Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1180-02-.02 - QUALIFICATIONS FOR LICENSURE

(1) Psychologist. For licensure as a Psychologist, educational requirements shall be met in one of the following ways:

(a) Documentation of a doctoral degree from an educational program which is listed in the latest edition of "Designated Doctoral Programs in Psychology", compiled jointly by ASPPB and CNRHSPP, shall be deemed adequate evidence that the applicant has fulfilled the academic requirements for licensure as a Psychologist. For HSP designation, only ASPPB/CNRHSP designated programs in clinical, counseling or school psychology, or professional programs combining the above three areas will meet the academic requirements.

(b) Documentation of a doctoral degree from a program designated as a professional psychology program (clinical, counseling, school and combined) by the Committee on Accreditation of the APA shall be deemed adequate evidence that the applicant has fulfilled the academic requirements for licensure as a Psychologist with designation as a HSP.

(c) For applicants who received their doctoral degree in psychology prior to January 1, 1982, and who have been licensed in good standing as a Psychologist and practicing psychology continuously since that time in another jurisdiction, the Board may consider equivalent training and experience upon petition for a waiver specifically requesting that the Board utilize its discretionary authority.

(2) Designation as a Health Service Provider. HSP includes the provision of supervision of health services to clients.

(a) Internship:

1. Any applicant for licensure as a Psychologist who intends to provide health services is required to complete a qualifying internship. A qualifying internship must be at least one (1) calendar year in duration and consist of no less than nineteen hundred (1900) hours in psychology at a site where health services are normally provided and which is part of an organized, integrated training program.

2. A qualified internship is an organized, planned, continuous training experience in a professionally recognized program which is well announced, formal in structure and is designed to provide nineteen hundred (1900) hours of predoctoral training under qualified supervision in professional psychology. A qualified internship shall be titled as an "internship" or "residency" program and must be sponsored by an institution or organization which has health service objectives and offers health services which are broader and more extensive than the training objectives and services of the internship program which it sponsors.

3. An intern may not simultaneously be an employee of the training institution or agency. On-the-job training or supervised work experience shall not be acceptable as an internship.

4. These internship requirements are separate from and in addition to any on-site practicum or any course work related practicum/laboratory regardless of how titled.

5. The internship shall occur after completion of all requirements for the doctoral degree except completion of the dissertation.

6. The full-time internship shall be for a period of one (1) year. A half-time internship shall be for a period of two (2) continuous years. The internship experience shall include a minimum of nineteen hundred (1900) hours.

7. Qualified supervision at the internship site shall be provided by at least two (2) licensed Psychologists with HSP designation or its equivalent by these rules.

(b) The internship requirements shall be met in one (1) of three (3) ways:

1. An internship program approved by the Committee on Accreditation of the APA; or

2. An internship program developed and administered by an internship center with membership in the APPIC; or

3. An internship program approved by the Board whose standards exceed or are substantially the same as the provisions of subparagraph (a).

(c) For those applicants who received their doctoral degree in psychology prior to January 1, 1982, and who have been licensed as a Psychologist and practicing psychology in good standing continuously since that time in another jurisdiction, the Board may consider equivalent training and experience upon petition for a waiver specifically requesting that the Board utilize its discretionary authority.

(d) Postdoctoral supervised experience. One (1) year of postdoctoral supervised experience, in addition to a qualifying internship, is required for licensure as a designated HSP. Criteria for the postdoctoral supervised experience are as follows:

1. The postdoctoral year must consist of a minimum of nineteen hundred (1900) hours of supervised experience. "Trainee" status is not required for the postdoctoral year of the required supervised experience. The ratio of supervision time to direct service time should be sufficient to ensure adequate learning, i.e. at least one (1) hour per week of individual supervision. It is required that the applicant will have completed the required postdoctoral supervised experience as follows:

(i) A minimum of nineteen hundred (1900) hours of creditable supervised experience must be under the direct supervision of a Psychologist with a designation of HSP.

(ii) It must consist of direct, formal contact with a senior licensed Psychologist with HSP designation who is responsible for the educational development and guidance of the supervisee. Excluded are classwork, practicum experience, or other course related experience.

(iii) The supervision must be face-to-face for the direct provision of health services in psychology by the applicant to individuals or groups of clients/patients. Supervision regarding administrative matters does not count toward the required one hour per week of individual supervision. An applicant's own personal growth experience, i.e., personal therapy or encounter groups, is not acceptable. Supervision of others is not acceptable except as set forth in subpart (iv).

(iv) Fellows in an APA or APPIC listed postdoctoral, post internship training program or full time tenure track faculty in a graduate training program in professional psychology may count group and individual supervision of psychology practicum students and APA or APPIC psychology interns toward their postdoctoral year experience requirement. The provision of such supervision must be part of a formal training program and the supervision provided must be supervised by a Psychologist with HSP designation.

(v) Upon completion of the supervised postdoctoral year, the supervising psychologist must attest to the supervisee having attained a satisfactory level of proficiency in psychological assessment, intervention, legal and ethical knowledge, and their applications. In addition, the supervisor(s) must report to the Board the frequency and nature of the supervision and types of clients seen.

2. Supervisors must meet the following qualifications:

(i) Supervisors must be licensed Psychologists with a designation of HSP.

(ii) The professional qualifications of each direct supervisor must be appropriate to the services rendered. Applicants must provide documentation of the qualifications of all direct supervisors identified in the application.

3. Applicants for HSP designation must fulfill requirements for postdoctoral supervision in one of the following ways:

(i) Applicants who obtain the required year of postdoctoral supervised experience in Tennessee must hold a provisional license. Only experience obtained under a provisional license will be applicable.

(ii) Applicants who obtain the supervised experience in a Tennessee, APPIC-listed or APA accredited, post-internship, postdoctoral fellowship training program are exempt from the requirement of holding a provisional license while in trainee status.

(iii) For applicants who received their doctoral degree prior to January 1, 1982 and have been continuously licensed in good standing and practicing since that time as a Psychologist in another jurisdiction, the Board may at its discretion waive the postdoctoral supervised year requirement.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1180-02-.02

Original rule filed June 6, 1978; effective July 6, 1978. Repeal and new rule filed January 20, 1994; effective April 5, 1994. Repeal and new rule filed August 29, 2000; effective November 12, 2000. Amendment filed August 29, 2000; effective November 12, 2000. Amendment filed December 16, 2005; effective March 1, 2006. Amendment filed July 27, 2006; effective October 10, 2006.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-202, 4-5-204, 63-11-104, 63-11-203 and 63-11-208.