Utah Admin. Code R156-61-302a - Qualifications for Licensure - Education Requirements

(1)

(a) Under Section 58-61-304, an institution or program of higher education awarding a doctoral degree in psychology shall meet approval criteria in this section to qualify an applicant for:

(i) licensure as a psychologist under Subsection 58-61-304(1)(c);

(ii) certification in the classification of certified prescribing psychologist under Subsection 58-61-304(4)(c)(i); or

(iii) certification in the classification of provisional prescribing psychologist under Subsection 58-61-304(6)(c)(i).

(b) The institution or program of higher education shall meet the approval criteria on or before the date the applicant received the earned degree.

(c) An applicant's date of completion or receipt of the applicant's earned degree is the graduation date on the applicant's official transcript.

(d) If the course titles on an applicant's transcript do not clearly reflect the specific core course work required by this section, the applicant shall document for the Division the course or combination of courses in which the material was covered.

(e) An applicant shall have graduated from the qualifying accredited or chartered degree program. Another program within the department or institution does not meet approval criteria unless that program is separately accredited or chartered.

(f) If a transcript does not uniquely identify the qualifying accredited or chartered degree program, the applicant shall provide signed, written documentation from the program director or department chair that the applicant graduated from the qualifying accredited or chartered degree program.

(2) An applicant may demonstrate approval criteria by providing satisfactory evidence that their institution or program of higher education was accredited by the APA-CoA or CPAAP, as defined in Section R156-61-102.

(3) An applicant may demonstrate approval criteria by providing satisfactory evidence that their institution or program of higher education was regionally accredited in a state, district, or territory of the United States, or provincially or territorially chartered in Canada, and met the following criteria:

(a) the program is a psychology program that:

(i) is a distinct, recognizable entity within the institution;

(ii) offers an integrated and organized sequence of study planned to provide appropriate training for the practice of psychology; and

(iii) consists of only graduate-level courses, with no coursework counted or credited toward an undergraduate degree;

(b) has identifiable full-time faculty;

(c) has a designated full-time faculty member responsible for the program, who at the faculty member's time of service would:

(i) qualify as a supervisor under Section R156-61-302e; or

(ii) as determined by the Division in collaboration with the Board, possess substantially equivalent education, experience, and training to qualify for licensure under Title 58, Chapter 61, Psychologist Licensing Act;

(d) has an identifiable body of students who are matriculated in the program for a degree;

(e) has examination and grading procedures designed to evaluate the degree of mastery of the subject matter;

(f) has a curriculum that encompasses at least three academic years of full-time graduate study, including the following specific core course work:

(i) professional ethics and standards;

(ii) research design and methodology, such as techniques of data analysis, inferential statistics, descriptive statistics, research implementation, program evaluation, or assessment;

(iii) theories and methods of effective intervention, such as consultation, supervision, or evaluation of treatment efficacy;

(iv) theories and methods of assessment and diagnosis;

(v) biological bases of behavior, such as physiological psychology, neuropsychology, sensation and perception, comparative psychology, or psychopharmacology;

(vi) cognitive-affective bases of behavior, such as learning, thinking, motivation, or emotion;

(vii) social bases of behavior, such as social psychology, group processes, or organizational and systems theory;

(viii) individual differences, such as personality theory, human development, or abnormal psychology; and

(ix) issues of cultural and individual diversity;

(g) has a supervised practicum experience of at least 400 hours that is appropriate to the practice of psychology, and which includes at least:

(i) 150 hours in direct service experience; and

(ii) 20 hours in formally scheduled supervision;

(h) has at least the following supervised internships appropriate to the practice of psychology that are accredited by the APA-CoA or CPAAP, or that the Division determines is substantially equivalent to the APA-CoA or CPAAP published guidelines and principles for accreditation of internships:

(i) an internship in clinical psychology that includes at least one full-time experience encompassing:

(A) one full-time calendar year, or two half-time calendar years; and

(B) at least 2,000 experience hours; and

(ii) an internship in school and counseling psychology that includes at least one full-time experience encompassing:

(A) one academic or calendar year, or two half-time academic or calendar years; and

(B) at least 2,000 experience hours.

(4) An applicant may demonstrate approval criteria by providing satisfactory evidence that when the applicant earned the degree, the applicant's institution or program was:

(a) located in a state, district, or territory of the United States or Canada, and had "designated" status from the ASPPB National Register Joint Designation Committee; or

(b) located outside of the United States or Canada and met the ASPPB National Register Designation Guidelines for defining a doctoral degree in psychology.

(5) If an applicant's training for their doctoral degree in psychology was not designed to lead to clinical practice, or if the applicant wishes to practice in a substantially different area than their training, then the applicant shall complete a program of respecialization that:

(a) is designed to prepare an individual with a degree in psychology with the necessary skills to practice psychology;

(b) has respecialization activities that include substantial requirements formally offered as an organized sequence of course work and supervised practicum;

(c) leads to a certificate or similar recognition by an educational body that offers a doctoral degree qualifying for licensure in the same area of practice as the certificate; and

(d) meets approval criteria in this section.

Notes

Utah Admin. Code R156-61-302a

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2015-13, effective 6/15/2015 Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2025-12, effective 6/5/2025