Get Your Psychology License in Tennessee: Complete 2026 Guide

Tennessee faces a critical mental health care shortage. More than 3 million residents live in areas without proper mental health services. A career as a psychologist in Tennessee offers both meaningful work and strong growth potential. The state meets only 15% of its residents’ mental health needs. This gap shows how badly Tennessee needs qualified psychological professionals.

Psychology jobs in Tennessee look promising. The field expects 14% growth between 2020 and 2030. Clinical and counseling psychologists earn an average of $103,190 annually. Salaries vary by location, with Memphis and Nashville’s metropolitan areas typically offering higher pay.

Getting your Tennessee psychology license involves specific steps. You must complete educational requirements, gain supervised experience, and pass licensing exams. The Tennessee Board of Psychologists requires 3,800 hours of supervised experience. Half of these hours – 1,900 – must come from your doctoral internship. Understanding this process helps prepare you for professional success.

This piece covers everything about becoming a licensed psychologist in Tennessee. You’ll learn about education requirements, experience needs, exam details, and continuing education rules.

Educational Pathways

Your Tennessee psychology license starts with undergraduate studies and ends with doctoral-level training. The right educational credentials are the foundation of your path toward professional practice in this field.

A bachelor’s degree program takes four years of full-time study and approximately 120 credit hours. You don’t need to major in psychology at this stage. However, an undergraduate psychology degree gives you foundational knowledge and might eliminate prerequisite courses needed for graduate programs.

After your undergraduate degree, you can choose between two paths. Some students go straight to doctoral programs, while others get a master’s degree in psychology first. A standalone master’s degree isn’t required for licensure. It helps if your bachelor’s degree was in another field or you need more experience before doctoral studies. Master’s programs usually take two years (30-40 credit hours).

The Tennessee Board of Psychologists requires a doctoral degree for full licensure. Your doctoral program must meet one of these key criteria:

• Accreditation by the American Psychological Association (APA)
• Designation by the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology/Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (NR/ASPPB)

Students seeking Health Service Provider (HSP) designation must meet specific program requirements. Your doctoral program should focus on clinical, counseling, or school psychology—or combine these disciplines. This training will give a solid foundation in direct patient care settings.

Several board-approved doctoral programs exist across Tennessee:

• George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University (Clinical Psychology)
• University of Memphis (Clinical, Experimental, and School Psychology)
• Tennessee State University (Counseling and School Psychology)
• University of Tennessee (Clinical, General, Counseling, School, and Industrial/Organizational Psychology)
• East Tennessee State University (Clinical Psychology)

Doctoral programs typically take 4-7 years. These programs include supervised predoctoral practicum hours and internships that build your clinical training and meet future licensure requirements. Your doctoral internship should include at least 1,900 hours of supervised experience – a specific requirement for Tennessee licensure.

Your doctoral program provides detailed training, but some areas might need extra coursework. These include suicide risk assessment, human sexuality, substance dependence treatment, and aging care. The Tennessee Board can tell you if you need supplemental coursework beyond your doctoral program.

These educational requirements are the foundations of your supervised experience and examination preparation. A well-planned educational path helps you meet all criteria for Tennessee psychology licensure smoothly.

Supervised Experience Requirements

Getting your Tennessee psychology license requires supervised experience as a vital step after your educational training. The Tennessee Board of Psychologists requires 3,800 supervised hours, split evenly between predoctoral internship and postdoctoral experience.

Your predoctoral internship needs 1,900 hours in a professionally recognized program. You must complete this internship at a location different from your workplace, and it can take one or two years. The experience starts after you finish all degree requirements except your dissertation.

The American Psychological Association (APA) accredited internships or those listed by the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) automatically meet Tennessee’s standards. The Board reviews non-accredited internships to ensure they match these standards. Many programs need minimum direct contact hours before you can apply – you’ll have a stronger application with at least 200 intervention hours and 150 assessment hours.

After completing your doctoral degree, you’ll need another 1,900 hours of postdoctoral supervised experience to get the Health Service Provider (HSP) designation. This experience must include:

• Direct supervision by a licensed psychologist with HSP designation
• At least one hour per week of individual face-to-face supervision
• Direct service to individuals or groups of clients/patients
• Face-to-face clinical work (administrative supervision doesn’t count toward requirements)

Postdoctoral hours earned in Tennessee require a provisional license. This temporary license lets you practice under supervision while completing your requirements. The Board waives this requirement if you complete your supervised experience through an APPIC-listed or APA-accredited postdoctoral fellowship training program.

Your supervisor should be a licensed psychologist with HSP designation whose expertise matches the services you provide. After your supervised year ends, your supervisor must confirm you’ve reached satisfactory proficiency in psychological assessment, intervention, and ethical knowledge.

You’ll need to complete a Postdoctoral Supervised Experience Documentation Form that details your work setting, client populations, services, and supervision. Don’t submit this form until you’ve finished all 1,900 required hours.

Some exceptions apply – tenure-track faculty members seeking licensure can count their supervision of practicum students or interns toward postdoctoral requirements if an HSP-designated psychologist oversees the supervision. The Board might waive the postdoctoral requirement if you were licensed before January 1982 with continuous good standing.

Detailed records of your supervision activities, including meeting duration and clients discussed, are essential throughout both internship and postdoctoral experiences.

Licensing Examinations

You must pass two complete examinations to get your Tennessee psychology license after you meet the educational and supervised experience requirements. These assessments help the Tennessee Board of Psychologists verify your knowledge and ethical understanding before they grant your license.

The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) comes first. The Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) develops this standardized national examination. This computer-delivered test has 225 multiple-choice questions that cover eight content areas:

• Biological bases of behavior
• Cognitive-affective bases of behavior
• Social and cultural bases of behavior
• Growth and lifespan development
• Assessment and diagnosis
• Treatment, intervention, prevention, and supervision
• Research methods and statistics
• Ethical, legal, and professional issues

The Board will submit your name to ASPPB once they approve you to take the EPPP. ASPPB will send your examination authorization with scheduling instructions for a Pearson VUE testing center. You must pay the examination fee directly to the testing provider.

You need a scaled score of 500 or higher on the computer-delivered version to pass. This score sets the ASPPB’s standard for independent practice. Doctoral-level candidates from accredited programs show strong results, with first-time pass rates above 80% most years.

The Tennessee Ethics and Jurisprudence examination follows your successful completion of the EPPP. This test reviews your knowledge of:

• Tennessee laws related to psychology practice
• The Board’s ethical rules
• Current professional standards and guidelines

The Board’s Nashville office offers the Ethics and Jurisprudence examination every other Friday. They provide relevant materials for this open-book test. You get exactly two hours to complete it and must score 90% or higher to pass.

You can retake either exam after waiting 60 days if you fail. In spite of that, you can only attempt each exam four times within a 12-month period.

The Board meets within 90 days to review applications and examination results for licensure purposes. This meeting serves as your final examination step before moving forward with your formal Tennessee psychology license application.

Note that provisional licensees must pass the EPPP within one year of getting their provisional license. Your provisional license might be revoked after failing either examination twice, so full preparation is crucial.

Application & Licensure Process

The final step to become a licensed psychologist in Tennessee is submitting your application to the Board of Psychologists. The state’s online system has substantially simplified the application experience for new professionals.

You can now apply for your original license through the Tennessee Department of Health’s online portal. The system lets you complete your mandatory practitioner profile and make payments electronically via credit card, debit card, or e-check. You can upload most required documents directly to your application file, which eliminates postal delays.

Before starting your application, gather these essential materials:

• Two signed passport-style photographs
• Criminal background check results
• Supervisor affidavits documenting your experience
• Declaration of Citizenship Form
• Mandatory Practitioner Profile
• Verification of pre-doctoral internship

Your application costs will include:

• Application fee: $175.00
• License fee: $200.00
• Ethics and Jurisprudence Examination fee: $100.00
• State regulatory fee: $10.00
• Total: $485.00

A provisional license costs an additional $125.00 if you need to complete postdoctoral supervised experience in Tennessee. This license lasts one year but can be extended by contacting the Board.

Your permanent license needs renewal every two years with a $225.00 fee. You must complete 40 hours of continuing education credits between January 1 and December 31 of the two calendar years before your renewal year. The same online Licensure and Regulatory System where you created your account handles renewals.

Tennessee has joined the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT). The compact is still developing and applications should open in late summer or early fall 2025. Member states will join throughout 2025-2026 as they complete database integration with the compact’s unified licensure system.

Licensed psychologists from other states can use Tennessee’s endorsement process. You’ll need verification of your current license from the jurisdiction where you hold an active credential. The issuing authority must send this verification directly to the Tennessee Board of Examiners in Psychology with your application.

Continuing Education

Your Tennessee psychology license renewal depends on completing continuing education (CE) credits. The Tennessee Board of Examiners in Psychology requires 40 hours of CE credits every two calendar years before your renewal year.

Essential CE requirements include:

• Three hours focusing on cultural diversity
• Three hours covering Tennessee Code Annotated (Title 63, Chapter 11), state rules and regulations (Chapters 1180-1 through 1180-4), and professional ethics
• A minimum of 20 hours with real-time interaction
• At least nine hours from American Psychological Association (APA) approved sponsors

Psychologists getting their first license with an original licensure period under two years need only 30 CE hours for their first renewal cycle. They must still complete nine hours from APA-approved providers.

You can complete up to 20 hours through distance learning formats like online courses. The remaining hours must include real-time interaction opportunities. This approach will give a balance between flexibility and meaningful professional growth.

Several pathways exist to earn CE credits beyond traditional workshops. Clinical peer consultation groups offer up to 20 hours biennially when you participate in at least ten structured hours per renewal cycle. Tennessee Board members can earn ten CE hours yearly, which meets the ethics/rules requirement. New licensees who pass the Tennessee Ethics and Jurisprudence Exam get three CE credits that satisfy the ethics/rules requirement.

We require you to keep documentation of completed CE hours for five years. The Board might ask for written verification of your activities. Any CE completion falsification can lead to disciplinary action. The Board may grant waivers for illness, disability or hardship cases upon request.

These requirements help you stay current with psychology developments and keep your professional skills sharp throughout your career.

Special State Variations

Tennessee’s Board of Psychologists regulates several practice variations alongside the standard licensure pathway. Out-of-state psychologists can get Tennessee licensure through endorsement. They need to submit a Psychologist Application Licensure Endorsement Form, show valid out-of-state licensure, pass EPPP scores, and verify their supervised experience.

Five distinct levels of psychological practice are recognized in Tennessee: Psychologist, Senior Psychological Examiner, Psychological Examiner, Certified Psychological Assistant, and Certified Psychological Testing Technician. Each level comes with specific qualifications and scope limitations.

Professionals can become certified as Psychological Assistants and administer psychological assessments under licensed psychologist supervision. This path needs a master’s degree in psychology with specific training in test administration and interpretation.

Tennessee provides psychology licensure without Health Service Provider (HSP) designation to doctoral degree holders who don’t plan to provide health services. This non-clinical path lets professionals work in academic institutions without completing supervised experience requirements.

The Tennessee Department of Education handles school psychologist licensure instead of the psychology board. Qualified candidates receive a three-year license that they can renew once before moving to a six-year professional license.

Special provisions help internationally educated psychologists get licensed. They must have their credentials assessed by World Education Service and provide certified English translations of non-English documents.

Qualified out-of-state psychologists can get temporary licensure while they prepare for the state jurisprudence examination. This license lasts up to one year but expires if they fail the exam twice.

Psychologists licensed before January 1, 1982, with five or more years of active practice might skip current training requirements through the Board’s case-by-case assessment.