Section 216-RICR-40-05-15.5 - Academic Requirements15.5.1Doctorate in PsychologyA. An applicant for licensure shall hold a doctoral degree in psychology from a regionally accredited college or university whose program of study was accredited by the American Psychological Association, at the time such degree was received, or its equivalent in terms of excellence of education and training, or a doctorate degree in an allied field whose education and training requirements are listed below: 1. Equivalency to Doctorate in Psychology a. An applicant who has received a doctoral degree in a related discipline shall be judged to hold the equivalent of a doctorate degree in psychology, if the following equivalency requirements are met to the satisfaction of the Board: (1) The program of study was an integrated, organized sequence of study within or with an affiliated regionally accredited college or university;(2) A minimum of thirty-six (36) credit hours shall be earned in residence at the educational institution through in-person psychology instruction with multiple program faculty and students;(3) At least seventy-two (72) semester hours or one hundred eight (108) quarter hours of graduate course credits completed (excluding dissertation and supervised experience credits) were predominantly psychological in nature and encompassed courses equivalent to the program of study for psychologists whose curriculum includes a minimum of three (3) academic years of full-time graduate study, including instruction in scientific and professional ethics and standards, research design and methodology, statistics and psychometrics, history and systems of psychology and a major field of concentration. Within this basic program should be included a minimum of three (3) or more graduate semester hours or five (5) or more graduate quarter hours with demonstrated competency in each of the following areas: (AA) Biological Bases of Behavior: (e.g., physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsychology, sensation and perception, psychopharmacology);(BB) Cognitive-Affective Bases of Psychology: (e.g., learning, thinking, emotion and motivation);(CC) Social Bases of Behavior: (e.g., group process, multiculturalism, organizational and systems theory); and(DD) Individual Differences: (e.g., personality theory, human development, abnormal psychology).(EE) The nature of the method and content of the dissertation where required was psychologically oriented; and(4) The supervised experience and internship meets the requirements of sect; 15.6 of this Part.(5) Distance learning programs shall only be recognized as acceptable equivalents if accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA).216 R.I. Code R. § 216-RICR-40-05-15.5
Amended effective 5/6/2023