Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 510-2-.04 - Education

(1) Training Program Requirements. All applicants, with the exception of international and I/O applicants, must present official documentation that they have completed earned doctoral degree requirements from a regionally accredited professional training program in applied psychology that is also accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) or Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the doctoral requirements were completed and that meets the basic psychology course requirements of the APA or CPA Commission on Accreditation and the Georgia Board residency rule.

(2) Curricula Requirements. Licensure requirements are consistent with APA or CPA Accreditation requirements in that APA or CPA Accredited programs include and implement a congruent and coherent curriculum design that provides for and enables all students to acquire and demonstrate competences in the required areas 1. Transcripts or curriculum plans of applicants for licensure must reflect competence in the following areas:

(a) The breadth of scientific psychology as evidenced through knowledge in the following areas:

1. biological aspects of behavior;

2. cognitive and affective aspects of behavior;

3. social aspects of behavior;

4. history and systems of psychology;

5. psychological measurement;

6. research methodology; and

7. techniques of data analysis.

(b) The scientific, methodological, and theoretical foundations of practice in the substantive areas of professional psychology as demonstrated through knowledge in the following areas:

1. individual differences in behavior;

2. human development;

3. dysfunctional behavior or psychopathology; and

4. ethics and professional standards.

(c) Diagnosing or defining problems through psychological assessment and measurements well as formulating and implementing treatment and intervention strategies (such as training in empirically supported procedures). This competency should be evidenced through knowledge in the following areas:

1. theories and methods of assessment and diagnosis;

2. effective treatment and intervention;

3. consultation and supervision; and

4. evaluating the efficacy of treatments and interventions.

(d) Competence in understanding issues of cultural and individual diversity that are significant to the above curriculum requirements and the fostering of attitudes essential for life-long learning in scholarly inquiry and professional problem-solving.

(e) Adequate and appropriate practicum experiences are required through:

1. providing settings that are (a) committed to training, (b) assure an adequate number of professionals in supervisory roles, and (c) include a breadth of training and educational experiences;

2. integrate the practicum experience with the context of the overall training experience;

3. ensure that the sequencing, duration, nature, and content of the practicum experience is appropriate for the programmatic goals;

4. document the sufficiency and adequacy of the practicum experience in the context of internship preparation.

(3) Supervision Requirements for Predoctoral Practicum.

(a) Supervisors of doctoral practicum students must hold a current psychology license that is in good standing in the state in which the training is taking place.

1. A person holding a provisional psychology license in the State of Georgia is qualified to supervise predoctoral training students under that condition that such supervision is part of the provisional licensee's supervised work experience and therefore under the supervision of the provisional licensee's supervisor.

(b) Supervision of doctoral practicum must occur in regularly scheduled, in person, meetings to review psychological services rendered by the student supervisee.

(c) The Board expects that the APA or CPA accredited graduate program will determine the standards for predoctoral practicum supervision (e.g. ratio of supervisees to supervisor, on site presence of supervisor, fee collection policies).

(d) The Board upholds the standards for adequate and appropriate practicum experiences promulgated by the APA or CPA Committee on Accreditation (510-2-.05(e)).

(4) Time Requirements for Training. The Licensure requirements are consistent with the APA or CPA Accreditation requirements in that applicants for licensure should be able to demonstrate three full-time academic years of graduate study and additionally the completion of an internship prior to the attainment of the doctoral degree. Two of the three academic training years must be fulfilled at the doctoral degree granting institution and one year must be matriculated in continuous full-time residence or "equivalent thereof" at that same institution.

(a) Residency means continuous physical presence, in person, at the educational institution in a manner that facilitates acculturation in the profession, the full participation and integration of the individual in the educational and training experience, and includes faculty student interaction. Models that use face-to-face contact for shorter durations throughout a year or models that use video teleconferencing or other electronic means to meet the residency requirement are not acceptable.

(b) Length of Degree and Residency means the program has policies regarding program length and residency that permit faculty, training staff, supervisors, and administrators to execute their professional, ethical, and potentially legal obligations to promote student development, socialization and peer interaction, faculty role modeling and the development and assessment of student competencies. Residency provides students with mentoring and supervision regarding their development and socialization into the profession, as well as continuous monitoring and assessment of student development through live face-to-face, in-person interaction with faculty and students. These obligations cannot be met in programs that are substantially or completely online. At a minimum, the program must require that each student successfully complete:

1. A minimum of 3 full-time academic years of graduate study (or the equivalent thereof) plus an internship prior to receiving the doctoral degree;

2. At least 2 of the 3 academic training years (or the equivalent thereof) within the program from which the doctoral degree is granted;

3. At least 1 year of which must be in full-time residence (or the equivalent thereof) at that same program. Programs seeking to satisfy the requirement of one year of fulltime residency based on "the equivalent thereof" must demonstrate how the proposed equivalence achieves all the purposes of the residency requirement.

(c) As adopted from the Commission On Accreditation (COA) Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology (effective January 1, 2017): Residency has two primary purposes: student development and socialization and student assessment.

1. With regard to student development, residency allows students

(i) To concentrate on course work, professional training and scholarship;

(ii) To work closely with professors, supervisors and other students; and

(iii) To acquire the attitudes, values, habits, skills, and insights necessary for attaining a doctoral degree in psychology. Full-time residence provides students other opportunities, including obtaining fluency in the language and vocabulary of psychology as enhanced by frequent and close association with, apprenticing to, and role modeling by faculty members and other students; obtaining valuable experience by attending and participating in both formal and informal seminars: colloquia; discussions led by visiting specialist from other campuses, laboratories, or governmental research and/or practice organizations; and, obtaining support in thesis, dissertation, or doctoral project work through frequent consultation with advisors.

2. An equally important purpose of the residency requirement is to permit faculty, training staff, supervisors, and administrators to execute their professional, ethical, and potentially legal obligations to assess all elements of student competence. Executing these obligations is an essential aspect of assuring quality and protecting the public. These elements include not only student-trainees' knowledge and skills, but also their emotional stability and well-being, interpersonal competence professional development, and personal fitness for practice. Through such student assessment, accredited programs can ensure - insofar as possible - that their graduates are competent to manage relationships (e.g., client, collegial, professional, public, scholarly, supervisory and teaching) in an effective and appropriate manner. This capacity for managing relationships represents one of the competencies that define professional expertise.

(d) Programs seeking to satisfy the requirement of one year of full-time residency based in "the equivalent thereof" must demonstrate how the proposed equivalence achieves all of the purposes of the residency requirement, as articulated above. In evaluating whether the residency requirement is satisfied, the Board will consider processes and indicators related to the elements of student development and socialization and student assessment detailed in paragraph (c) of this implementing regulation.

(5) Matriculation Outside the United States. If a university outside the United States awarded the doctoral degree, the university must have been accredited professionally at the time of the award. The Board in its sole discretion will determine whether the university outside of the United States has met standards that are substantially the same as those established by the APA or CPA.

(6) I/O Training Requirements. I/O applicants who have either graduated from an I/O Psychology program which is listed in the Designated Doctoral Programs in Psychology published by ASPPB and the National Register, or who submit documentation showing they meet 15 of the 25 competencies set forth in Guidelines For Education and Training At the Doctoral Level In Industrial/Organizational Psychology (available at www.apa.org Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology (Division 14), 1999) will be deemed to have met the educational requirements. Documentation of the 15 competencies shall consist of a transcript showing graduate courses covering the competency as indicated by course title and/or outline, a thesis, a dissertation, refereed presentation(s) or publication(s), or a letter from a professor indicting the competency(s) in a given area.

(7) Mental Retardation/Development Disability Training Programs. A substantial program of study in Mental Retardation/Developmental Disability (MR/DD) psychology must include at least 18 semester hours (in addition to the 50 core hours) at the graduate level in course work in the specialized area of mental retardation or developmental disabilities psychology. Neither internship, practicum, nor thesis courses will be considered as qualifying course work hours. Students must successfully complete courses in each of the following areas:

(a) Developmental Aspects of Behavior; e.g., psychology of mental retardation, psychology of developmental disabilities, psychology of exceptional children, life-span developmental psychology, child psychology, cognitive development, social development, language development, human development.

(b) Cognitive Aspects of Behavior; e.g., learning, memory, visual attention, information processing, cognitive processes, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuro psychology, social cognition.

(c) Behavior Assessment and Intervention; e.g., applied behavioral analysis, behavior therapy, behavior modification, assessment of adaptive and maladaptive behaviors, behavioral psychopharmacology [assessment and programming].

(d) Assessment of Intelligence; e.g., individual intelligence testing, psychological assessment of intelligence, psycho educational assessment.

(8) Retraining is a process of additional education in which a person with an earned doctorate in scientific psychology undertakes additional training and fulfills requirements for licensure in an applied psychology field.

(a) Retraining programs must occur in APA or CPA accredited doctoral programs in applied psychology.

(b) All requirements of doctoral training in the new applied specialty must be met, giving due credit for previous relevant, successfully completed course work to be determined by the APA or CPA accredited doctoral program conducting the retraining.

(c) Applicants who complete such a program must present a certificate or letter from the doctoral program training director that verifies completion of the program and identifies the specialty area of applied psychology.

(9) Hour Conversion. For purposes of this Rule, 3 semester hours = 5 quarter hours in accordance with a conversion of 1 semester course of 3 hours accrues 6 hours of credit (2 courses) in an academic year (September thru June) and is equivalent to 1 quarter course of 5 which accrues 15 hours of credit (3 courses) in an academic year for a ratio of 3 semester hours equaling 5 quarter hours.

Notes

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 510-2-.04

O.C.G.A. §§ 43-1-19; 43-1-25; 43-39-1; 43-39-2; 43-39-5; 43-39-6; 43-39-8; 43-39-9, 43-39-13.

Original Rule entitled "Time and Place of Examination" adopted. F. and eff. June 30, 1965. Repealed: New Rule of same title adopted. F. Jan. 3, 1973; eff. Jan. 23, 1973. Repealed: New Rule entitled "Education" adopted. F. July 27, 1994; eff. August 16, 1994. Amended: F. Dec. 6, 1994; eff. Dec. 26, 1994. Amended: F. May 1, 1998; eff. May 21, 1998. Repealed: New Rule of same title adopted. F. Feb. 17, 1999; eff. Mar. 9, 1999. Repealed: New Rule entitled "Application for Renewable License" adopted. F. Oct. 29, 2003; eff. Nov. 18, 2003. Repealed: New Rule entitled "Education" adopted. F. Apr. 27, 2004; eff. May 17, 2004. Amended: F. Nov. 15, 2010; eff. Dec. 5, 2010. Amended: F. Aug. 10, 2015; eff. Aug. 30, 2015. Amended: F. Sep. 20, 2018; eff. Oct. 10, 2018.