West Virginia Psychology Licensure Requirements

500

The Board's own doctoral licensure instruction sheet states candidates must pass the EPPP with a score of 500 or greater (the ASPPB-recommended scaled score). Legislative Rule 17-3-14.2 leaves the cut score to the Board ("The Board shall determine and set a passing score in consideration of prevailing national standards"), so the figure comes from the Board's published instruction sheet rather than from rule. Doctoral supervised-psychologists must pass the EPPP within 2 years, with a maximum of 5 attempts (17-3-14.3). No adoption of an EPPP Part 1 / Part 2 split is mentioned anywhere in Title 17 Series 3 or on the Board's licensure pages.

W. Va. Code 30-21-7(a)(4) requires doctoral applicants to complete at least 1,800 hours of predoctoral internship. Post-degree supervision is stated in years, not hours: Rule 17-3-5.4 requires at least one year of Board-approved supervised experience for Ph.D.-level applicants, and Rule 17-3-5.2 defines a "year" as twelve average work months of full-time employment. Under Rule 17-3-4.5 a doctoral applicant who completed at least 1,800 internship hours may apply to have that year of supervision waived (if working in WV they must still be supervised until the EPPP and oral examination are passed). An applicant with no internship must complete two years of supervised practice. Supervision must include a minimum of 1 hour of individual supervision per 20 hours of clinical practice, at least 1 hour per week (17-3-9.2). Master's-level applicants need five years of post-graduate Board-approved supervised experience (17-3-5.3).

Required

Board-prepared oral examination before the Board (not a separate written jurisprudence test). Rule 17-3-14.4 requires every initial and reciprocity applicant to take it; it covers professional ethics, legal issues, competency, professionalism and pertinent West Virginia state law, and also sets the applicant's approved scope of independent practice. Candidates submit a demonstrable competency form and at least three work samples; a 60% pass rate of the Board members voting is required (17-3-14.6, 17-3-14.9).

Fee: $405 per new oral examination; $180 for a continued oral examination

West Virginia has no standalone written state-law/jurisprudence exam; the state-law content is examined inside the mandatory oral examination. Failing the oral examination ends eligibility for supervised or independent practice in West Virginia (17-3-14.13). Reciprocity applicants must also pass it (17-3-12.2.f).

1. Earn a doctoral degree (Ph.D., Psy.D. or Ed.D.) in a clinical form of psychology from a regionally accredited institution, in a psychology-designated department, covering the core coursework listed in Rule 17-3-2.1.
2. Complete a pre-doctoral internship of at least 1,800 hours meeting the Board's internship standards in Rule 17-3-4.4.
3. Apply to the Board (request the application packet from psychbd@wv.gov), submitting the notarized application, official transcripts, endorser forms from two psychologists and the $120 fee, and be approved as a Supervised-Psychologist with a Board-approved supervisor and a signed supervision contract if you will work in West Virginia.
4. Complete one year of Board-approved supervision (two years if you never completed an internship), filing quarterly supervision reports and paying the annual supervision fee; applicants with an 1,800-hour internship may apply to have the supervision year waived.
5. Pass the EPPP with a score of 500 or greater, within two years of becoming a Supervised-Psychologist and in no more than five attempts.
6. Submit oral examination materials (demonstrable competency form and at least three work samples) and pass the Board's oral examination on ethics, West Virginia law and your declared scope of practice.
7. Receive the license and renew it every two years with 20 hours of continuing education, 3 of them in ethics, plus the $405 renewal fee.

PSYPACT member

Psychologists licensed in another jurisdiction may be licensed by reciprocity if the Board finds the other state's requirements were equal to or greater than West Virginia's (W. Va. Code 30-21-7(b)(2); Rule 17-3-12.2). Reciprocity is not automatic: applicants must submit a notarized application, transcripts, national exam scores, documentation of supervision, letters of good standing and disciplinary history, pay all fees, and must pass the Board's oral examination. Under the portability provision (Rule 17-3-12.2.e) the Board may waive some or all education/training documentation for doctoral applicants holding the ASPPB Certificate of Professional Qualification (CPQ) or National Register HSP credential, though all other requirements still apply. Diplomates of the American Board of Professional Psychology have a separate route (Rule 17-3-12.1; W. Va. Code 30-21-7(b)(1)). Reciprocity applicants may request a 90-day temporary license. West Virginia has enacted PSYPACT as W. Va. Code Chapter 30, Article 21A (Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact), allowing telepsychology practice and temporary in-person practice across compact states.

West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists

(304) 558-3040

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