supervision shall provide a sequence of experiences to enhance professional attitudes, responsibility, communication skills, critical judgment and technical skills. These training experiences shall follow appropriate educational preparation, including both didactic and practical coursework. Training is a planned, structured, and programmed sequence of professionally supervised experiences following the completion of all doctoral program coursework during which: the primary training method is experiential (supervised psychological service delivery); the training includes socialization into the profession; and, the training is augmented by modalities such as mentoring, didactic exposure, role-modeling, and observational learning;

(2) The training occurs in a practice, agency, institution, or other setting which has among its functions the provision of psychological or school psychological services;

(3) A clearly designated licensed psychologist or school psychologist at the placement site is directly responsible for the integrity and quality of the training experience, and specifies training objectives in terms of the competencies expected of those completing a training placement;

(4) The training site has at least one licensed psychologist or school psychologist licensed by a state or provincial board of psychology who serves as the primary supervisor of the trainee, with an obvious presence in the agency, clear availability to the trainee's clients/patients, and responsibility for the cases being supervised;

(5) On average, no less than twenty five per cent of the weekly placement time shall be scheduled as face-to-face patient/client contact;

(6) On average, weekly individual face-to-face supervision devoted to the trainee's cases shall be provided at a ratio of no less than one hour per twenty hours on site;

(7) A minimum of seventy-five per cent of the supervision shall be provided by a supervisor who is either: a psychologist or school psychologist licensed by this board; or, a psychologist or school psychologist licensed by another state, territory, the District of Columbia, or Canadian province when the supervised experience took/takes place in that other jurisdiction or the psychologist or school psychologist is/was practicing legally in Ohio; no more than twenty five per cent of the individual supervision may be provided by licensed allied mental health professionals, such as but not limited to psychiatrists, professional clinical counselors, or clinical social workers; or, a post-doctoral trainee eligible for licensure as a psychologist and conducting supervision of the trainee under an umbrella supervision arrangement with a licensed psychologist or licensed school psychologist;

(8) There shall be on average at least one additional hour per week in learning activities such as: additional individual or group supervision; case conferences or grand rounds; didactic consultations with psychologists, school psychologists, or other appropriate mental health professionals; guided professional readings; seminars; or, co-therapy with a licensed psychologist or school psychologist, or other appropriate professional;

(9) For psychological trainees employed as faculty members and others in settings in which research is conducted, graduate-level teaching and research involving the professional practice of psychology in which client welfare is directly affected shall be acceptable under this rule if specified as part of a written training plan administered by a licensed psychologist or board licensed school psychologist supervisor and if in compliance with the following:

(a) Research projects and the teaching of graduate courses shall relate to courses or investigations concerning the professional practice of psychology or school psychology;

(b) The teaching and research shall be part of a planned and organized post-internship training experience under the supervision of a licensed psychologist or school psychologist;

(c) The teaching and research shall not count as a substitute for the required direct client contact hours;

(d) The teaching and research components shall not exceed thirty per cent of the total training time for any given training experience.

(B) Persons making application for licensure as a psychologist under division (B)(2)(a) of section 4732.10 of the Revised Code shall complete a minimum of two years (a total of thirty six hundred hours) of supervised psychological experience of a type satisfactory to the board. Psychological training supervision shall provide sequential and increasingly complex and independent experiences to assure an organized and planned development of: attitudes and identity as a professional psychologist; professional, ethical, and legal responsibilities; communication skills; critical judgment; and, competencies in the broad areas of interpersonal skills, psychological assessment, psychological interventions, and ethical decision making. Training experiences shall follow developmentally appropriate academic and technical preparation. In addition, persons making application for licensure under division (B)(2)(a) of section 4732.10 of the Revised Code shall comply with the following requirements:

(1) Pre-doctoral internship. The experience required herein shall be a pre-doctoral internship deemed satisfactory by the board as evidenced by:

(a) Successful completion of an internship program holding accreditation from the American psychological association (APA) commission on accreditation or a program holding membership in the association of psychology postdoctoral and internship centers (APPIC), or accredited by the Canadian psychological association, as evidenced by documentation in a manner prescribed by the board; or,

(b) Successful completion of an internship similar in structure and substance to an internship described in paragraph (B)(1)(a) of this rule, which shall be pre-approved by the doctoral program director of training or designee, documented in a manner prescribed by the board, and judged by the board to satisfy the following requirements:

(i) The internship shall be a minimum of fifteen hundred hours and a maximum of two thousand hours completed in no less than twelve months (or nine months for school psychology internships) and no more than twenty four months;

(ii) The internship experience provides a planned, structured, and programmed sequence of professionally supervised experiences that are characterized by greater depth, breadth, and intensity than pre-internship graduate program-based training;

(iii) The internship has a clearly designated doctoral level psychologist, or a school psychologist, licensed by the psychology board in the jurisdiction in which the internship exists who is responsible for the integrity and quality of the internship and who has an obvious presence in one (or more) of the training site(s);

(iv) No less than twenty-five per cent of the intern's time shall be documented as face-to-face psychological services to patients/clients;

(v) Regularly scheduled individual weekly face-to-face supervision is provided at a ratio of no less than one hour for every twenty internship hours; no less than seventy-five per cent of the supervision required in this paragraph shall be provided by a supervisor who is either: a licensed psychologist or school psychologist licensed by this board; or, a psychologist or school psychologist licensed by the psychology licensing board in another state, territory, the District of Columbia, or Canadian province when the supervised experience took/takes place in that other jurisdiction or the psychologist or school psychologist is/was practicing legally in Ohio; no more than twenty-five per cent of the individual supervision required in this paragraph may be provided by licensed allied mental health professionals as deemed appropriate by the psychologist specified in paragraph (B)(1)(b)(iii) of this rule, such as but not limited to psychiatrists, professional clinical counselors, or clinical social workers; or, a post-doctoral trainee eligible for licensure as a psychologist and conducting supervision of the intern under an umbrella supervision arrangement with a licensed psychologist or licensed school psychologist;

(vi) Supplemental individual or group supervision in excess of the minimum ratio required is encouraged, and may be provided by a psychologist, licensed school psychologist, other appropriate licensed mental health professional, or a psychology trainee under an umbrella supervision arrangement. Supplemental supervision under this paragraph is not subject to the percentage requirements, and may not replace the individual face-to-face supervision requirements, in paragraph (B)(1)(b)(v) of this rule;

(vii) Telepsychology, as that term is defined in paragraph (S) of rule 4732-3-01 of the Administrative Code, may be used in the provision of psychological training supervision only if using synchronous audiovisual communication and if conducted in accord with the requirements set forth in paragraph (B)(20) of rule 4732-13-04 of the Administrative Code;

(viii) The internship provides an average minimum of two hours per week in didactic activities such as case presentations, seminars, in-service training, guided readings in professional psychology, or additional individual or group supervision in excess of the minimum ratio described in paragraph (B)(1)(b)(v) of this rule;

(ix) In internship settings at which there is only one intern, the psychologist or school psychologist specified in paragraph (B)(1)(b)(iii) of this rule is responsible for ensuring that the intern has a sufficient breadth of experiences and role models through scheduled and planned professional interactions with other psychological trainees, psychologists, school psychologists, and/or allied mental health professionals; these experiences may include, but shall not necessarily be limited to, participation in grand rounds or other didactic experiences in local health care settings, structured interactions with peer groups in local internships, and case consultations.

(x) Graduate-level teaching and research involving the professional practice of psychology in which client welfare is directly affected shall be acceptable under this rule if specified as part of a written training plan administered as part of the internship if in compliance with the following:

(a) Research projects and the teaching of graduate courses shall relate to courses or investigations concerning the professional practice of psychology or school psychology;

(b) The teaching and research shall be part of a planned and organized training experience under the supervision of a licensed psychologist or school psychologist;

(c) The teaching and research shall not count as a substitute for the required direct client contact hours;

(d) The teaching and research components shall not exceed thirty per cent of the total internship training time.

(2) In addition to the required pre-doctoral internship, a second sequence of supervised training experience(s) to complete the required thirty six hundred hour sequence shall be met through: full-time or part-time post internship (including post-doctoral) training; a combination of qualifying doctoral program training placements; or, a combination of doctoral program placements and post-internship experiences, as evidenced by compliance with the following:

(a) Successful completion of a postdoctoral psychology training program accredited by the APA commission on accreditation or holding membership in APPIC, as evidenced by documentation in a manner prescribed by the board; and/or,

(b) Successful completion of a training experience subsequent to the internship, and consistent with the internship criteria listed in paragraphs (B)(1)(b)(i) to (B)(1)(b)(x) of this rule; this experience may occur at the same site as the qualifying internship or at a different site; and/or,

(c) Successful completion of a sequence of doctoral program training placements which shall comply with the following:

(i) Doctoral program training placements that will serve in partial fulfillment of a minimum sixteen hundred hour training sequence shall:

(a) Follow academic coursework of a minimum of forty eight semester hours or seventy two quarter hours taken for academic credit with an evaluation of satisfactory or better; students having credit from a master's or doctoral program in applied psychology or school psychology and evidenced on graduate program transcript(s) may have said credit count toward the minimum coursework required in this paragraph, so that the pre-internship training sequence may commence, if approved by the director of training or designee; and,

(b) Follow introductory practicum experience(s) in applied professional psychology of a minimum duration of four hundred hours to be evidenced on graduate transcript(s), approved by the director of training or designee, and documented in a manner prescribed by the board; said practicum hours may include, but are not necessarily limited to intervention, assessment, supervision, didactic and support hours; doctoral students having graduate degree credits from a master's or other doctoral program in applied professional psychology or school psychology, and evidenced on graduate transcript(s) may have said practicum experience serve in full or partial fulfillment of the four hundred hours required in this paragraph, so that the pre-licensure training sequence may commence; and,

(ii) Doctoral program training placements that will serve in partial fulfillment of a minimum sixteen hundred hour training sequence are planned, structured, and programmed experiences, which occur outside of the classroom setting and involve the trainee's direct delivery of supervised psychological services in a practice, agency, institution, counseling center, graduate training clinic, or other setting approved by the director of training or designee;

(iii) Training placements are made and/or approved in advance by the doctoral program director of training or designee;

(iv) A clearly designated licensed psychologist or board-licensed school psychologist is directly responsible for the integrity and quality of the training experience, and specifies training objectives in terms of the competencies expected of the trainee;

(v) There is a clearly identifiable licensed psychologist or board-licensed school psychologist who serves as the primary supervisor of the trainee, with clear availability to the trainee's clients/patients, and responsibility for the cases being supervised;

(vi) To ensure adequate intensity and continuity of training experiences, doctoral training placements generally reflect a defined placement of no less than thirty weeks with a weekly on site presence of no less than fifteen hours; training placements or assignments of shorter or longer duration, including but not limited to psychotherapy cases and time-limited assessments or consultations, under the direction of the director of training or designee, can serve as components of a planned, sequenced training program;

(vii) On average, no less than twenty five per cent of the weekly training placement time shall be face-to-face patient/client contact;

(viii) On average, weekly face-to-face supervision devoted to the trainee's cases shall be provided at a ratio of no less than one hour per ten hours on site; no less than one hour per week, and no less than fifty per cent of the supervision required in this paragraph, shall be individual supervision provided by a supervisor who is either: a psychologist or school psychologist licensed by this board; or, a psychologist or school psychologist licensed by the psychology licensing board in another state, territory, the District of Columbia, or Canadian province when the supervised experience took/takes place in that other jurisdiction or the psychologist is/was practicing legally in Ohio; the remaining face-to-face supervision required in this paragraph may be individual or group supervision provided by a psychologist or school psychologist as defined above, or provided by licensed allied mental health professionals as deemed appropriate by the psychologist or school psychologist specified in paragraph (B)(2)(c)(iii) of this rule, such as but not limited to psychiatrists, professional clinical counselors, or clinical social workers; or, individual supervision provided by a pre-doctoral intern or post-doctoral trainee eligible for licensure as a psychologist and conducting supervision of the trainee under an umbrella supervision arrangement with a licensed psychologist or licensed school psychologist.

(ix) Supplemental individual or group supervision in excess of the minimum ratio required is encouraged, and may be provided by a psychologist, licensed school psychologist, other appropriate mental health professional, or a psychology trainee under an umbrella supervision arrangement. Supplemental supervision under this paragraph is not subject to the per cent requirements, and may not replace the face-to-face supervision requirements, in paragraph (B)(2)(c)(viii) of this rule;

(x) Telepsychology, as that term is defined in paragraph (S) of rule 4732-3-01 of the Administrative Code, may be used in the provision of psychological training supervision only if using synchronous audiovisual communication and if conducted in accord with the requirements set forth in paragraph (B)(20) of rule 4732-13-04 of the Administrative Code;

(xi) There shall be on average at least one additional hour per week in learning activities such as: additional face-to-face individual supervision; group supervision; case conferences or grand rounds; didactic consultations with psychologists or other appropriate licensed mental health professionals; guided professional readings; seminars; or, co-therapy with a licensed psychologist or other appropriate professional;

(xii) Training placements include regularly scheduled and documented interaction concerning the trainee's progress between primary psychologist or licensed school psychologist supervisor and the director of training at the graduate program or designee; or,

(d) Persons completing the internship but not completing the remainder of the thirty six hundred hour requirement by complying with paragraph (B)(1)(a), (B)(1)(b), or (B)(1)(c) of this rule shall complete one or more post-internship (including but not limited to post-doctoral) training experience(s), which shall comply with the following:

(i) A post-internship (including post-doctoral) training experience of an abbreviated duration when prescribed, planned, and administered by a licensed psychologist or school psychologist licensed by the psychology board in the jurisdiction where the experience occurs, is an allowable component of a license-preparatory sequence of part-time experiences;

(ii) The post-internship training occurs in a practice, agency, institution, or other setting which has among its functions the provision of psychological or school psychological services;

(iii) The post-internship training is a planned, structured, and programmed sequence of professionally supervised experiences during which: the primary training method is experiential (supervised psychological service delivery); the training includes socialization into the profession; and, the training is augmented by modalities such as mentoring, didactic exposure, role-modeling, and observational learning;

(iv) A clearly designated licensed psychologist or school psychologist at the placement site is directly responsible for the integrity and quality of the training experience, and specifies training objectives in terms of the competencies expected of those completing a training placement;

(v) The training site has at least one licensed psychologist or school psychologist who serves as the primary supervisor of the trainee, with an obvious presence in the agency, clear availability to the trainee's clients/patients, and responsibility for the cases being supervised;

(vi) On average, no less than twenty five per cent of the weekly placement time shall be scheduled as face-to-face patient/client contact;

(vii) On average, weekly individual face-to-face supervision devoted to the trainee's cases shall be provided at a ratio of no less than one hour per twenty hours on site.

(viii) Telepsychology, as that term is defined in paragraph (S) of rule 4732-3-01 of the Administrative Code, may be used in the provision of psychological training supervision only if using synchronous audiovisual communication and if conducted in accord with the requirements set forth in paragraph (B)(20) of rule 4732-13-04 of the Administrative Code.

(ix) A minimum of seventy-five per cent of the supervision shall be provided by a supervisor who is either: a psychologist or school psychologist licensed by this board; or, a psychologist or school psychologist licensed by another state, territory, the District of Columbia, or Canadian province when the supervised experience took/takes place in that other jurisdiction or the psychologist or school psychologist is/was practicing legally in Ohio; no more than twenty five per cent of the individual supervision may be provided by licensed allied mental health professionals, such as but not limited to psychiatrists, professional clinical counselors, or clinical social workers; or, a post-doctoral trainee eligible for licensure as a psychologist and conducting supervision of the trainee under an umbrella supervision arrangement with a licensed psychologist or licensed school psychologist;

(x) There shall be on average at least one additional hour per week in learning activities such as: additional individual; or group supervision; case conferences or grand rounds; didactic consultations with psychologists, school psychologists, or other appropriate mental health professionals; guided professional readings; seminars; or, co-therapy with a licensed psychologist or school psychologist, or other appropriate professional;

(xi) For psychological trainees employed as faculty members and others in settings in which research is conducted, graduate-level teaching and research involving the professional practice of psychology in which client welfare is directly affected shall be acceptable under this rule if specified as part of a written training plan administered by a licensed psychologist or board licensed school psychologist supervisor and if in compliance with the following:

(a) Research projects and the teaching of graduate courses shall relate to courses or investigations concerning the professional practice of psychology or school psychology;

(b) The teaching and research shall be part of a planned and organized post-internship training experience under the supervision of a licensed psychologist or school psychologist;

(c) The teaching and research shall not count as a substitute for the required direct client contact hours.

(d) The teaching and research components shall not exceed thirty per cent of the total training time for any given training experience.

(C) Senior Canadian psychologists. Persons making application for licensure under division (B)(2)(d) of section 4732.10 of the Revised Code shall, in order to be exempt from supervised experience rules of the board and requirements to evidence a passing score on the examination for professional practice in psychology, shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the board:

(1) Evidence of active, current, unrestricted independent licensure as a psychologist from a United States or Canadian psychologist licensing board and evidence of unrestricted psychologist licensure for a minimum total of ten years prior to the application being filed with the board;

(2) Receipt of an earned doctoral degree in psychology or school psychology from an academic institution recognized by national or regional accrediting agencies as maintaining satisfactory academic standards, which served as the academic degree on which a current, active psychologist license was issued by a Canadian psychology licensing board; or,

(3) Receipt of an earned masters degree in psychology from an academic institution recognized by national or regional accrediting agencies as maintaining satisfactory academic standards, which served as the academic degree on which a current, active psychologist license was issued by a Canadian psychology licensing board under a "grandfather" statute, which is generally in force during the first several years of the issuing board's being granted legislative authority to regulate the profession of psychology;

(4) Evidence, in a manner prescribed by the board, that there has been no disciplinary action taken by any state or provincial psychology board limiting, suspending or revoking the right to practice psychology, or evidence of license surrender in lieu of disciplinary proceedings or action;

(5) No fewer than three written professional letters of reference, at the discretion of the board, from licensed psychologists or other mental health professionals deemed appropriate by the board, attesting to and documenting the applicant's work as a psychologist, spanning a minimum of ten years, and the applicant's areas of expertise, interest, and/or professional psychological competence;

(6) Once the candidate is deemed to meet these requirements by the entrance examiner, the candidate shall earn a passing score on the examination required pursuant to paragraph (E) of rule 4732-11-01 of the Administrative Code before a license will be issued.

(D) U.S. license reciprocity. Pursuant to section 4732.12 of the Revised Code, a psychologist independently licensed by the licensing department of another state, territory, or the District of Columbia shall be issued a license as a psychologist if the board determines the following requirements are met:

(1) The applicant has been licensed as a psychologist for at least one year preceding the date of submission of the application and has been actively engaged in the practice of psychology for at least one of the five years immediately preceding submission of the application.

(2) Pursuant to division (B) of section 4796.22 of the Revised Code, the applicant's license issued by another state, a territory, or the District of Columbia required evidence of all of the following consistent with the national standard:

(a) An earned doctoral degree in psychology from an accredited (see paragraphs (E) and (F) of rule 4732-3-01 of the Administrative Code) educational institution;

(b) A minimum of three thousand hours of supervised experience in the practice of psychology; and

(c) A passing score on the examination for professional practice in psychology (EPPP) at the national standard pass point published by the association of state and provinicial psychology boards.

(3) The applicant earns a passing score on the jurisprudence examination specified in paragraph (E) of rule 4732-11-01 of the Administrative Code.

(4) The applicant complies with requirements for a criminal records check specified in rule 4732-9-04 of the Administrative Code.

Ohio Admin. Code 4732-9-01

Effective: 12/31/2023
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 9/1/2024
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 4732.06
Rule Amplifies: 4732.02, 4732.10, 4732.12
Prior Effective Dates: 12/03/1977, 09/01/1981, 10/01/1990, 07/15/2000, 11/29/2004, 05/01/2007, 01/08/2010, 12/06/2010, 11/07/2011, 06/08/2015, 01/16/2017, 08/27/2018, 03/21/2022, 11/04/2022