SB 77

Under current law, no person may engage in the practice of psychology without

being licensed as a psychologist by the Psychology Examining Board. This bill makes

various revisions to the laws governing the examining board and the practice of

psychology. Significant changes are described as follows:

Psychology Examining Board; composition

Under current law, the examining board is required to be composed of six

members, including four licensed psychologists and two public members. Current

law requires that each psychologist member represent a different specialty area

within the field of psychology. The bill eliminates the requirement that each

psychologist member represent a different specialty area within the field of

psychology and instead requires that the governor, to the extent possible, nominate

to the examining board psychologists who represent different specialty areas within

the field of psychology.

Private practice school psychologists

Under current law, no person may engage in the private practice of school

psychology without a private practice school psychologist license. The bill allows

private practice school psychologists who are licensed under current law to continue

to renew their licenses and engage in the private practice of school psychology.

However, the bill otherwise discontinues the licensure of private practice school

psychologists. The bill continues to allow a person to work as a school psychologist

in school settings without a license issued by the examining board if the person

receives a school psychologist license from the Department of Public Instruction.

Psychology; scope of practice and licensure requirements

The bill revises the definition of the “practice of psychology,” revises various

provisions that exempt certain types of individuals from the licensure requirement,

and adds a number of additional exemptions.

The bill revises the licensure requirements that must be satisfied in order to be

granted a psychologist license by the examining board. The changes include

specifying the required hours of supervised experience and eliminating a prohibition

on the examining board from promulgating rules to require an internship.

The bill eliminates the ability of the examining board to deny a license on the

basis of an applicant's arrest record.

Interim license

The bill requires the examining board to issue an interim license to an applicant

who satisfies all of the requirements for a psychologist license other than the

postdoctoral supervised experience requirement and the required written

examination on the professional practice of psychology. An interim license is valid

for two years or until the individual obtains a permanent license, subject to a

hardship exemption prescribed by the examining board by rule that could allow

renewals beyond two years.