Supervised Professional Experience, Section 337.025, RSMo, for the Delivery of Psychological Health Services

PURPOSE: This rule defines the supervised professional experience requirements for the delivery of psychological health services under section 337.025, RSMo. (1) Postdoctoral experience for those applicants who have completed a program in one or more of the American Psychological Association designated health service provider delivery areas, as defined in 20 CSR 2235-1.015(10), and who intend to seek health service provider certification, or who intend to principally engage in the delivery of psychological health services shall be governed by the following: (A) Completion of Educational Requirements. All supervised professional experience must be acquired subsequent to the completion of all educational requirements as defined in section 337.027, RSMo. For the purposes of this rule, an applicant shall be deemed to have met the educational requirements when all degree and core course requirements, as defined in 20 CSR 22352.005, have been completed. Degree requirements have been met when indicated by conferral of the formal degree or at the time when all degree requirements established by the recognized educational institution for the degree have been met with the sole exception that the degree has not been formally conferred and the institution so certifies in writing to the committee; (B) Amount of Time. 1. Postdoctoral supervised professional experience shall consist of a minimum of fifteen hundred (1,500) hours of professional experience in the delivery of psychological health services obtained in no fewer than twelve (12) or more than twenty-four (24) calendar months. This experience must be accumulated at a rate of no fewer than twenty (20) hours per week nor more than fifty (50) hours per week. 2. The supervisee must obtain the supervised experience in the same organized training program unless otherwise approved by the committee. 3. Persons under supervision to satisfy the postdoctoral supervised professional experience may not claim hours obtained through the independent practice nor the supervised practice of another profession; (C) Organized Training Program. 1. Postdoctoral supervised professional experience must be obtained in a program that meets one (1) of the following: A. A postgraduate program designed to train the applicant in one or more of the health service provider delivery areas which has been accredited, or provisionally accredited by the American Psychological Association (herein “APA”); B. A postgraduate program designed to train the applicant in one or more of the health service provider delivery areas that is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (herein “APPIC”); C. A postgraduate program designed to train the applicant in one or more of the health service provider delivery areas for which the training program certifies in writing that it has a predoctoral degree internship program which is accredited, or provisionally accredited by APA or is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers and further certifies that the postgraduate training program accorded the applicant complied with and met the standards of APA and/or APPIC relative to predoctoral and/or postdoctoral programs; D. A postgraduate program designed to train the applicant in one or more of the health service provider delivery areas which substantially meets or is the equivalent to the standards required for accreditation by, or membership in, APA and/or APPIC; or E. A postgraduate program designed to train the applicant in one or more of the health service provider delivery areas that meets or includes the following: (I) Provides direct training and experience in the delivery of psychological health services. At least ten (10) hours per week must be direct client contact time; (II) Occurs only when the supervisor and the applicant are employed by or affiliated with the same professional setting; and at least one of the supervisors whether primary or designated secondary who is onsite at least fifteen (15) hours per week; (III) Does not include a private practice setting in which the applicant operates, manages, has an ownership interest or administrative responsibility in the private practice; (IV) Has at least one (1) licensed psychologist who is certified as a health service provider or who otherwise meets the requirements for health service provider certification and one (1) other licensed mental health professional (for example, psychiatrist, psychologist, marriage and family therapist, social worker, and/or professional counselor) who is employed by or affiliated with that organized training program and who is onsite not less than fifteen (15) hours per week; and (V) Provides a minimum of five (5) hours per week of professional learning experiences. These professional learning experiences must be established clearly and agreed upon by the supervisee and supervisor at the initiation of the post-degree supervised experience and must include at least three (3) of the following categories: (a) Treatment team meetings with the participation of the supervisor and other health professionals who are employed in the organized health training program. Treatment team meetings must involve discussion of diagnostic and therapeutic methods, goals and progress of clients; (b) Attendance and participation in a structured didactic activity including grand rounds, case conferences, lectures, workshops, seminars or peer supervision; (c) Readings from journals and books relevant to the delivery of psychological health service; and (d) Professional psychological activity which contributes to the professional psychological community. These activities may include any one (1) or combination of the following: I. The development, preparation and presentation of seminars, workshops, in-services, lectures or papers on topics relevant to the practice of psychology; II. Participation in the administrative planning, development and implementation of psychological health services within the organized training program. Activities include serving on institutional or program committees designed to monitor and advance the delivery of psychological health services; III. Participation in local, state, regional or national psychological organizations; IV. The design, collection, analysis and presentation of research relevant to the practice of psychology; or V. Teaching of a graduate or undergraduate course in psychology at a recognized educational institution accredited by one (1) of the regional accrediting associations approved by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation; (D) Clinical Supervision. The psychological activities of the applicant shall be performed pursuant to the primary supervisor’s order, control, and full professional responsibility. The primary supervisor shall maintain a continuing relationship with the applicant and shall meet with the applicant a minimum of one (1) hour per month in face-to-face individual supervision. Clinical supervision may be delegated by the primary supervisor to one or more secondary supervisor(s) who shall then retain order, control and full professional responsibility for the applicant’s clinical work under their supervision and who shall then meet with the applicant a minimum of one (1) hour per week in face-toface individual supervision. If the primary supervisor is also the clinical supervisor, the face-to-face meetings shall be a minimum of one (1) hour per week. Group supervision is not acceptable for supervised experience under this regulation; (E) Supervisor Requirements. 1. The primary supervisor must be a licensed psychologist for at least one (1) year prior to start date of supervision and must also be a health service provider or one who otherwise meets the requirements for health service provider certification. 2. The secondary supervisor(s) if not a licensed psychologist, must be eligible for or otherwise meet the requirements for licensure as a psychologist in the state wherein the supervision occurred. 3. No supervisor, whether primary or secondary, may be a relative of the applicant, such as a spouse, parent, child, sibling of the whole- or half-blood, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, stepparent, stepchild, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law or sister-in-law. 4. No supervisor, whether primary or secondary, may be under discipline by any licensing board or jurisdiction at any time during the period of supervised professional experience. 5. No supervisor, whether primary or secondary, shall have more than four (4) persons obtaining post-degree supervised professional experience for licensure under supervision at any one (1) time. Any supervisor wishing to petition the committee for additional supervisees may do so through a written request. 6. Must certify to the committee at the completion of the applicant’s postdoctoral supervised professional experience that the supervisee has complied with the requirements for supervised professional experience through the use of the attestation forms provided by the committee; 7. Supervisor shall notify the committee in writing within five (5) business days if supervision should cease for any reason prior to established postdoctoral supervised professional experience end date. The supervisor shall complete an attestation form provided by the committee for the period of supervised experience and forward it to the committee within two (2) weeks of the cessation of supervision. (F) Supervisor/Supervisee Relationship. 1. All professional activities and psychological services provided by the supervisee must be performed pursuant to the supervisor’s order, control and full professional responsibility. The supervisor, whether primary and/or secondary must be vested with administrative authority over matters affecting the provision of psychological health services which are being accorded under the supervision of the particular supervisor, whether primary and/or secondary, so that the ultimate responsibility for the welfare of every client is maintained by the supervising psychologist(s). 2. The supervisor(s) shall maintain a continuing relationship with the supervisee by their employment, affiliation in the same setting, or both. The supervisor(s) and supervisee should have frequent professional interactions. 3. Unless otherwise approved by the committee for good cause, all written documents, such as case notes, intake assessments, test reports, treatment plans and progress reports prepared by the supervisee during the period of the supervised professional experience must be reviewed, approved and cosigned by the appropriate supervisor; (G) Variances. Supervisees seeking a variance in the acceptance of the supervision requirements shall make application to the committee which may be handled on a caseby-case basis; (H) Prior Review. The committee, upon request, will review a supervisee’s plan of post-degree supervised professional experience to determine if that supervision is acceptable under this rule. All requests shall be submitted on the forms provided by the committee and accompanied by the prior review fee for post-degree supervision. A prior review of educational credentials must be conducted prior to or simultaneously with a request of proposed plan of post-degree supervised professional experience. All requests must be submitted to the committee thirty (30) days prior to a regularly scheduled committee meeting; and (I) Representation. 1. Throughout the period of postdoctoral supervised professional experience, the supervisee must represent him/herself to consumers of psychological services consistent with 20 CSR 2235-1.015. 2. Any individual, whether such individual be provisionally licensed or be unlicensed, who is working under the supervision of a licensed psychologist shall not be listed in telephone listings as providing psychological services. 3. Any individual, whether such individual be provisionally licensed or be unlicensed, who is working under the supervision of a licensed psychologist shall list the primary supervising psychologist’s name and license number on all professional correspondence (for example, testing reports and progress reports) and advertisements or notices (for example, brochures) of his/her professional services. AUTHORITY: sections 337.025 and 337.050.9, RSMo 2000.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 235-2.040. Original rule filed Feb. 4, 1992, effective Dec. 3, 1992. Amended: Filed July 26, 1999, effective Feb. 29, 2000. Moved to 20 CSR 2235-2.040, effective Aug. 28, 2006. Amended: Filed March 27, 2007, effective Sept. 30, 2007. Amended: Filed Aug. 30, 2007, effective Feb. 29, 2008. *Original authority: 337.025, RSMo 1977, amended 1989, 1998 and 337.050.9, RSMo 1977, amended 1981, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999.