Getting your License in New York? Here is What You Need to Know

Getting your License in New York? Here is What You Need to Know

The Empire State. One of the most populous states in this nation attracts an incredible number of visitors, re-settlers, and professionals every year. Psychologists are not immune to the attraction of the Big Apple. However, the laws and requirements for practicing professional psychology in New York differ slightly from others states. If you have ever thought about getting your license in New York, AATBS is here to help.

Research your setting

First, you will want to figure out exactly where you want to practice. For most psychologists, your setting will come along with your specialty. Start researching throughout the state the types of settings in which you would like to work. For example, if your specialty is sports psychology, you will want to research different areas and whether they have a setting that will allow for you to practice your specialty. New York requires extra training in your specialty in order to sit for the licensure exam, so you will need to be sure you will be able to secure this training opportunity. Although New York City holds nearly half the population of the state of New York, there are a great other number of areas as well. Due to the sheer population in New York City, it can be relatively competitive to find a placement in your specialty. To mitigate the competitiveness of this, it is worth looking into the suburbs and some of the more removed areas of New York.

Get to know the regulations

Licenses in New York are overseen by the Office of Professions. Somewhat unintuitively, this office is under the jurisdiction of the New York State Education Department. This office puts forth the requirements for licensing in this state, which include three broad rules: (1) to have good moral character, (2) to be at least 21 years old, and (3) to complete of the necessary education, examinations, and experiences.

While the age requirement is a bit more straightforward, the definition of “good moral character” is much foggier. This will be determined individually by the State of New York’s Education Department. In most cases, you will be required to complete a form attesting to your own good moral character. This form will inquire about your legal history, including any crimes of which you have been convicted in the past. If there are any actions in your past, for which you may or may not have been convicted of, that would raise a question as to your “moral character,” you will also be asked to discuss these. You will also be reviewed for any licensing issues in the past, whether this was in the field of psychology. Furthermore, you will also be asked to disclose any issues of professional misconduct or any other disciplinary actions taken by places where you have worked, especially if that workplace had something to do with the field of psychology. In some cases, you may also be asked to provide a character witness who can attest to your good moral character.

Finally, to complete the education piece of New York’s requirement, the applicant should earn either a Psy.D. or a Ph.D. You must earn your doctorate from a qualifying program with the Office of Professions. All programs within the state of New York are currently qualifying programs. However, if you received your training somewhere else, a “substantial equivalent” will also be accepted. To find out if your program counts as qualifying program or substantial equivalent, you should consult the Office of Professions website. If it is not specifically listed, you will need to contact the State Education Department. Most programs will be accepted if they include at least three full years of study, or the equivalent number of units completed over a part-time schedule. Additionally, you will need to complete at least 30 credit hours of study at the university through which you are pursuing your doctorate. This is to say that you will only be able to transfer in some of your credit hours, and that a minimum of 30 must come from the awarding program.

After you complete your doctorate, you will then need to complete a minimum of two years of postdoctoral practice in your specialty. Each year, it is expected that you will gather 1750 hours. For these two years, you may apply for a limited permit to practice psychology, which will allow you to work with a licensed psychologist and accrue supervised hours. Although this is prescribed to be completed over two years, you will have the option of completing the hours over three. In very rare cases will the student be permitted to extend for a fourth year to acquire the necessary hours. After you have been able to collect sufficient hours, you may contact the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards to sit for the EPPP and the New York State Law and Ethics Exam, which is the final step in becoming licensed.

Becoming licensed in New York is somewhat different than in other parts of the nation. However, the extra hoops through which you will need to jump will be worth it to be able to call the Empire State home. To be successful, we recommend starting early and studying the requirements for any specific region in which you plan to become licensed. When it comes time to get ready for the exam, AATBS will be there to help!