Licensing:
1. I am licensed in another state. Is there reciprocity?
No. Unfortunately there is no reciprocity; however, there are options.
If you only plan to work in New Jersey for a limited amount of time, you can ask the Board to grant you temporary permission to work in New Jersey. If you plan to work in New Jersey for not more than 10 consecutive business days or not more than 15 days in a 90-day period, you would qualify for temporary permission. In that case, please submit a letter of request outlining the type of practice you will be undertaking in New Jersey together with a current curriculum vitae and a photocopy of your current out-of-state license to: State Board of Psychological Examiners, PO Box 45017, Newark, NJ 07101.
Your other option is to apply for licensure. If you can prove that you have met the requirements for supervised hours in New Jersey, you would be issued a one-year unsupervised temporary permit in order that you may work in New Jersey until you pass the oral examination. If you do not have enough supervised hours, you would be issued a three-year supervised temporary permit once you have identified a supervisor and that supervisor has been approved by the Board. When the hours have been completed and you have passed the oral examination, you would be licensed.
2. How often must I renew my license?
Every two years. All licenses for psychologists expire on June 30 of each odd-numbered year. All licensees will receive instructions regarding renewal approximately three months before the license expires.
Continuing Education:
1. Is continuing education required for psychologists in New Jersey?
Not at the present time.
Training and Exam:
1. What are the requirements for licensure as a psychologist in New Jersey?
I. An earned doctorate (Ph.D., Psy.D. or Ed.D.) in psychology or a field allied to psychology from an institution accredited by a regional accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education. The doctoral program must be accredited by the American Psychological Association or the Canadian Psychological Association or listed by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards/National Register Joint Designation or have a full-time faculty who are doctorally prepared in psychology, require full-time students to physically attend classes on campus for at least one academic year and require part-time students to physically attend classes on campus for at least two academic years.
A. No more than one-third of the doctoral credits shall have been transferred from another regionally accredited graduate school.
B. The doctoral degree must be based on at least 40 credit hours within the field of psychology, 36 of which must be in the following areas:
1. Six credits in Personality Theory and Human Development Theory;
2. Six credits in Learning Theory and/or Physiological Psychology;
3. Six credits in Psychological Measurement and Psychological Assessment;
4. Six credits in Psychopathology;
5. Six credits in Psychological therapy/counseling or Industrial/Organizational Psychology; and
6. Six credits in Research and Statistical Design.
C. An additional 20 credit hours specifically in the field of psychology, but which were not necessarily obtained as part of the doctoral program. They may have been granted at a pre-doctoral or post-doctoral graduate level and must have been obtained as part of a program at a regionally accredited institution.
D. Six credits may be recognized for a dissertation which is psychological in nature, at the discretion of the Board.
E. At its discretion, the Board may accept up to nine credits earned at a graduate level at a regionally accredited school or university to remediate a deficiency in the above requirements.
II. Submission of the following documentation:
A. Official transcripts;
B. An abstract of the dissertation as published in Dissertation Abstracts International;
C. Two certificates of good moral character;
D. Authorization to conduct a Criminal History Record Background Check; and
E. Certification of compliance with the child-support enforcement law N.J.S.A. 54:50-25.
III. Two years of full-time (3,500 hours) supervised practice, at least one year of which (1,750 hours) is acquired subsequent to receiving the doctorate with the following breakdown:
A. 1,000 client contact hours;
B. 200 hours of supervision (at least 100 of which must be individual supervision, the remainder may be group or individual supervision); and
C. 550 hours in work-related activities such as recordkeeping, consultations, report writing, etc.
IV. Supervision must be by a psychologist licensed for at least two years in the state in which the supervision is received. All supervision received in New Jersey must be by a Board-approved supervisor and under permit issued by the Board.
V. The candidate must pass the written Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology administered by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards.
VI. After passing the written examination, the candidate must pass an oral examination based on a current work sample representative of the candidate’s present practice.
Candidates who are licensed in states other than New Jersey must demonstrate that they have met the same requirements, including submission of the same documentation including test scores and a license verification letter from the state in which the candidate holds a license.
See N.J.S.A. 45:14B-1 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 13:1.1 et seq.
