201 KAR 26:200. Education requirements for licensure as a psychologist

      Section 1. For purposes of licensure, a doctoral 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) Stand as a recognizable, coherent, organized entity within the institution;

      (6) 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;

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

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

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

      (10) Require in areas of training for psychologists who deliver or supervise psychological health services, educational experiences with titles such as practicum, internship, or field training.

 

      Section 2. (1) In determining the approval of curricular experiences and course work, the board shall consider compliance with the requirements established in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subsection.

      (a) The curriculum shall encompass a minimum of three (3) academic years of full-time graduate study.

      (b) A minimum of one (1) full academic year shall be spent in residence at the institution. The year in residence shall consist 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.

      (c) 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;

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

      (d) In addition to the core program, the curriculum shall include course work in the specialty area of training. For candidates who seek to deliver or supervise psychological health services, that 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) A deficiency in course work or other requirements shall be corrected by appropriate remedial work.

 

      Section 3. (1) A regionally accredited educational institution shall be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools New England Association of Colleges and Schools, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, North Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or 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 Level 4 (doctoral degree granting accreditation) or at Level 5 (graduate or professional degree granting accreditation). (8 Ky.R. 33; eff. 8-5-81; Am. 11 Ky.R. 1447; eff. 5-14-85; 13 Ky.R. 239; eff. 9-4-86; 14 Ky.R. 30; eff. 9-10-87; 15 Ky.R. 1682; eff. 3-10-89; 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.)

Notation

      RELATES TO: KRS 319.050

      STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 319.032, 319.050(2)(b)

      NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 319.050(2)(b) requires that to obtain licensure, a psychologist shall have a doctoral degree in psychology from a regionally accredited educational institution. This administrative regulation establishes requirements for licensure as a psychologist.