Texas Administrative Code
Title 22 - EXAMINING BOARDS
Part 21 - TEXAS STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS OF PSYCHOLOGISTS
Chapter 463 - APPLICATIONS AND EXAMINATIONS
Subchapter B - LICENSING REQUIREMENTS
Section 463.11 - Supervised Experience Required for Licensure as a Psychologist

Universal Citation: 22 TX Admin Code § 463.11

Current through Reg. 49, No. 52; December 27, 2024

(a) Required Supervised Experience. In order to qualify for licensure, an applicant must submit proof of a minimum of 3,500 hours of supervised experience, at least 1,750 of which must have been obtained through a formal internship that occurred within the applicant's doctoral degree program and at least 1,750 of which must have been received as a provisionally licensed psychologist (or under provisional trainee status under prior versions of this rule).

(1) A formal internship completed after the doctoral degree was conferred, but otherwise meeting the requirements of this rule, will be accepted for an applicant whose doctoral degree was conferred prior to September 1, 2017.

(2) The formal internship must be documented by the Director of Internship Training. Alternatively, if the Director of Internship Training is unavailable, the formal internship may be documented by a licensed psychologist with knowledge of the internship program and the applicant's participation in the internship program.

(3) Following conferral of a doctoral degree, 1,750 hours obtained or completed while employed in the delivery of psychological services in an exempt setting, while licensed or authorized to practice in another jurisdiction, or while practicing as a psychological associate or specialist in school psychology in this state may be substituted for the minimum of 1,750 hours of supervised experience required as a provisionally licensed psychologist if the experience was obtained or completed under the supervision of a licensed psychologist. Post-doctoral supervised experience obtained without a provisional license or trainee status prior to September 1, 2016, may also be used to satisfy, either in whole or in part, the post- doctoral supervised experience required by this rule if the experience was obtained under the supervision of a licensed psychologist.

(b) Satisfaction of Post-doctoral Supervised Experience with Doctoral Program Hours.

(1) Applicants who received their doctoral degree from a degree program accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or a substantially equivalent degree program, may count the following hours of supervised experience completed as part of their degree program toward the required post-doctoral supervised experience:
(A) hours in excess of 1,750 completed as part of the applicant's formal internship; and

(B) practicum hours certified by the doctoral program training director (or the director's designee) as meeting the following criteria:
(i) the practicum training is overseen by the graduate training program and is an organized, sequential series of supervised experiences of increasing complexity, serving to prepare the student for internship and ultimately licensure;

(ii) the practicum training is governed by a written training plan between the student, the practicum training site, and the graduate training program. The training plan must describe how the trainee's time is allotted and assure the quality, breadth, and depth of the training experience through specification of the goals and objectives of the practicum, the methods of evaluation of the trainee's performance, and reference to jurisdictional regulations governing the supervisory experience. The plan must also include the nature of supervision, the identities of the supervisors, and the form and frequency of feedback from the agency supervisor to the training faculty. A copy of the plan must be provided to the Council upon request;

(iii) the supervising psychologist must be a member of the staff at the site where the practicum experience takes place;

(iv) at least 50% of the practicum hours must be in service-related activities, defined as treatment or intervention, assessment, interviews, report-writing, case presentations, and consultations;

(v) individual face-to-face supervision shall consist of no less than 25% of the time spent in service-related activities;

(vi) at least 25% of the practicum hours must be devoted to face-to-face patient or client contact;

(vii) no more than 25% of the time spent in supervision may be provided by a licensed allied mental health professional or a psychology intern or post-doctoral fellow; and

(viii) the practicum must consist of a minimum of 15 hours of experience per week.

(2) Applicants applying for licensure under the substantial equivalence clause must submit an affidavit or unsworn declaration from the program's training director or other designated leader familiar with the degree program, demonstrating the substantial equivalence of the applicant's degree program to an APA, PCSAS, or CPA accredited program at the time of the conferral of applicant's degree.

(3) An applicant and the affiant or declarant shall appear before the agency in person to answer any questions, produce supporting documentation, or address any concerns raised by the application if requested by a council or board member or the Executive Director. Failure to comply with this paragraph shall constitute grounds for denial of substantial equivalency under this rule.

(c) General Requirements for Supervised Experience. All supervised experience for licensure as a psychologist, including the formal internship, must meet the following requirements:

(1) Each period of supervised experience must be obtained in not more than two placements, and in not more than 24 consecutive months.

(2) A formal internship with rotations, or one that is part of a consortium within a doctoral program, is considered to be one placement. A consortium is composed of multiple placements that have entered into a written agreement setting forth the responsibilities and financial commitments of each participating member, for the purpose of offering a well-rounded, unified psychology training program whereby trainees work at multiple sites, but obtain training from one primary site with some experience at or exposure to aspects of the other sites that the primary site does not offer.

(3) The supervised experience required by this rule must be obtained after official enrollment in a doctoral program.

(4) All supervised experience must be received from a psychologist licensed at the time supervision is received.

(5) The supervising psychologist must be trained in the area of supervision provided to the supervisee.

(6) Experience obtained from a psychologist who is related within the second degree of affinity or consanguinity to the supervisee may not be utilized to satisfy the requirements of this rule.

(7) All supervised experience obtained for the purpose of licensure must be conducted in accordance with all applicable Council rules.

(8) Unless authorized by the Council, supervised experience received from a psychologist practicing with a restricted license may not be utilized to satisfy the requirements of this rule.

(9) The supervisee shall be designated by a title that clearly indicates a supervisory licensing status such as "intern," "resident," "trainee," or "fellow." An individual who is a Provisionally Licensed Psychologist or a Licensed Psychological Associate may use that title so long as those receiving psychological services are clearly informed that the individual is under the supervision of a licensed psychologist. An individual who is a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology may use that title so long as the supervised experience takes place within a school, and those receiving psychological services are clearly informed that the individual is under the supervision of an individual who is licensed as a psychologist and specialist in school psychology. Use of a different job title is permitted only if authorized under §501.004 of the Psychologists' Licensing Act, or another Council rule.

(d) Formal Internship Requirements. The formal internship hours must be satisfied by one of the following types of formal internships:

(1) The successful completion of an internship program accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) or Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), or which is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC); or

(2) The successful completion of an organized internship meeting all of the following criteria:
(A) It must constitute an organized training program which is designed to provide the intern with a planned, programmed sequence of training experiences. The primary focus and purpose of the program must be to assure breadth and quality of training.

(B) The internship agency must have a clearly designated staff psychologist who is responsible for the integrity and quality of the training program and who is actively licensed/certified by the licensing board of the jurisdiction in which the internship takes place and who is present at the training facility for a minimum of 20 hours a week.

(C) The internship agency must have two or more full-time licensed psychologists on the staff as primary supervisors.

(D) Internship supervision must be provided by a staff member of the internship agency or by an affiliate of that agency who carries clinical responsibility for the cases being supervised.

(E) The internship must provide training in a range of assessment and intervention activities conducted directly with patients/clients.

(F) At least 25% of trainee's time must be in direct patient/client contact.

(G) The internship must include a minimum of two hours per week of regularly scheduled formal, face-to-face individual supervision. There must also be at least four additional hours per week in learning activities such as: case conferences involving a case in which the intern was actively involved; seminars dealing with psychology issues; co-therapy with a staff person including discussion; group supervision; additional individual supervision.

(H) Training must be post-clerkship, post-practicum and post-externship level.

(I) The internship agency must have a minimum of two full-time equivalent interns at the internship level of training during applicant's training period.

(J) The internship agency must inform prospective interns about the goals and content of the internship, as well as the expectations for quantity and quality of trainee's work, including expected competencies; or

(3) The successful completion of an organized internship program in a school district meeting the following criteria:
(A) The internship experience must be provided at or near the end of the formal training period.

(B) The internship experience must require a minimum of 35 hours per week over a period of one academic year, or a minimum of 20 hours per week over a period of two consecutive academic years.

(C) The internship experience must be consistent with a written plan and must meet the specific training objectives of the program.

(D) The internship experience must occur in a setting appropriate to the specific training objectives of the program.

(E) At least 600 clock hours of the internship experience must occur in a school setting and must provide a balanced exposure to regular and special educational programs.

(F) The internship experience must occur under conditions of appropriate supervision. Field- based internship supervisors, for the purpose of the internship that takes place in a school setting, must be licensed as a psychologist and, if a separate credential is required to practice school psychology, must have a valid credential to provide psychology in the public schools. The portion of the internship which appropriately may take place in a non-school setting must be supervised by a psychologist.

(G) Field-based internship supervisors must be responsible for no more than two interns at any given time. University internship supervisors shall be responsible for no more than twelve interns at any given time.

(H) Field-based internship supervisors must provide at least two hours per week of direct supervision for each intern. University internship supervisors must maintain an ongoing relationship with field-based internship supervisors and shall provide at least one field- based contact per semester with each intern.

(I) The internship site shall inform interns concerning the period of the internship and the training objectives of the program.

(J) The internship experience must be systematically evaluated in a manner consistent with the specific training objectives of the program.

(K) The internship experience must be conducted in a manner consistent with the current legal- ethical standards of the profession.

(L) The internship agency must have a minimum of two full-time equivalent interns at the internship level during the applicant's training period.

(M) The internship agency must have the availability of at least two full-time equivalent psychologists as primary supervisors, at least one of whom is employed full time at the agency and is a school psychologist.

(e) Notwithstanding subsection (d) of this section, if the internship occurs in a rural mental health discipline Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), identified by the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), then the requirement of two full-time interns and two full-time supervisors does not apply.

(f) Industrial/Organizational Requirements. Individuals from an Industrial/Organizational doctoral degree program are exempt from the formal internship requirement but must complete a minimum of 3,500 hours of supervised experience, at least 1,750 of which must have taken place after conferral of the doctoral degree and in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. Individuals who do not undergo a formal internship pursuant to this paragraph should note that Council rules prohibit a psychologist from practicing in an area in which they do not have sufficient training and experience, of which a formal internship is considered to be an integral requirement.

(g) Licensure Following Respecialization.

(1) In order to qualify for licensure after undergoing respecialization an applicant must demonstrate the following:
(A) conferral of a doctoral degree in psychology from a regionally accredited institution of higher education prior to undergoing respecialization;

(B) completion of a formal post-doctoral respecialization program in psychology which included at least 1,750 hours in a formal internship; and

(C) upon completion of the respecialization program, at least 1,750 hours of supervised experience obtained as a provisionally licensed psychologist (or under provisional trainee status under prior versions of this rule).

(2) An applicant meeting the requirements of this subsection is considered to have met the requirements for supervised experience under this rule.

(h) Remedy for Incomplete Supervised Experience.

(1) An applicant who has completed at least 1,500 hours of supervised experience in a formal internship, 1,500 hours of supervised experience following conferral of a doctoral degree, and who does not meet all of the supervised experience qualifications for licensure set out in subsections (a), (c), and (d) of this section or § 465.2 of this title (relating to Supervision), may petition for permission to remediate an area of deficiency. An applicant may not however, petition for the waiver or modification of the requisite doctoral degree or passage of the requisite examinations.

(2) The Council may allow an applicant to remediate a deficiency identified in paragraph (1) of this subsection if the applicant can demonstrate:
(A) the prerequisite is not mandated by federal law, the state constitution or statute, or 22 TAC Part 41; and

(B) the remediation would not adversely affect the public welfare.

(3) The Council may approve or deny a petition under this subsection, and in the case of approval, may condition the approval on reasonable terms and conditions designed to ensure the applicant's education, training, and experience provide reasonable assurance that the applicant has the knowledge and skills necessary for entry-level practice as a licensed psychologist.

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