3 Colo. Code Regs. § 721-1.14

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 22, November 25, 2024

Section 3 CCR 721-1.14 - LICENSURE BY EXAMINATION (C.R.S. section 12-245-304)

A.Criteria for application.

1. The applicant must submit to the Board a completed application for licensure, all fees, official transcript(s), and all supporting documentation required by the Board in order for the Board to review the application for licensure.

2. Applications for licensure remain active for one (1) year. If the applicant fails to become licensed within this time period, s/he must submit a new application and fee and must meet the educational, experience, and examination requirements in effect at the time of the date of the new application. The Board, in its sole discretion, may extend an application upon written request accompanied by a showing of good cause.

3. An applicant for licensure must pass the required examination no more than five (5) years prior to the date of the application for licensure. Experience and supervision requirements that predate the application by more than five (5) years will not be accepted by the Board absent a showing of good cause, as determined by the Board. However, this may not apply in those exceptions allowable under statutes concerning psychologist candidates.

4. All applicants for licensure have a continuing obligation to update their application with information changes from the original application at any time prior to licensure.

5. All applicants for licensure shall submit, at the time of application, the results of a name-based criminal history check from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations with the application.

a. The name-based criminal history check shall comply with section 22-2-119.3(6)(d), C.R.S.

b. The name-based criminal history check shall be completed no earlier than 60 days prior to the date of application.

B.Education and Training Requirements. Many graduate programs in psychology go under other names. Some programs labeled as psychology are not primarily focused on psychology. The Board has therefore established the following factors to determine whether a particular program from which an applicant for licensure received the doctoral degree qualifies as a doctoral program with a major in psychology or its equivalent in compliance with sections 12-245-304(1)(c) and 12-245-301(1) and (5), C.R.S. To meet the statutory requirements, the doctoral program must meet either (1) or (2), below:

1.Accredited program. The applicant obtained a doctoral degree from a program that was accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA); or

2.Equivalent program. The applicant received a doctoral degree from a graduate training program that, at the time s/he was enrolled and received her/his degree, fulfilled the equivalency degree requirements used to define a psychology graduate training program. An applicant asserting a program equivalent to an APA-accredited program in psychology must furnish to the Board evidence in support of the equivalency. Evidence may include narrative descriptions of course-work, institutional documents published contemporaneously with the applicant's enrollment, appropriate certifications or affidavits from university officials, dissertation abstracts, and any other evidence the applicant deems useful. The Board may request additional information from the applicant.

All of the following requirements shall be considered in order to establish equivalency:

a. The required doctoral level study and doctoral degree were obtained from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning;

b. The program in psychology stood as a coherent and recognizable entity within the institution, offering an integrated and organized sequence of study planned to provide appropriate training for the practice of psychology;

c. There was an identifiable full-time faculty, with an individual responsible for the program who was a full-time faculty member and who met the requirements for approval as a supervisor or a person who presents proof satisfactory to the Board, that at the time of serving as the faculty member, s/he possessed essentially the same education, experience, and training as that necessary to qualify for licensure under the Act.

d. The program had an identifiable body of students who were matriculated in that program for a degree;

e. The doctoral program included examination and grading procedures designed to evaluate the degree of mastery of the subject matter by the students;

f. The curriculum encompassed a minimum of three academic years of full-time graduate study including the following substantive content areas:

(1) Professional ethics and standards;

(2) Research design and methodology: techniques of data analysis, inferential statistics, descriptive statistics, research implementation, program evaluation and assessment;

(3) Theories and methods of effective intervention: consultation, supervision, evaluation of treatment efficacy;

(4) Theories and methods of assessment and diagnosis;

(5) Biological bases of behavior: physiological psychology, neuropsychology, sensation and perception, comparative psychology, psychopharmacology;

(6) Cognitive-affective bases of behavior: learning, thinking, motivation, and emotion;

(7) Social bases of behavior: social psychology, group processes, organizational and systems theory;

(8) Individual differences: personality theory, human development, abnormal psychology;

(9) Issues of cultural and individual diversity.

(10) If the course titles as stated on the transcript do not clearly reflect the subject matters listed above, the applicant must document the course or combination of courses in which the material was covered.

g. The program included supervised practicum and internship appropriate to the practice of psychology.

(1)Practicum. The minimum practicum experience is 400 hours, of which at least 150 hours must have been in direct service experience and at least seventy-five hours in formally scheduled supervision.

(2)Internship. To be acceptable, internships in clinical psychology must include at least a full-time experience, either for one full-time calendar year or for two half-time calendar years and must encompass at least 1,500 experience hours. To be acceptable, school and counseling psychology internships must include at least a full-time experience, for either an academic or calendar year or for two half-time academic or calendar years and must encompass at least 1,500 experience hours. To be acceptable, internships must be accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) or be substantially equivalent when compared with the guidelines and principles for accreditation of internships published by the APA.

h. Only graduate level courses are acceptable as establishing equivalency. The Board will not accept coursework counted or credited toward an undergraduate degree.

3.Foreign-Trained Applicants. Foreign-trained applicants must submit educational credentials to a credentialing agency utilized by the Board for evaluation of equivalency. After course equivalency is established, the Board will evaluate the educational credentials to determine whether or not the program is equivalent to an APA-approved program.

C.Post-Graduate Experience Requirements. The Board will approve a post-doctoral supervised practice as meeting the requirements for licensure set out in section 12-245-304(1)(d), C.R.S., when that practice satisfies the requirements of this subsection.

1.Definitions. As used in section 12-245-304(1)(d), C.R.S., and in this Rule, unless the context indicates otherwise:

a. "Individual supervision" means supervision rendered to one individual at a time.

b. "Group supervision" means supervision rendered to not more than ten individuals at one time.

c. "Post-doctoral experience" means experience under approved supervision acquired subsequent to the date certified by the degree-granting institution as that on which all requirements for the doctoral degree have been completed.

d. "Practice in "psychology" means all services included within the definition of psychotherapy in section 12-245-202(14), C.R.S., and particularly those services and practices included within the definition of psychological services in section 12-245-303, C.R.S.

e. "Supervision" means personal direction and responsible direction provided by a supervisor approved by the Board.

(1) "Personal direction" means direction actually rendered by the approved supervisor.

(2) "Responsible direction" or "direction" means the approved supervisor has sufficient knowledge of all clients for whom supervision is provided, including face-to-face contact with the client when necessary, to develop and to monitor effective service delivery procedures and the supervisee's treatment plan. Further, all decision requiring the special skill, knowledge, and/or training of a psychologist are made in collaboration with, and with the approval of, the approved supervisor. Such decisions include, but are not limited to: type, duration, effectiveness, and method of psychotherapy services provided; fees and billing procedures; approval of cases; and personal observation, evaluation, oversight, review, and correction of services provided by the supervisee.

f. "Consultation" describes a voluntary relationship between professionals of relative equal expertise or status wherein the consultant offers her/his best advice or information on an individual case or problem for use by the consultee as s/he deems appropriate in her/his professional judgment. Consultation is not supervision. Experience under contract for consultation will not be credited toward fulfillment of supervision requirements.

2.Certification of Completion. Each applicant shall file with the Board, upon forms supplied by the Board, a verified statement signed under penalty of law by their approved supervisor(s) attesting to the applicant's satisfactory completion of the required postdoctoral practice of psychotherapy under supervision and attesting to the applicant's having met the generally accepted standards of practice during the supervised practice.

3.Supervision.

a. The Board will accept any of the following as a supervisor:

(1) A licensed psychologist who, at the time of supervision, was licensed by the Board in the jurisdiction in which the applicant's services were performed.

(2) A psychiatrist certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and who was licensed as a physician who, at the time of supervision, was licensed by the Board in the jurisdiction in which the applicant's services were performed, who had completed a psychiatric residency at the time of the supervision, and who certified to the Board her/his competence in the same area as that in which the applicant received post-doctoral experience practicing psychology under supervision. For such supervision to count towards licensure, it must have been conducted in accordance with these Rules and the Act as determined by the Board. A psychologist must supervise the psychological testing.

(3) A psychologist may be approved as a supervisor, who, at the time of the supervision, was licensed at the highest possible level in another jurisdiction in which the applicant's services were performed. The Board will consider post-degree supervised experience obtained in another jurisdiction by an individual who is not certified or licensed as a psychologist in the other jurisdiction, if the jurisdiction in which such person was practicing did not provide for such certification, licensure, listing or registration. The applicant's supervisor shall document to the satisfaction of the Board her/his competence in the same field of psychology as that in which the applicant is seeking licensure.

b. The approved supervisor shall keep records that will enable her/him effectively to train, evaluate, and credit the applicant for licensure with the exact number of hours of acceptable post-doctoral practice of psychotherapy and the exact number of hours of supervision completed in compliance with this Rule.

4.Number of hours of post-doctoral experience practicing psychology under supervision.

a. The post-doctoral experience practicing psychology under supervision cannot be completed in fewer than twelve months and may involve supervision by more than one approved supervisor as defined in these Rules.

b. The one year of post-doctoral experience practicing psychology under supervision required by section 12-245-304(1)(d), C.R.S., must have at least 1,500 clock hours obtained in such a manner that they are reasonably uniformly distributed over a minimum of twelve months.

c. The teaching of psychology may count for up to 500 hours of post-doctoral experience practicing psychology under supervision and up to twenty-five hours of supervision provided such teaching was in courses in the same or similar field of psychology as the competence area claimed by the applicant and that this experience was supervised by a supervisor defined in these Rules.

d. The post-doctoral experience obtained under the supervision of a board-certified psychiatrist may count for up to 375 hours of experience and up to 17.75 hours of supervision.

e. Research experience hours may count for up to 500 hours of post-doctoral experience practicing psychology under supervision and up to twenty-five hours of supervision provided such research experience was performed in the same or similar field of psychology as the competence area claimed by the applicant and provided that this experience was supervised by an approved supervisor.

f. Training in the subject area of racial/ethnic bases of behavior must count at least fifty hours of the post-doctoral experience practicing psychology under supervision and three hours of supervision must be focused in this area. Coursework may be substituted, as long as the courses(s) submitted, is clearly documented and is equivalent to three semester or five quarter hours of graduate level credit.

5.Number of hours of post-doctoral supervision.

a. Applicants must receive a minimum of seventy-five clock hours of supervision, at least fifty of which must be face-to-face individual supervision. The remaining hours up to the seventy-five hours may only be by group supervision. No other modes of supervision will be accepted.

b. The post-doctoral supervision hours must be reasonably distributed over a minimum of twelve months in a manner consistent with the accrual of supervised post-doctoral experience.

D.Examination. In accordance with sections 12-245-204(4)(b) and 12-245-304, et seq., C.R.S., the Board establishes these requirements for the licensing examination to demonstrate professional competence in psychology.

1.Jurisprudence Examination. Applicants shall be required to pass a Board-developed jurisprudence examination.

2.National Examination. The examination covering the general areas of knowledge in psychology shall be administered under contract with the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP).

3.Application. An applicant for licensure shall apply directly to the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB), or any other testing service the Board may contract with at the time, to sit for the appropriate examination.

4.Exam Results. Examination results will be valid for up to five years after the date of the examination.

3 CCR 721-1.14

39 CR 04, February 25, 2016, effective 3/16/2016

40 CR 13, July 10, 2017, effective 7/30/2017

43 CR 21, November 10, 2020, effective 11/30/2020

44 CR 09, May 10, 2021, effective 5/30/2021

44 CR 20, October 25, 2021, effective 11/14/2021

45 CR 17, September 10, 2022, effective 9/30/2022

45 CR 21, November 10, 2022, effective 11/30/2022