Kentucky Psychology License Requirements: Guide for 2026 Certification

Mental health statistics show that 37.4% of Kentucky adults experience anxiety or depression symptoms. This rate surpasses the national average of 32.3%. The state faces a serious challenge as 232,000 people with mental health conditions don’t receive proper treatment. The need for qualified psychologists keeps growing, and job opportunities should increase by 6% between 2024 and 2034. This growth rate doubles the average across all US occupations.

A psychology career in Kentucky offers both financial stability and a chance to make real impact. Psychologists in the state earn an average of $87,197 annually. Clinical and counseling psychologists make even more at $96,290. The path to becoming a licensed psychologist takes about 10 years. You’ll need to get a doctorate degree, complete supervised work experience, and pass licensing exams.

This guide outlines all requirements from the Kentucky Board of Psychology to get your psychology license in 2026. We cover everything you need to know about educational paths, supervised experience hours, exam requirements, and ongoing education rules. These details will help you start your journey as a licensed psychologist in Kentucky.

Educational Pathways

Getting a psychology license in Kentucky follows a clear path. You must first complete a bachelor’s degree that builds the foundation for advanced studies. While you don’t need to major in psychology, choosing this field helps you learn research methods, statistics, and core psychological concepts.

After finishing your undergraduate degree, you have two options. You can either go straight for a doctoral degree or get a master’s degree first. The master’s degree path lets you work as a psychological associate under supervision.

The Kentucky Board of Psychology requires a doctoral degree for full licensure. This can be a Ph.D., Psy.D., or Ed.D. from a regionally accredited school. Your program needs to have clear psychology faculty, student body, and a psychologist who manages an integrated study sequence. The board requires at least three years of graduate study, with one year spent at a physical campus.

Your doctoral training must cover specific areas. The core requirements include:

• Three semester hours each in biological, cognitive-affective, and social bases of behavior
• Three semester hours in individual differences
• Coursework in research methodology, statistics, and scientific/professional ethics

The program must also meet specific requirements based on your practice area. Clinical psychologists need courses in:

• Advanced abnormal psychology or psychopathology
• Psychotherapy theories and systems
• Individual assessment of intellectual functioning
• Individual assessment of emotional and psychological functioning

Counseling psychologists need courses like career counseling, assessment of individual functioning, and counseling techniques. School psychologists and industrial/organizational psychologists have their own specific course requirements.

The program includes a predoctoral internship of 1,800 hours over one year. You’ll need at least 100 hours of supervision. A quarter of your time should be spent in direct client contact.

Kentucky has several programs that meet these requirements. The University of Kentucky hosts doctoral programs in clinical and experimental psychology. The experimental track branches into cognitive neuroscience and developmental, social, and health psychology. Spalding University’s APA-accredited PsyD program in clinical psychology has managed to keep its accreditation since 1989.

Look for programs with American Psychological Association (APA) accreditation. This ensures quality education and makes the licensing process easier. Kentucky’s APA-accredited programs show great results on the Examination for Professional Practice of Psychology (EPPP). The University of Kentucky’s clinical psychology PhD program and University of Louisville’s clinical PhD program both have 100% pass rates.

The educational requirements for Kentucky licensure are demanding and take time. These standards ensure psychologists are well-trained to provide quality mental health services to Kentucky residents. Understanding these educational paths is your first step to becoming a licensed psychologist in Kentucky.

Supervised Experience Requirements

Kentucky psychologists need substantial supervised experience beyond their academic coursework to practice. The Kentucky Board of Psychology requires 3,600 hours of supervised professional experience before granting full licensure as a psychologist. This hands-on training will give you practical clinical skills under proper guidance before you start independent practice.

Your journey splits into two main parts totaling 3,600 hours. A predoctoral internship makes up 1,800 hours with at least 100 hours of supervision sessions. You can complete the remaining 1,800 hours through predoctoral experiences, postdoctoral work, or both, based on your circumstances.

The predoctoral internship must be part of a well-laid-out training program with planned sequential experiences, not just on-the-job training. You’ll need to spend at least 25% of your time (roughly 450 hours) directly working with clients.

Your weekly schedule must include two hours of face-to-face individual supervision plus two more hours of learning activities like case conferences or clinical seminars. You should complete this intensive training within 24 months, though the board might approve extensions due to illness or pregnancy.

The additional 1,800 hours of supervised experience demands that at least 50% of your time goes toward service-related activities. These activities include treatment, assessment, interviews, report writing, and case presentations. Clinical settings with mental health clients must provide explicit training in:

• Clinical skill development
• Legal and regulatory issues
• Ethical dilemmas and issues
• Supervisory skill development

Mental health professionals can gain these hours in healthcare facilities, mental health boards, educational institutions, government agencies, independent practices, or formal postdoctoral programs. Each setting comes with specific requirements. Independent practice hours need a special application letter confirming your employment status and supervision arrangements.

University settings demand specific documentation, including proof of 400 hours of direct and indirect client work under a licensed psychologist’s supervision. This work might involve supervising student clinical activities or conducting diagnostic research.

The Board now uses an online system instead of paper forms. Most supervision documents go through your eServices account. This system handles Supervisory Plans and Goals, Supervisory Reports, and supervision arrangement changes.

Your supervised experience will help you grow from relying on supervisor guidance to becoming an independent practitioner. This journey builds the competencies you need as an ethical and skilled Kentucky psychologist.

Licensing Examinations

Your Kentucky psychology license depends on passing some tough exams. The Kentucky Board of Psychology wants you to clear both national and state tests before they give you full licensure.

The national Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) comes first. The Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) created this complete test. It checks your basic knowledge in eight areas, such as biological bases of behavior, assessment techniques, and ethical practices. You must score at least 500 on the computer-based exam. The board gives you one year to take this test after they approve you.

After you pass the EPPP, two Kentucky-specific tests await you:

• A jurisprudence exam that tests what you know about Kentucky mental health law – you’ll just need to score 80% or higher
• An ethical principles and professional practice competency exam where you must score 100%

Two board-approved licensed psychologists give the competency exam. The good news? You can skip this exam if you have board certification from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). The same applies if you already have a valid license from a state that has a reciprocity agreement with Kentucky.

Don’t worry if you fail a test – options are available. To name just one example, if you don’t pass the EPPP, you can try again. You’ll just need to submit a detailed plan showing how you’ll do better next time. This plan should show your study strategy, time you’ll spend, and extra training you’ll get.

In spite of that, remember you get only three shots at each structured exam. If you can’t pass after three tries, you still have a chance. You can apply to become a licensed psychological associate by submitting an application and paying the fee.

Most people do better on the EPPP when they take it right after school. The material stays fresh in your mind from your recent studies. Smart test-takers start preparing four months ahead. We focused on practice tests more than textbook review, and it worked well.

These exams are challenging, but they make sure Kentucky psychologists have the right knowledge and ethical foundations to help their clients properly.

Application & Licensure Process

The Kentucky psychology licensure process demands careful attention to paperwork and procedures. After completing your education and supervised experience, you’ll need to submit a detailed application package to the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology.

Your first step is picking the right application form that matches your credentials and situation. The Board provides different paths for doctoral-level applicants – new licensees, reciprocity candidates, and psychologists licensed in other states. Master’s-level candidates have their own forms for psychological associate and psychological practitioner credentials.

The standard doctoral application package must include:

• A completed Application for Licensure as a Psychologist form
• A non-refundable $200.00 application fee payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer
• Three recommendation letters from qualified evaluators, including two from doctoral-level psychologists
• Official transcripts for all undergraduate and graduate education sent directly from your institutions

The Board reviews your credentials and, if approved, issues a one-year temporary license. This license lets you practice under supervision while completing your exam requirements. You must have weekly supervision with at least one hour of individual, face-to-face sessions.

Kentucky now offers a simpler application process through the Psychology Licensure Universal System (PLUS) program, run jointly with ASPPB. The system’s dedicated specialists help guide you through each step. This ensures faster processing and creates a permanent record of your credentials.

Recent graduates have a 60-day grace period to start supervised practice while finishing their application materials. You must notify the Board right away when starting employment or supervision and submit all required documentation within 30 days.

Your temporary license might expire before you complete all requirements. The Board usually grants six-month extensions, with a maximum of six years for all temporary licenses. Any incomplete applications expire after one year.

Psychologists from other states seeking Kentucky licensure through reciprocity need five years of practice without disciplinary action or recognized credentials like the Certificate of Professional Qualification. These candidates still need to pass the Kentucky jurisprudence examination.

Visiting professionals can practice in Kentucky for up to 30 days within a two-year period. They must register with the Board and prove good standing in their home jurisdiction.

Continuing Education

Kentucky psychologists just need to complete continuing education (CE) to keep their licenses active. The Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology requires proof of 39 continuing education hours every three years. Each CE hour takes 55 minutes of clock time.

Your 39 CE hours must include:

• Six hours in suicide assessment, treatment, and management during your first year and every six years after that
• Three hours focused on ethical practice or risk management in each three-year period
• Three hours covering supervision theory or techniques if you supervise license applicants
• Starting June 2024, you’ll need three more hours on social and cultural factors that affect health, functioning, and quality of life

The license renewal process requires a $625 fee and proof that you’ve finished your CE hours. The board checks about 10% of all CE documentation randomly.

You might not have to take the suicide assessment training. The board exempts you if you’ve already completed a three-semester graduate course in suicide assessment or if you work at Joint Commission-accredited facilities that require suicide risk assessments for every patient.

Kentucky accepts different types of activities as CE credits. Graduate-level psychology courses give you great value – one semester hour equals 15 CE hours. Teaching graduate courses can count for up to nine CE hours per renewal period.

Online learning has some limits. You can only count up to 12 hours from internet-based courses. Video conferencing has a higher cap at 24 CE hours.

The Kentucky Psychological Association’s CE Registry service helps you track your credits easily. This paid service keeps detailed records of all your CE activities, so you don’t have to manage individual certificates. When it’s time to renew, you can quickly transfer your credits to the Board’s system.

CE providers that the board approves include state psychological association chapters, recognized psychology organizations, state psychology licensure boards, and accredited academic institutions.

Special State Variations

Kentucky stands out from other states with several unique provisions beyond standard licensure requirements.

Kentucky has become part of the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT). This allows qualified psychologists to practice telepsychology across state lines. They can also provide temporary in-person services up to 30 days each calendar year. The compact has improved public access to psychological services by a lot while you retain control through protective oversight.

The Health Service Provider (HSP) designation makes Kentucky’s system special. Psychologists need 1,800 extra post-doctoral clinical hours on top of standard licensure requirements. The total requirement comes to 5,400 hours. This breaks down into 1,800 predoctoral internship hours, 1,800 hours to get your original license, and 1,800 more clinical hours to earn the HSP designation. You’ll need this credential to supervise other mental health professionals or students in Kentucky.

Kentucky welcomes out-of-state psychologists through reciprocity pathways. You can qualify with five years of practice without disciplinary action. You also need certification from the National Register of Health Service Psychologists, a Certificate of Professional Qualification from ASPPB, or certification from the American Board of Professional Psychology.

Kentucky also lets nonresident psychologists practice temporarily. They can work up to 30 days within a two-year period after registering with the Board.