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Virginia Administrative Code
Title 18. Professional And Occupational Licensing
Agency 125. Board of Psychology
Chapter 20. Regulations Governing the Practice of Psychology
12/26/2024

18VAC125-20-55. Education requirements for applied psychologists.

A. The applicant shall hold a doctorate from a professional psychology program from a regionally accredited university that meets the following criteria:

1. The program is within an institution of higher education accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or publicly recognized by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada as a member in good standing. Graduates of programs that are not within the United States or Canada must provide documentation from a credential evaluation service acceptable to the board that demonstrates that the program meets the requirements set forth in this chapter.

2. The program shall be recognizable as an organized entity within the institution.

3. The program shall be an integrated, organized sequence of study with an identifiable psychology faculty and a psychologist directly responsible for the program and shall have an identifiable body of students who are matriculated in that program for a degree. The faculty shall be accessible to students and provide them with guidance and supervision. The faculty shall provide appropriate professional role models and engage in actions that promote the student's acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies consistent with the program's training goals.

4. The program shall encompass a minimum of three academic years of full-time graduate study or the equivalent thereof.

5. The program shall include a general core curriculum containing a minimum of three or more graduate semester hours or five or more graduate quarter hours in each of the following substantive content areas:

a. Biological bases of behavior (e.g., physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsychology, sensation and perception, health psychology, pharmacology, neuroanatomy).

b. Cognitive-affective bases of behavior (e.g., learning theory, cognition, motivation, emotion).

c. Social bases of behavior (e.g., social psychology, group processes, organizational and systems theory, community and preventive psychology, multicultural issues).

d. Psychological measurement.

e. Research methodology.

f. Techniques of data analysis.

g. Professional standards and ethics.

B. Demonstration of competence in applied psychology shall be met by including a minimum of at least 18 semester hours or 30 quarter hours in a concentrated program of study in an identified area of psychology, for example, developmental, social, cognitive, motivation, applied behavioral analysis, industrial/organizational, human factors, personnel selection and evaluation, program planning and evaluation, teaching, research or consultation.

Statutory Authority

§§ 54.1-2400 and 54.1-3605 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 16, Issue 2, eff. November 10, 1999; amended, Virginia Register Volume 37, Issue 20, eff. June 23, 2021.

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