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 and of good moral character. 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 or a doctoral degree deemed by the board to be the equivalent thereof. Pursuant to rule 4732-9-01.1 of the Administrative Code, persons with doctoral degrees in a field other than psychology or school psychology shall be eligible for an equivalent degree review by the board relative to the indicia of equivalence specified in paragraphs (A) to (F) of this rule, if application is made, including evidence of an earned doctoral degree, within three years of the effective date of this rule. In addition, all applicants shall have had at least two years of supervised professional experience in psychological work of a type satisfactory to the board, at least one year of which shall be postdoctoral. With regard to such requirements, the board hereby further prescribes that:

(A) In order for a doctoral degree completed after September 1, 1982, in a field other than psychology or school psychology from an educational institution holding full accreditation status at the time the degree was awarded to be deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree in psychology from such an educational institution, such degree shall include only graduate coursework completed prior to award of the doctorate and, in addition, shall:

(1) Be from a program accredited by the “American Psychological Association, Committee on Accreditation” or listed in the directory “Doctoral Psychology Programs Meeting Designation Criteria” published and/or made available to the public at www.nationalregister.org under the auspices of the “Association of State and provincial Psychology Boards”; or

(2) Comply with the following indicia of equivalence:

(a) The applicant supplies the board with his/her dissertation title, abstract, bibliography and the names and professional qualifications of the dissertation committee members, at least one of whom must be a psychologist or other qualified faculty member according to criteria available from the board office. The board examiner shall determine whether the dissertation is psychological in nature; and

(b) The curriculum shall encompass a minimum of the university’s standard of full-time graduate study for three academic years or the equivalent. This curriculum shall involve at least one academic year of full-time enrollment in residence at the university from which the degree was granted. The curriculum shall include credit for at least sixty-three quarter hours or forty-two semester hours of formal graduate study, excluding thesis, dissertation and internship credit, relevant to the study of psychology. At least fourteen quarter hours or nine semester hours shall be taken in the psychology department of the educational institution granting the doctoral degree. Acceptable academic work shall include examination and grading procedures designed to evaluate the degree of mastery of the subject matter by the student. The curriculum shall include instruction in paragraphs (A)(2)(b)(i) to (A)(2)(b)(iv) of this rule, and the applicant’s transcript(s) shall include a minimum of five graduate quarter hours or three graduate semester hours in foundation courses providing a broad base of knowledge in each of four of the five substantive content areas named in paragraphs (A)(2)(b)(v) to (A)(2)(b)(ix) of this rule. For courses taken after July 15, 2002, the applicant’s transcript(s) shall include five graduate quarter hours or three graduate semester hours in each of the content areas named in paragraphs (A)(2)(b)(i) to (A)(2)(b)(iv) of this rule and must also include five graduate quarter hours or three semester graduate semester hours in each of four of the five substantive content areas named in paragraphs (A)(2)(b)(v) to (A)(2)(b)(ix) of this rule.

(i) Scientific and professional ethics and standards of psychology

(ii) History and systems of psychology

(iii) Research design and methodology

(iv) Statistics and psychometrics

(v) Biological bases of behavior, e.g., physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsychology, sensation and perception, psychopharmacology

(vi) Cognitive-affective bases of behavior, e.g., learning, thinking, motivation, emotion, and related higher intellectual functions

(vii) Social bases of behavior, e.g., social psychology, theory of group processes, socio-moral development

(viii) Individual differences, e.g., personality theory, human development, abnormal psychology, assessment methodology

(ix) Industrial/organizational behavior, e.g., personnel training/selection, labor relations, consumer behavior, work motivation, organizational and systems theory; and

(i) The training shall include didactic and practica experiences in skills related to the professional work such as psychological assessment (use of group and individual psychological tests) and interventional procedures which may include, but not be limited to, counseling and psychotherapy, behavior modification, and psychological consultation. Appropriate training experiences may be considered toward meeting requirements of paragraph (H) of this rule; and

(ii) The psychological services offered in these training experiences shall be consistent with guidelines such as those proposed in the “General Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services” as adopted and published by the “American Psychological Association”; and

(d) Coursework taken in a department other than the psychology department shall be evaluated by the board examiner to determine whether it is psychological in nature, using the following criteria in such evaluation:

(i) The content of the course was psychological in nature as evidenced by the course syllabi including textbook(s) with authors, a notarized statement from the professor verifying course content, or a written statement from the professor verifying course content, or a written statement, verifying the psychological content of the course, from the university or college offering the course; and

(ii) The instructor of the course was a licensed psychologist or licensed school psychologist, or possessed a diploma from the “American Board of Professional Psychology,” or held a doctoral degree from the psychology department or in a school psychology program of an accredited educational institution or could otherwise demonstrate competency in the subject area of the course; or

(3) Be from a program approved by this board as a specific degree program that is recognized as meeting academic requirements for admission to the examination for a psychologist license. (Information about such programs is available by writing or calling the board office.)

(B) In order for a doctoral degree awarded on or before September 1, 1982, in a field other than psychology or school psychology from an educational institution holding full accreditation status at the time the degree was awarded to be deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree in psychology from a fully accredited educational institution, the degree shall include only graduate coursework, excluding thesis, dissertation and internship credit, completed prior to award of the doctorate and, in addition, shall:

(1) Be from a program accredited by the “American Psychological Association, Committee on Accreditation”; or

(2) Comply with the following indicia of equivalence:

(a) The applicant supplies the board with his/her dissertation title, abstract, bibliography, and the names and professional qualifications of the dissertation committee members. The board examiner shall determine whether the dissertation is psychological in nature; and

(b) The applicant’s official transcript(s) of graduate credits demonstrates that the applicant achieved, in addition to credit awarded for any internship or thesis or dissertation, ninety quarter hours or sixty semester hours at the graduate level; sixty-three of the quarter hours or forty-two of the semester hours shall consist of courses designated by the educational institution as psychology courses or courses deemed to be equivalent thereto by the board. A course shall be deemed equivalent to a psychology course if:

(i) The content of the course was psychological in nature as evidenced by the course syllabi including textbook(s) with authors, a notarized statement from the professor verifying course content, or a written statement, verifying the psychological content of the course, from the university or college offering the course; and

(ii) The instructor of the course was a licensed psychological or licensed school psychologist, or possessed a diploma from the “American Board of Professional Psychology,” or held a doctoral degree from the psychology department or in a school psychology program of an accredited educational institution, or could otherwise demonstrate competency in the subject area of the course; or

(3) Be from a program approved by this board as a specific degree program that was recognized as meeting academic requirements for admission to the examination for a psychologist license. (Information about such programs is available by writing or calling the board office.)

(C) A doctoral degree in psychology or any other field from an educational institution in the United States holding “candidate for accreditation” status at the time the degree was awarded shall be evaluated for equivalence to a doctoral degree in psychology from an educational institution holding full accreditation status. Any consideration under this paragraph shall be limited to a doctoral degree awarded within six years after the date on which the educational institution achieved “candidate for accreditation” status and awarded within three years of the effective date of this rule.

(D) In order for a doctoral degree completed after September 1, 1982, in a field other than psychology or school psychology from an educational institution holding full accreditation status at the time the degree was awarded to be deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree in school psychology from a fully accredited educational institution, the degree shall include only graduate course work, excluding thesis, dissertation and internship credit, completed prior to award of the doctorate, and, in addition, shall:

(1) Be from a program accredited as a school psychology program by the “American Psychological Association, Committee on Accreditation,” or be from a school psychology program approved by the “National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education”; or

(2) Comply with the following indicia of equivalence:

(b) The applicant’s official transcript(s) of graduate coursework shall demonstrate that the applicant achieved, in addition to credit awarded for any internship or thesis or dissertation, sixty-three quarter hours or forty-two semester hours of formal graduate study relevant to the study of school psychology; and

(c) The graduate coursework relevant to the study of school psychology shall include at least three graduate quarter hours or two graduate semester hours in ten of the following eleven areas:

(i) Psychology of human development (includes cognitive development and skills)

(ii) Psychology of learning

(iii) Psychology of personality

(iv) Standardized group measurement and evaluation

(v) Statistics and research design

(vi) The psychoeducational evaluation of children using individual testing techniques including practicum experiences

(vii) The educational implications and remedial techniques based on psychoeducational evaluation

(viii) Counseling and interviewing techniques

(ix) Family functioning and therapy

(x) Biological bases of behavior, e.g., physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsychology, sensation and perception, psychopharmacology

(xi) Ethics of school psychology and laws related to the practice; and

(d) The coursework relevant to the study of school psychology shall include at least three graduate quarter hours or two graduate semester hours in three of the following five areas:

(i) The role and function of the school psychologist

(ii) Curriculum in the schools

(iii) The purposes and organizations of schools

(iv) Educational administration

(v) Remedial instruction in educational disability; and

(e) Coursework shall be evaluated by the board examiner to determine whether it is school psychological in nature, using the following criteria in such evaluation:

(i) The content of the course was school psychological in nature as evidenced by the course syllabi including textbook(s) with authors, a notarized statement from the professor verifying course content, or a written statement, verifying the school psychological content of the course, from the university or college offering the course; and

(ii) The instructor of the course was a licensed psychologist or licensed school psychologist or possessed a diploma from the “American Board of Professional Psychology” or held a doctoral degree from the psychology department or in a school psychology program of an accredited educational institution, or could otherwise demonstrate competency in the subject area of the course; and

(f) The training shall include one academic year of internship training experiences, which total at least nine months’ work with a minimum of thirty-five hours per week, or an equivalent amount of experience in part-time work.

(i) These supervised experiences shall include relevant training in the application of skills related to the specialty of school psychology in areas such as psychological assessment (use of group and individual psychological tests) and interventional procedures which may include, but not be limited to, counseling and psychotherapy, behavior modification, and school psychological consultation; and

(iii) The above internship may be considered toward meeting requirements of paragraph (H) of this rule.

(E) In order for a doctoral degree completed on or before September 1, 1982, in a field other than psychology or school psychology from an educational institution holding full accreditation status at the time the degree was awarded to be deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree in school psychology from a fully accredited educational institution, the degree shall include only graduate coursework completed prior to award of the doctorate and, in addition, shall:

(2) Comply with the following indicia of equivalence:

(b) The applicant’s official transcript(s) of graduate coursework shall demonstrate that the applicant achieved, in addition to credit awarded for any internship or thesis or dissertation, ninety quarter hours or sixty semester hours at the graduate level, sixty-three of the quarter hours or forty-two of the semester hours shall consist of courses designated by the educational institution as school psychology courses or courses deemed to be equivalent by the board, and those courses shall include courses in the areas as required in paragraphs (B)(1) and (B)(2) of rule 4732-9-02 of the Administrative Code. A course shall be deemed equivalent to a school psychology course where the applicant demonstrates that it meets the requirements described in paragraph (D)(2)(e) of this rule.

(F) A doctoral degree in school psychology or any other field from an educational institution holding “candidate for accreditation” status at the time the degree was awarded is evaluated for equivalence to a doctoral degree in school psychology from an educational institution holding full accreditation status. Consideration under this paragraph shall be limited to a doctoral degree awarded within six years after the date on which the educational institution achieved “candidate for accreditation” status and awarded within three years of the effective date of this rule. In order to be deemed equivalent, the doctoral degree shall include only graduate coursework completed prior to award of the doctorate and, in addition, shall comply with:

(1) The same indicia of equivalence as described in paragraph (D)(2) of this rule if the doctoral degree was completed after September 1, 1982; or

(2) The same indicia of equivalence as described in paragraph (E)(2) of this rule if the doctoral degree was completed on or before September 1, 1982.

(G) Consideration is also given under paragraphs (A) to (F) of this rule for graduate coursework completed or any graduate degree earned at an educational institution during the twenty-four months immediately preceding:

(1) Accreditation of the educational institution as described in paragraphs (E) and (F) of rule 4732-3-01 of the Administrative Code;

(2) Accreditation of the doctoral program by the “American Psychological Association, Committee on Accreditation” or as a school psychology program by the “National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education”; or

(3) The listing of the doctoral program in “Doctoral Psychology Programs Meeting Designation Criteria,” published under the auspices of the “Association of State and provincial Psychology Boards.”

(H) 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 practica coursework.

(2) The training experience for the required two years (each to include at least eighteen hundred hours of work in psychology) may occur in more than one setting but must include each year a minimum of fifteen hundred hours in the trainee’s applied area(s). In order to qualify for this requirement, the training experience shall follow adequate didactic and practicum preparation.

(3) Work in the applied area(s) must include at least three hundred seventy-five hours of the trainee’s time in direct client contact for each of the required two years.

(4) The professional experience shall come under the supervision of a supervisor who is either:

(a) A psychologist or a school psychologist licensed by this board; or

(b) A psychologist or a school psychologist licensed by another state, territory, the District of Columbia, or Canada when the supervised experience took/takes place in that other jurisdiction or the psychologist or the school psychologist is/was practicing legally in Ohio; or

(i) If the person has filed an official application for licensure with the state board of psychology, the application has been approved by the board examiner, passing the oral examination is the only remaining requirement, and the person is under umbrella supervision of an Ohio psychologist or school psychologist;

(ii) When the supervisee is/was (during the supervised period):

(a) Working in a state with no licensing requirements; or

(b) An employee of the federal government and, therefore, exempt from licensing requirements.

(5) The individual face-to-face supervision of such professional training experience shall be no less than five per cent of the weekly client contact time and shall meet all the supervision requirements described in rules 4732-13-01, 4732-13-02, 4732-13-03, and 4732-13-04 of the Administrative Code.

(6) The supervised professional experience shall be such that it occurs in the applied branch of one of the recognized areas of psychology. Teaching and research involving the professional practice of psychology in which client welfare is directly affected shall be acceptable under this rule.

(a) The teaching of graduate courses and research components at the graduate level should relate to courses or investigations concerning the professional practice of psychology or school psychology. Credit for teaching any one course shall be limited to three terms.

(b) The teaching and research components shall not exceed thirty per cent of the required eighteen hundred hours each year.

(c) The teaching and research shall not count as a substitute for the direct client contact hours as described in paragraph (H)(3) of this rule.

(7) Applicants who have fully or partially completed the required two years of supervised professional experience in psychological work of a type satisfactory to the board, prior to April 1, 1991, shall be credited with the time completed as shown on supervisor’s notarized statement(s) to the board. Any experience completed after that date shall comply with all other requirements in paragraph (H) of this rule.

(I) Any professional experience engaged in by an applicant within this state on and after December 1, 1972, during which time he/she either offered or rendered services as a psychologist or otherwise engaged in the practice of psychology for a compensation or other personal gain shall not, unless it comes under one of the exemptions from licensure described in paragraph (B) of rule 4732-5-02 of the Administrative Code, be counted toward fulfillment of the professional experience requirement described in paragraph (H) of this rule.

Effective: 05/01/2007

R.C. 119.032 review dates: 07/26/2009

Promulgated Under: 119.03

Statutory Authority: 4732.06

Rule Amplifies: 4732.06, 4732.10, 4732.15

Prior Effective Dates: 9/10/76, 2/15/82, 3/21/88, 7/1/91, 7/1/92, 1/17/97, 2/1/98, 3/1/99, 1/1/01