North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 21 - OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS › Chapter 54 - PSYCHOLOGY › Section .1800 - EDUCATION › Section 54 .1803 - LICENSED PSYCHOLOGIST

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) Licensure for
				the level of licensed psychologist shall require a doctoral degree in
				psychology from an institution of higher education. The doctoral program shall
				be accredited by the American Psychological Association or the Canadian
				Psychological Association at the time of the individual's graduation from the
				program, or one which meets all of the following requirements:
(1) The program shall be identified and
				labeled a psychology program. The program shall specify in institutional
				catalogues its purpose to educate and train students to engage in the
				activities that constitute the practice of psychology as defined in
				G.S.
				90-270.136(8).
(2) The program shall maintain authority and
				primary responsibility for the core and specialty areas.
(3) The program shall have a body of students
				in residence at the physical campus of the institution who are matriculated in
				that program for a degree.
(4)
				There shall be a full-time psychology faculty in residence at the physical
				campus of the institution, sufficient in size and breadth to carry out its
				responsibilities, employed by and providing instruction at the physical campus
				of the institution.
(5) There shall
				be a psychologist responsible for the applicant's program either as the
				administrative head of the program, or as the advisor, professor, or committee
				chair for the individual applicant's program.
(6) The program shall be an integrated,
				organized sequence of study in psychology as demonstrated by a curriculum track
				or tracks wherein course sequences and course content are described in
				institutional catalogues, departmental handbooks, or other institutional
				publications.
(7) The program shall
				encompass the equivalent of a minimum of three academic years of full-time
				graduate study, two years of which are at the institution from which the degree
				is granted, and one year of which is in residence at the institution from which
				the degree is granted. Residence requires in person interaction with psychology
				faculty and other matriculated psychology students. One year's residence is
				defined as 30 semester (45 quarter or 40 trimester) hours taken on a full-time
				or part-time basis in person at the physical campus of the institution over the
				course of one year.
(8) The program
				shall include practicum, internship, field experiences, or laboratory training
				related to the area of specialty and the practice of psychology. This
				experience shall be supervised by a licensed psychologist.
(9) Except as provided in Paragraph (b) of
				this Rule, the program of study shall include a minimum of 60 semester (90
				quarter or 80 trimester) hours of graduate study in standard psychology
				courses, exclusive of credits for internship or practicum and thesis or
				dissertation, including instruction in scientific and professional ethics and
				standards, research design and methodology, statistics and psychometrics, and
				the specialty area. No credit shall be allowed for audited courses or courses
				taken at an institution that does not meet the definition of an "institution of
				higher education" as defined by
				G.S.
				90-270.136(5).
(10) The program shall include a minimum of
				three semester (five quarter or four trimester) hours of coursework in each of
				these content areas:
(A) biological bases of
				behavior, such as, physiological psychology, comparative psychology,
				neuropsychology, sensation and perception, psychopharmacology;
(B) cognitive-affective bases of behavior,
				such as, cognition, memory, learning, thinking, motivation, emotion;
(C) social bases of behavior, such as, social
				psychology, group processes, organizational and systems theory, cultural and
				ethnic bases, sex roles; and
(D)
				individual differences, such as, personality theory, human development,
				abnormal psychology, individual differences.