Professional Experience Requirements

(1) All of the requirements of 251 CMR 3.04 must be satisfied in order to meet the application for licensure requirements under M.G.L. c. 112, § 119. (2) Each training experience must be for a period of not less than four months for a minimum of 16 hours per week during which the applicant received no less than one hour of individual supervision per week. (3) Experience will be credited at a maximum of 16 hours for each hour of acceptable supervision of work involving regularly scheduled, face to face, individual supervision with the specific intent of overseeing the services rendered by the trainee, as further described in 251 CMR 3.05. (4) Experience may not be credited until the applicant has completed two full-time academic years of graduate training in psychology or its equivalent. (5) The two years of supervised experience, as used in M.G.L. c. 112, § 119 shall mean not less than 3200 clock hours, which have been completed within 60 consecutive calendar months, unless the Board, for good cause, determines that additional time is warranted for completing the 3200 clock hours. (6) Supervised clinical experience must be completed in positions designated as "psychologist in training" (e.g., intern, resident, fellow, psychology trainee, etc.). (7) Advanced Practica. (a) Advanced practica shall be acceptable only after the student has completed a minimum of two full-time, post-bachelor's academic years of graduate education in psychology, at least one year of which is completed in the degree-granting doctoral program. (b) The student must provide services that are within the scope of the education received in the doctoral program. (c) There must be a written training plan among the student, the advanced practicum training site, and the graduate training program. The training plan for each advanced practicum experience shall describe how the trainee's time is allotted and shall assure the quality, breadth, and depth of the training experience through specification of the goals and objectives of the advanced practicum, and the methods of evaluation of the trainee's performance. (d) Advanced practicum training plans shall also include the nature of supervision, the identities of the supervisors, and the form and frequency of feedback from the agency supervisor to the doctoral training program's faculty. (e) The advanced practicum training plan shall also provide a rationale for the experience in light of previous academic preparation and previous practicum training, to ensure that the overall advanced practicum experience is organized, sequential, and meets the training needs of the trainee and the protection of the public. (f) At least 50% of the total hours of supervised experience shall be in service-related activities, defined as treatment/intervention, assessment, interviews, report writing, case presentations, and consultations. (g) At least 25% of the supervised professional experience shall be face-to-face patient/ client contact. (h) The student must receive a minimum of two hours of individual supervision per week. A minimum of one hour of individual or group supervision must take place for each 16 hours of work. The group size may not exceed three. (8) Internship and Post-internship Supervised Experience Requirements. (a) Internship experience of one year full time shall fulfill a total of one year of supervised experience towards licensure if it is at least 1600 clock hours completed in not less than ten calendar months subsequent to the completion of two full-time academic years of post-bachelor's graduate training, at least one of which is completed in the degree-granting doctoral program. (b) For internship and post-internship training experience, the applicant must receive a minimum of one hour of supervision for each 16 hours of work, including at least one hour per week of individual supervision. (c) The experience must consist of at least 1600 clock hours, which shall have been completed in not less than ten calendar months and not more than 36 consecutive calendar months, unless the Board, in its discretion, determines that additional time is warranted for completing the 1600 supervised hours. (9) Psychological employment, teaching, research, or professional practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist shall fulfill the supervised experience requirement for licensure if it is performed competently at a professional level and it is satisfactory in scope and quality. Experience limited to essentially repetitious, routine or clerical tasks at the pre professional level will not be accepted, i.e., administering and scoring psychological tests, computing statistics, assisting instructor in psychology courses, etc. Satisfactory professional experience includes tasks which depend upon the application of skills, concepts, and principles at a professional level. Examples include: administering and interpreting psychological tests; providing clients or patients assistance in solving professional or personal problems; designing original research projects; analyzing and reporting on research data; and teaching a psychology course.