§ 90-270.139.  Application; examination; supervision; provisional and temporary licenses.

(a) Except as otherwise exempted by G.S. 90-270.138, persons who are qualified by education to practice psychology in this State must make application for licensure to the Board within 30 days of offering to practice or undertaking the practice of psychology in North Carolina. Applications must then be completed for review by the Board within the time period stipulated in the duly adopted rules of the Board. Persons who practice or offer to practice psychology for more than 30 days without making application for licensure, who fail to complete the application process within the time period specified by the Board, or who are denied licensure pursuant to G.S. 90-270.145 or G.S. 90-270.148, may not subsequently practice or offer to practice psychology without first becoming licensed.

(b) After making application for licensure, applicants must take the first examination to which they are admitted by the Board. If applicants fail the examination, they may continue to practice psychology until they take the next examination to which they are admitted by the Board. If applicants fail the second examination, they shall cease the practice of psychology per G.S. 90-270.138(h), and may not subsequently practice or offer to practice psychology without first reapplying for and receiving a license from the Board. An applicant who does not take an examination on the date prescribed by the Board shall be deemed to have failed that examination.

(c) All individuals who have yet to apply and who are practicing or offering to practice psychology in North Carolina, and all applicants who are practicing or offering to practice psychology in North Carolina, shall at all times comply with supervision requirements established by the Board. The Board shall specify in its rules the format, setting, content, time frame, amounts of supervision, qualifications of supervisors, disclosure of supervisory relationships, the organization of the supervised experience, and the nature of the responsibility assumed by the supervisor. Individuals shall be supervised for all activities comprising the practice of psychology until they have met the following conditions:

(1) For licensed psychologist applicants, until they have passed the examination to which they have been admitted by the Board, have been notified of the results, have completed supervision requirements specified in subsection (d) of this section, and have been informed by the Board of permanent licensure as a licensed psychologist; or

(2) For licensed psychological associate applicants, until they have passed the examination to which they have been admitted by the Board, have been notified of the results, and have been informed by the Board of permanent licensure as a licensed psychological associate, after which time supervision is required only for those activities specified in subsection (e) of this section.

(d) For permanent licensure as a licensed psychologist, an otherwise qualified psychologist must secure two years of acceptable and appropriate supervised experience germane to his or her training and intended area of practice as a psychologist. The Board shall permit such supervised experience to be acquired on a less than full-time basis, and shall additionally specify in its rules the format, setting, content, time frame, amounts of supervision, qualifications of supervisors, disclosure of supervisory relationships, the organization of the supervised experience, and the nature of the responsibility assumed by the supervisor. Supervision of health services must be received from qualified licensed psychologists holding health services provider certificates, or from other psychologists recognized by the Board in accordance with Board rules.

(1) One of these years of experience shall be postdoctoral, and for this year, the Board may require, as specified in its rules, that the supervised experience be comparable to the knowledge and skills acquired during formal doctoral or postdoctoral education, in accordance with established professional standards.

(2) One of these years may be predoctoral and the Board shall establish rules governing appropriate supervised predoctoral experience.

(3) A psychologist who meets all other requirements of G.S. 90-270.145(a) as a licensed psychologist, except the two years of supervised experience, may be issued a provisional license as a psychologist or a license as a psychological associate, without having received a master's degree or specialist degree in psychology, by the Board for the practice of psychology.

(e) A licensed psychological associate shall be supervised by a qualified licensed psychologist, or other qualified professionals, in accordance with Board rules specifying the format, setting, content, time frame, amounts of supervision, qualifications of supervisors, disclosure of supervisory relationships, the organization of the supervised experience, and the nature of the responsibility assumed by the supervisor. A licensed psychological associate who provides health services shall be supervised, for those activities requiring supervision, by a qualified licensed psychologist holding health services provider certification or by other qualified professionals under the overall direction of a qualified licensed psychologist holding health services provider certification, in accordance with Board rules. Except as provided below, supervision, including the supervision of health services, is required only when a licensed psychological associate engages in: assessment of personality functioning; neuropsychological evaluation; psychotherapy, counseling, and other interventions with clinical populations for the purpose of preventing or eliminating symptomatic, maladaptive, or undesired behavior; and, the use of intrusive, punitive, or experimental procedures, techniques, or measures. The Board shall adopt rules implementing and defining this provision, and as the practice of psychology evolves, may identify additional activities requiring supervision in order to maintain acceptable standards of practice.

(f) A nonresident psychologist who is either licensed or certified by a similar Board in another jurisdiction whose standards, in the opinion of the Board, are, at the date of his or her certification or licensure, substantially equivalent to or higher than the requirements of this Article, may be issued a temporary license by the Board for the practice of psychology in this State for a period not to exceed the aggregate of 30 days in any calendar year. The Board may issue temporary health services provider certification simultaneously if the nonresident psychologist can demonstrate two years of acceptable supervised health services experience. All temporarily licensed psychologists shall comply with supervision requirements established by the Board.

(g) An applicant for reinstatement of licensure, whose license was suspended under G.S. 90-270.148(f), may be issued a temporary license and temporary health services provider certification in accordance with the duly adopted rules of the Board. (1967, c. 910, s. 5; 1977, c. 670, s. 4; 1979, c. 670, s. 3; 1985, c. 734, s. 4; 1993, c. 375, s. 1; 2012-72, s. 1; 2020-82, s. 1(a).)