Criteria For The Licensure Of I-O Psychologists
The specifics and restrictiveness of state and province licensure requirements differ, but they have a few main requirements in common:
- Obtaining a Ph.D./Psy.D. from an APA- or CPA-accredited doctoral program (some states allow for some type of equivalency or alternate pathway).
- Supervision by a licensed psychologist for a specified period of time (typically 3,000 hours).
- Obtaining a qualifying score on the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP).
- Passing a written or oral exam conducted by the state board (check your state).
- Most states require continuing education credits to maintain the license.
SIOP Licensing, Certification & Credentialing (LCC) Committee
Some SIOP members are already licensed because they came through Clinical and Counseling Psychology doctoral programs which were APA-accredited. They subsequently pursued a practice as I-O, Organizational, Business, or Management Psychologists. However, most SIOP Members received doctoral training in I-O Psychology from programs that were not APA-accredited.
SIOP is actively advocating for non-licensed SIOP members to have new pathways toward obtaining a license as a psychologist. Ongoing discussions between SIOP and relevant stakeholder organizations—such as ASPPB, APA, PSYPACT, and others—have yielded some encouraging results. The committee hopes that appropriate changes will be made to provide alternative pathways that would demonstrate substantial equivalence of education and training.
The LCC committee monitors information about state licensing requirements for I-O psychologists. Please contact Elliot D. Lasson, LCC Chair, at elasson6@gmail.com with questions and comments.
