LicensingOf the fifty states in the United States of America, the State of California arguably has the most stringent requirements for licensure. There are two State boards that oversee the licensure process.
The Board of Behavioral Sciences (www.bbs.ca.gov) oversees the licensure process for masters-level psychotherapists – the Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) and the Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). In addition to the approved course of study, the BBS requires that a person complete 3,000 hours of supervised professional experience before the person is allowed to sit for the State licensing examination process. Prospective students and current students in any degree program leading to licensure with the BBS are encouraged to read carefully (and stay abreast of) the laws and regulations of this agency.
The Board of Psychology (www.psychboard.ca.gov) oversees the licensure process for doctoral-level psychotherapists – the Psychologist. Note that licensure is available to organizational psychologists as well as clinical psychologists, though most doctoral-level organizational psychologists do not pursue licensure. The Board of Psychology requires that a person complete 3,000 hours of supervised professional experience before the person is allowed to sit for the State licensing examination process. Prospective students and current students in any degree program leading to licensure with the Board of Psychology are encouraged to read carefully (and stay abreast of) the laws and regulations of this agency. See our Overview of Licensing Process.
As of January 1, 2005, persons who exercise supervision at doctoral level must complete a six hour course in supervision before supervision commences. Those who exersice supervision at the masters level must complete the supervision course with in six months of the beginning of supervision. In addition, prospective students should note that there are further restrictions with respect to supervision (e.g., a masters-level licensee cannot supervise a psychologist-bound student).
Prospective students should also consider that it is often difficult to find a paid internship position. Agencies that are able to provide supervised experience understand that the ‘intern’ or ‘psychological assistant’ needs to accumulate 3,000 hours in order to sit for the State licensing examination process, and that the commodity which they can provide (supervision) is, at times, a scarce resource. The prospective student must look beyond the weekend class educational phase to the challenges that may present during the accumulation-of-hours phase.
Eventually, students who seek to be Marriage and Family Therapists or Psychologists must take the current licensing examinations to obtain a State of California license in order to practice. While PSP does not formally endorse their product offerings, most students have reported that the Association for Advanced Training in the Behavioral Sciences, which can be found at http://www.aatbs.com, to be extremely helpful in reviewing for the State examinations. The material on this web site is fee based.
