Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 510 - RULES OF STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS OF PSYCHOLOGISTS
Chapter 510-2 - LICENSURE BY EXAMINATION
Rule 510-2-.05 - Internship and Postdoctoral Supervised Work Experience
Universal Citation: GA Rules and Regs r 510-2-.05
Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 23, 2024
(1) Requirements. In order to satisfy the experience requirement for licensure the applicant must have completed an internship and a postdoctoral supervised work experience (SWE).
(2) Definitions.
(a) An Intern is a person who is engaged in the predoctoral year of applied experience in a psychological internship.
(b) An Internship is an organized, coherent set of training experiences in the specialty/concentration area of the practice of psychology (i.e., clinical, counseling, school, mental retardation/developmental disability or industrial/organizational psychology) that are characterized by greater depth, breadth, duration, frequency, and intensity than practicum training and is either APA or CPA accredited or meets the equivalency criteria set by the Board.
1. An applicant who was enrolled in an APA or CPA approved program prior to May of 2003, and who was a student in good standing, will be deemed to have met the above noted internship requirement, and,
2. Provided the applicant completed/graduated from the program within a seven (7) year period from the date of enrollment.
(c) An Internship Site is a setting in which an internship occurs and is either a hospital, accredited school, university, consulting firm, public agency, public or private organization, or public or private practice.
(d) A Fellow is a person who is engaged in completing a postdoctoral supervised work experience or a post-doctoral fellowship.
(e) A Postdoctoral Supervised Work Experience (SWE) is 1500 hours of individually supervised experience following the internship and the completion of the doctoral degree.
(f) An Internship or Postdoctoral Supervisor (internship/SWE Supervisor) is a psychologist who oversees an internship or SWE and who meets both of the following requirements below:
1. Possesses current licensure issued by the Georgia Board of Examiners of Psychologists or current licensure issued by a psychology board in another jurisdiction whose standards are not lower than those of Georgia; and
2. Is not currently under the terms of a disciplinary order against the professional license issued by the Georgia Board of Examiners of Psychologists or licensure issued by any other state or jurisdiction.
(g) A Senior Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychologist is a person who has earned a Ph.D. in I/O psychology or a related field within the discipline of psychology, and who:
1. Meets the educational requirements for licensure of I/O psychologists; and
2. Has completed five years of independent practice concentrated in one or more of the following domains:
(i) Employee Selection and Placement;
(ii) Performance Management;
(iii) Human Factors and Engineering Psychology;
(iv) Organization Development; and
(v) Training and Development. Fulfillment of this practice requirement shall be documented by three other psychologists, who are licensed and are members of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, who attest to the nature and extent of the candidate's expertise and work experience, and to the quality of work; and
3. Provides documentation of achievement and competence in the practice of I/O psychology. Fulfillment of this requirement shall be documented by provision of descriptions of three separate and organizationally significant interventions in the domains listed above for which the applicant had primary responsibility for all phases including: problem definition, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. For each intervention, a 1-2 page narrative description must be submitted. The description must include a summary of each phase and the name, address, and telephone number of a person from the client organization whom the Board could contact for additional information, if necessary.
(h) A Non-Licensed I/O Supervisor is a person who has an earned Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychology or a related field within the discipline of psychology who is not licensed, but may also qualify by meeting the following requirements:
1. Five years of practice in Industrial/Organizational psychology; and
2. Submission of three references to the Board from other psychologists, attesting to the nature of his or her area of expertise, work experience, and quality of work. At least one reference must be from a psychologist who is a current or former direct supervisor.
(i) A Non-Licensed MR/DD Supervisor is a person who has an earned Ph.D. in mental retardation/ Developmental Disabilities (MR/DD) psychology or a related field within the discipline of psychology but who is not licensed may also qualify by meeting the following requirements:
1. Five years of practice in MR/DD psychology; and
2. Submission of three references to the Board from other psychologists, attesting to the nature of his/her area of expertise, work experience, and quality of his/her work. At least one reference must be from a psychologist who is a current or former direct supervisor.
(j) A Secondary Supervisor is a person who oversees no more than 20% of an internship or SWE. For interns, the secondary supervisor must be affiliated with an internship program. All secondary supervisors must meet the following requirements:
1. Current licensure by the State of Georgia or by a licensing board in another jurisdiction in Psychology, Medicine (Psychiatry, Neurology, or other relevant medical field); and,
2. Pre-approval (in writing) by the primary internship/SWE supervisor.
3. Is not currently under the terms of a disciplinary order against the professional license issued by the Georgia Board of Examiners of Psychologists or licensure issued by any other state or jurisdiction.
(3) Supervisor-Intern/Fellow Relationship.
(a) Supervisory relationships are governed by the Code of Ethics in Chapter 510-4. The internship/SWE supervisor may not be an employee of an agency which is headed by the supervisee, nor be employed by an entity in which the supervisee has an interest.
(b) The internship/SWE supervisor shall not take primary supervisory responsibility for more than three interns or fellows concurrently without Board approval. Industrial/Organizational supervisors are not limited to three interns or fellows, but for each intern or fellow the I/O supervisor must spend a minimum of two supervision hours for each 40 hours the intern or fellow works.
(c) The internship/SWE supervisor shall:
1. Co-sign all written reports of interns or unlicensed fellows;
2. Co-sign insurance claims with the intern or unlicensed fellow;
3. Assure that claims to third-party payers clearly reflect who rendered the service;
4. Assure that the intern or fellow:
(i) Informs clients/patients of the supervisor-intern/fellow relationships; and
(ii) Informs clients/patients that they may confer with the internship or postdoctoral supervisor about any aspect of the services provided.
(4) Internship Requirements.
(a) General Standards: The general standards for an internship will be met when one of the following is fulfilled:
1. Completion of an APA or CPA accredited or Association of Psychology and Internship Centers (APPIC) member internship of at least 2000 hours; or
2. Completion of a non-APA or non-CPA accredited or APPIC member internship which complies with the following criteria:
(i) The internship must be completed in no less than 11 months and no more than 24 months after its inception. I/O internships must be completed in 48 months. In cases of disability or hardship, the Board, in its sole discretion, may permit exceptions to this requirement.
(ii) The internship consists of 2000 hours of organized training experiences appropriate to the academic program specialty area.
(iii) The intern must spend at least 500 hours in direct contact with clients/patients. I/O Interns are exempt from this requirement.
(iv) The intern must have completed a minimum of 60 semester hours of graduate course work in psychology prior to the inception of an internship.
(v) Supervised program activities (practica) for which course credit is awarded may not be used to satisfy any internship hours.
(vi) The internship must provide training in a range of assessment and treatment/intervention activities conducted directly with persons or organizations who receive psychological services.
(vii) The administrative director of the internship site or its training director shall, upon request of the Board, furnish a written statement of the internship's goals, its content, and the criteria by which the quality and quantity of the intern's work will be evaluated.
(viii) At least 80% of the internship supervision must be provided by one or more licensed psychologists. Final evaluations by supervisors must indicate satisfactory completion of the internship.
(ix) The intern must use a title which identifies a trainee status, i.e., "intern", or "resident".
(x) Prior to the inception of the internship, the internship supervisor(s), university doctoral program training director or designate and intern must enter into a written internship agreement that specifies the goals and nature of the training experiences. Upon completion of the internship, the intern and internship supervisor(s) must sign the agreement and confirm thereby that the internship has been completed satisfactorily.
3. Applicants who are Senior Industrial/Organizational Psychologists will be deemed to have met the internship requirements for licensure.
(b) Internship Supervision.
1. The Internship Supervisor must approve the Intern's workload, which must be sufficient to afford the Intern appropriate experience but must not be so great as to impair his/her ability to provide competent service to clients/patients.
2. The internship supervisor must require the intern to maintain a file on each client, or of his/her work progress in the case of I/O interns. The intern must update each file no less than once each month with a current summary of client contacts and with a rationale for the procedures that were used.
3. The internship supervisor must limit the intern's activities to the application of assessment, treatment and/or intervention techniques, and methodology which the supervisor is qualified to utilize.
4. The internship supervisor shall hold primary responsibility for the intern's assessment procedures and treatment and/or intervention programs. An intern should be notified as soon as possible if his/her performance is unsatisfactory.
5. All fees for services shall be paid directly to the internship agency or directly to the supervisor.
(c) Specialty Areas. In addition to the general standards for internships enumerated above, internships in the specialty areas of clinical, counseling, school, I/O and in MR/DD psychology must meet the requirements delineated in the following section. Specialty areas are defined by the doctoral program described on the applicant's transcript. A clinical psychology specialty is defined by an earned doctoral degree with a concentration in clinical psychology. A counseling psychology specialty is defined by an earned doctoral degree with a concentration in counseling psychology. A school psychology specialty is defined by an earned doctoral degree with a concentration in school psychology. An industrial/organizational specialty is defined by an earned doctoral degree with a concentration in industrial/organizational psychology. A mental retardation/developmental disabilities specialty is defined by an earned doctoral degree with a substantial program of study in the specialized area of mental retardation or developmental disabilities psychology.
1. Clinical Psychology and Counseling Psychology Internships.
(i) Internship supervisors must be staff members of the internship site, or an affiliate thereof, who carry clinical responsibility for the cases being supervised.
(ii) The internship must have a clearly designated staff psychologist who is responsible for the integrity and quality of the training program, and who is a licensed psychologist.
(iii) The internship site must have two or more psychologists on its staff, at least one of whom satisfies the definition of an internship supervisor. An internship supervisor or secondary supervisor must be on site to personally intervene in a crisis situation requiring immediate attention.
(iv) The internship site must have a minimum of two psychology interns during the internship. The Board may make exceptions in cases of hardship.
(v) The internship supervisor must meet at least two hours per week in regularly scheduled, individual, in person, contact with the intern to review psychological services rendered directly by the intern.
(vi) The internship must include at least two hours per week of scheduled learning activities such as: conferences involving cases in which the intern was actively involved; seminars dealing with clinical issues; co-therapy with a staff member which includes discussion of the therapy; group supervision; or additional supervision.
2. School Psychology Internships.
(i) Internship supervisors must be staff members of the internship site, or an affiliate thereof, who carry clinical responsibility for the cases being supervised.
(ii) The internship must have a clearly designated staff psychologist who is responsible for the integrity and quality of the training program, and who is a licensed psychologist or a school psychologist who is certified at the doctoral level by a State Department of Education.
(iii) The supervisor must be either a staff member of the internship site or an affiliate thereof who is responsible for the cases being supervised. Supervision may be provided by a combination of staff members and an affiliate. When supervision is provided exclusively by an affiliate, an administrative head of that staff must be responsible for the accuracy of the documented work hours. An internship supervisor or secondary supervisor must be on site to personally intervene in a crisis situation requiring immediate attention.
(iv) The internship site must have a minimum of two psychology interns during the internship. The Board may make exceptions in cases of hardship.
(v) The internship supervisor must meet at least two hours per week in regularly scheduled, individual, in person, contact with the intern to review psychological services rendered directly by the intern.
(vi) The internship must include at least two hours per week of scheduled learning activities such as: conferences involving cases in which the intern was actively involved, seminars dealing with clinical issues, co-therapy with a staff member which includes discussion of the therapy, group supervision, or additional supervision.
3. Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Internships.
(i) The Internship must be an organized program designed to provide the Intern with a planned, coherent sequence of supervised experiences of quality in a broad range of professional psychology activities including research and/or intervention within an organizational setting.
(ii) At least 80% of the Internship Supervision must be provided by one or more psychologists.
(iii) At least one-half of the Internship time must be spent in professional psychological activities with or on behalf of a client (person or organization).
(iv) The Internship agency or director of training must, upon request of the Board, furnish a written statement of the internship goals and the nature of experiences of the Intern's work.
(v) All professional activities of the Intern must be conducted in a setting where a Supervisor is available for consultation within a reasonable period of time based on the nature of the supervised experience.
(vi) The Internship may consist of more than one (but no more than four) separate work experiences. Each experience must last at least three months (500 hours) and must meet all other I/O Internship requirements.
4. Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities (MR/DD) Internships.
(i) The internship site must employ a clearly designated internship training director who shall be responsible for the integrity and quality of the internship, however, the internship may occur at more than one site.
(ii) At least one of the internship supervisors must be a licensed psychologist whose specialty area is MR/DD psychology or a licensed psychologist with considerable experience in the practice of MR/DD psychology.
(iii) The internship must provide training in a variety of assessment and intervention activities conducted with persons with MR/DD. The training in assessment activities must include an emphasis on the selection of appropriate evaluation instruments. The training in intervention activities must include experience in applied behavior analysis for persons who carry MR/DD as at least one of their diagnoses. Experience with individuals with dual diagnoses, including mental illness, substance abuse, and behavior disorders, is strongly recommended.
(iv) The supervisor must meet at least two hours per week in regularly scheduled face-to-face contact with the intern to review psychological services rendered by that intern.
(v) The internship must include at least two hours per week of scheduled learning activities such as case conferences, individual program or service planning meetings, seminars dealing with professional issues, or in-service training.
(vi) The intern must have scheduled and unscheduled opportunities to interact professionally with such persons as interns, psychologists, and professionals from other disciplines and other agencies. The intern must have experience in working with professionals from other disciplines as part of an interdisciplinary team involved in assessment and intervention activities. At least 250 hours of the internship must be completed in an organized program for persons with MR/DD to provide sufficient experience in the interdisciplinary team process.
(vii) All professional activities of the intern must be conducted in a setting where a licensed psychologist is available for consultation within a reasonable period of time based on the nature of the supervised experience. The internship supervisor, or another equally qualified person, must be available to intervene in a timely manner in an emergency.
(viii) Documentation of the internship must be submitted to the Board.
(5) Postdoctoral Supervised Work Experience (SWE).
(a) General Standards and Requirements: The general standards for a postdoctoral supervised work experience will be met when the following is fulfilled:
1. Licensure requires 1500 hours of SWE that is deemed acceptable to the Board which comply with the guidelines set forth below:
2. The SWE must be consonant with the fellow's area of intended practice, and must be within the range of competency of the supervisor(s). It must occur after all requirements for the doctoral degree are completed.
3. The SWE must be completed in no less than 11 months and no more than 24 months after its inception. Supervision begins on the date the contract is signed by the supervisor(s) and fellow.
4. The content of the SWE must include a minimum of 500 hours of client/patient involvement as defined as including face to face client/patient contact, document review, test scoring, note/report writing, or any other professional activity which directly relates to the treatment of or services provided for the client/patient.
5. All SWE hours must be documented on a weekly log which is co-signed by the fellow and supervisor. The SWE log shall contain at least the following information:
(i) The professional activities, tasks, or work performed during that week.
(ii) The number of hours worked during that week.
(iii) The number of hours of client/patient involvement during that week.
(iv) The number of hours of individual supervision during that week.
6. Postdoctoral Supervised Work Experiences (SWE) conducted in academic settings meet the non-client/patient involvement hours requirement through activities that transmit psychological knowledge or application of psychological principles in the work setting (e.g. teaching, research, university and professional service and governance, and administration).
7. An applicant who has completed 1500 hours of supervised experience in no less than 11 months and no more than 24 months in a formal postdoctoral fellowship that is APA accredited or APPIC member or acceptable to the Board will be deemed to have met the SWE requirement for licensure. No SWE log is required for individuals in these programs.
8. An applicant who meets the definition of Senior Industrial/Organizational Psychologist will be deemed to have met the SWE requirement for licensure.
(b) Supervision Requirements:
1. The postdoctoral supervisor(s) and fellow must enter into a written and signed supervision contract prior to the inception of the SWE. The contract must specify the work experience goals, its content and the criteria for ensuring the quality and quantity of the fellow's work. It is not necessary that the supervisor be on site for the supervisee's clinical work.
2. The fellow must meet with the supervisor individually to discuss cases and other professional activities at least one hour for each 30 hours of SWE. That meeting must occur during the week the fellow provides the services or during the week following the provision of those services. Supervision must be individual, and may be accomplished through in person meetings or real time, face to face video teleconferencing. I/O Fellows are exempt from this requirement.
3. At the successful conclusion of the SWE, all supervisors shall attest to the adequacy of the applied experience and supervision on a postdoctoral supervised work experience affidavit of supervisor form (Form G).
4. Supervision of the Postdoctoral Industrial/Organizational work experience may be conducted by a qualified psychologist employed by the same institution or agency as the Fellow. Alternatively, the supervision may be provided by private arrangement with a qualified psychologist employed elsewhere so long as the Supervisor and Fellow meet face-to-face at least twice a month for a minimum of four hours per month. At least one half of the SWE hours must be spent in professional psychological activities with or on behalf of a client (person or organization). At a minimum, the Supervisor must review and comment on any research or intervention designs, monitor progress on such efforts, and review and comment on any reports, recommendations, or interventions resulting from such efforts.
O.C.G.A. §§ 43-1-19, 43-1-25, 43-39-1, 43-39-2, 43-39-5(d), 43-39-6, 43-39-8, 43-39-9, 43-39-13, 43-1-19.
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