Applicants

1. Applicants for licensure shall have completed a doctoral program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) unless the program meets any of the exceptions provided in Board Rules 575:10-1-2.
   
2. As outlined in the Rules, all doctoral programs shall meet all of the following criteria:
   • Wherever it may be administratively housed, must be clearly identified and labeled as a psychology program.  Such program must specify in pertinent institutional catalogs and brochures its intent to educate and train psychologists.
   • The psychology program must stand as a recognizable coherent organizational entity within the institution.
   • There must be clear authority and primary responsibility for the core and specialty areas whether or not the program cuts across administrative lines.
   • The program must be an integrated, organized sequence of study.
   • The program must have an identifiable psychology faculty and a psychologist responsible for the program.
   • The program must have an identifiable body of students who are matriculated in that program for a degree.
3. All doctoral programs submitted for review will be evaluated by the following criteria:

Except in school psychology, the three academic years leading to the doctoral degree must include a minimum of two years of full-time, on campus, graduate study (excluding internship).  In school psychology, the three academic years leading to the doctoral degree must include a minimum of one year of full-time, on campus, postmaster’s graduate study as defined by the institution (excluding internship).

At least forty-two (42) hours of the specified course work must be primarily psychological in content.  The applicant must have a minimum of three (3) or more graduate semester hours in each of the following substantive content areas, for a total of twenty-one (21) hours:

• (A)  scientific and professional ethics and standards,
• (B)  research design and methodology,
• (C)  statistics and psychometrics,
• (D)  biological bases of behavior [e.g. physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsychology, sensation, psychopharmacology].
• (E)  cognitive-affective bases of behavior [e.g. learning, memory, perception, cognition, thinking, motivation, emotion].
• (F)  social bases of behavior [e.g. social psychology, cultural, ethnic, and group processes, sex roles, organization and systems theory], and
• (G)  individual behavior [e.g. personality theory, human development, individual differences, abnormal psychology]
  

The remaining twenty-one (21) hours of specified course work may be in the foregoing basic areas or in courses pertaining to the specific program of study.

* REFER TO THE PSYCHOLOGISTS LICENSING ACT AND BOARD RULES TO ENSURE YOU MEET ALL REQUIREMENTS

An applicant for licensure as a psychologist must have two years of supervised experience satisfactory to the Board.  These two years of experience must be as a psychologist and in line with the applicant’s major program of study for the doctoral degree.

• INTERNSHIP - A predoctoral internship may be used to partially fulfill the two-year experience requirement for licensure. 
• POST-DOC - At least one year of the two-year experience requirement must be postdoctoral experience as a psychologist. 

Hybrid Supervision - For internships and/or post-doctoral experiences, no more than fifty (50) percent of the minimum required hours of individual supervision and no more than fifty (50) percent of the additional required hours of supervision shall be conducted virtually.

* REFER TO THE PSYCHOLOGISTS LICENSING ACT AND BOARD RULES TO ENSURE YOU MEET ALL REQUIREMENTS

A predoctoral internship may be used to partially fulfill the two-year experience requirement for licensure. Under no circumstances may more than 2,000 hours of predoctoral internship experience as an intern be accepted.  General Internship Requirements:

The following are required for a predoctoral internship:

1. At least 25 percent of the trainee’s time must be in direct patient or client contact,
2. Training is at the post-coursework, post candidacy, post-clerkship, post-practicum, post-externship level,
3. A written statement or brochure must be available which describes the goals and content of the internship, states clear expectations for the quantity and quality of trainee’s work and is furnished to prospective interns,
4. Must have a clearly designated licensed psychologist, who is responsible for the integrity and quality of the training program, and
5. Shall be a full-time experience (40 hours per week) either for one calendar or academic contract year, or a half-time experience (20 hours per week) for two calendar or academic contract years (total of 2,000 hours, except for an academic setting it is 1,500+ hours). An academic contract year means the school year of the elementary or secondary school setting in which an intern is fulfilling the internship requirement. 

Supervision in predoctoral internships. Supervision must be conducted by a licensed staff psychologist who is trained in the applicant’s major program of doctoral study, or a closely related program.  For school psychology internship, the licensed psychologist may be employed in a setting other than the school district in which the internship is situated. Supervision shall meet the following criteria:

1. Interns must have experience with three or more licensed psychologists' supervisors (two or more for those in an academic setting).
2. Supervision shall consist of an average of at least 10 percent of the full-time or half-time intern’s week (200 hours, except in an academic setting where it is 150+ hours).
3. At least half of the supervision (minimum of 100 hours, except in an academic setting it is 75+ hours) must be regularly scheduled, formal, face-to-face, individual supervision by one or more licensed psychologists with the intent of dealing with psychological services rendered directly by the intern. The remaining half of the supervision may be conducted individually or in a group by licensed psychologists as appropriate to the internship experience.
4. The internship agency should have a minimum of two interns at the internship level of training during the applicant’s training period.

* REFER TO THE PSYCHOLOGISTS LICENSING ACT AND BOARD RULES TO ENSURE YOU MEET ALL REQUIREMENTS

 At least one year of the two-year experience requirement must be postdoctoral experience as a psychologist and in line with the applicant’s major program of doctoral study as determined according to the procedure stated in 575:10-1-2(e).

(1) The postdoctoral experience shall be full-time (40 hours per week) either for one calendar or academic contract year, or a half-time experience (20 hours per week) for two calendar or academic contract years (total of 2,000 hours, except for an academic setting it is 1,500+ hours) of appropriate experience, or equivalent, for a period not to exceed three years. An academic contract year means the school year of the elementary or secondary school setting in which the postdoctoral experience is fulfilled.
(2) The postdoctoral experience must be under the supervision of a licensed psychologist(s) who was trained in the applicant’s major program of doctoral study, or a closely related program, and who is currently engaged in rendering psychological services relevant to that training.
(3) Applicants must have received and accumulated 75 hours of regularly scheduled, formal, face-to-face, individual supervision from his/her supervisor(s) reasonably distributed throughout each month of the postdoctoral experience.
(4) The postdoctoral experience does not have to be in a private setting.
(5) Applicants completing their postdoctoral experience in an academic or clinical research setting, a minimum of two-years is required to fulfill the Health Service Psychologist requirements. An applicant is required to spend 50% of his/her time performing the following activities:

(A) Direct service/multiple client contacts per week (minimum of five clients) including service in an agency or university-based clinic, or in a private practice under supervision. Minimum for applicants in an academic or clinical research setting is 250 hours per year, for a minimum of two years, over the course of the postdoctoral supervision experience.
(B) Academic or clinical research setting applicants may also perform any of the following activities:

(i) Modeling and demonstrating clinical techniques, including assessment and therapy.
(ii) Supervision of clinical services, wherein the faculty supervisor assumes direct responsibility for supervisee's clinical work.
(iii) Conducting workshops or community groups or public presentations on mental health related topics.

(6) The postdoctoral experience of applicants who desire a Health Service Psychologist designation must also meet the requirements of 575:10-1-6(b)(5)(B).
 

As provided in 59 O.S. §1352  -  "Health service" is the delivery of direct, preventive assessment and therapeuetic intervention services to individuals whose growth, adjustment, or functioning is actually impaired or may be at risk of impairment.    "Health service psychologist" means an individual licensed as a psychologist under the Psychologists Licensing Act to provide health services to the public and who engages in the direct practice of psychology and evidences two (2) years of formal supervised experience conducting psychological intervention services as defined by the rules and regulations of the Board.

Board Rules OAC 575:10-1-6(b)(5)(B) - Health Service Psychologist. The purpose of establishing a Health Service Psychologist certification is to protect the public, and to assist agencies and the courts by defining those psychologists who are, by training and supervised experience, qualified to provide professional psychological services to the public. In order to qualify for certification as a Health Service Psychologist, a psychologist licensed in the State of Oklahoma must:

• Be Board Certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology, or
• Have two years of supervised experience in health services psychology, one of which is a doctoral internship consistent with their university doctoral program in an organized health services training program, and one of which was post-doctoral at a site where health services are provided.

Those completing their postdoctoral experience in a research or academic setting require two years. (See Guidelines for Achieving HSP Status in Research or Academic Setting)

59 O.S. § 1362(3) Applicants shall be required to show that they have not been convicted of a criminal offense that bears directly on the fitness of the individual to be licensed. Each applicant shall submit to a national criminal history record check, as defined in Section 150.9 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes. The costs associated with the national criminal history record check shall be paid by the applicant.