Georgia VOL-PSY Requirements: Hours, Exams & Step-by-Step Guide

Volunteer Service Psychologist (VOL‑PSY) Licensure in Georgia

Georgia’s State Board of Examiners of Psychologists recognizes a special license category—“License for Volunteer Service”—used for psychologists who want to provide uncompensated services, typically coded in practice as a volunteer psychologist or VOL‑PSY. This license sits on top of an existing career as a fully licensed psychologist rather than serving as an entry‑level route into the profession.

The sections below walk through who is eligible, what hours are required, how the application works, and what you are and are not allowed to do under this license.

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1. What the Volunteer Service Psychologist License Is

Under Board Rule 510‑9‑.04, the license for volunteer service is a license issued by consent order to individuals who are already psychologists but are retired or on inactive status. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

The Secretary of State’s “How to Guide: Psychologist” describes it in plainer language as a “Volunteer Service Psychologist license” that may be granted to persons who are retired from psychology or who have a current, unencumbered active license in another U.S. state. (sos.ga.gov)

The intent is to allow experienced psychologists to provide free services to underserved or indigent populations without going back to full active licensure.

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2. Who Is Eligible

2.1. Licensure history

The controlling Board rule says a volunteer service license may be granted to persons:

• Who are retired from the practice of psychology or
• Who hold an inactive Georgia psychology license,
• Who are not currently engaged in practice (full‑ or part‑time), and
• Who, prior to retirement or inactive status, maintained full licensure in psychology in good standing. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

The Secretary of State’s guide adds a second path:

• Persons retired from the practice of psychology, or
• Persons who have a current, unencumbered active license in another U.S. state. (sos.ga.gov)

In practical terms, you must already be (or have been) fully licensed as a psychologist—in Georgia or another state—with a clean record at the time your last license was active.

2.2. Fitness and discipline

You must provide verification that your most recently held license was in good standing, and you must disclose and document any disciplinary actions, sanctions, or court matters, as reflected in the application checklist. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

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3. Required Hours: What Georgia Actually Specifies

3.1. Hours required for the Volunteer Service license itself

The only explicit hour requirement for the VOL‑PSY / volunteer service license is continuing education (CE) hours, not new clinical practice hours:

• Board Rule 510‑9‑.04(e)(2) requires proof of at least 20 hours of continuing education for licensure renewal completed in the two years immediately prior to your application for the volunteer license. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

These 20 hours must be CE that counts toward Georgia licensure renewal requirements—i.e., CE that meets Board Rule 510‑8 (which generally requires 40 CE credits every two years, including 6 ethics credits, for a fully active license). (rules.sos.georgia.gov)

There is no requirement in Rule 510‑9‑.04 for:

• Additional “direct client contact” hours;
• Additional “supervised experience” hours; or
• Any new internship‑ or fellowship‑type hours.

If you have not yet completed the required CE at the time of application, the Board may grant a non‑renewable 6‑month temporary volunteer license by consent order, on the understanding that you will finish the CE within that six‑month period. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

3.2. Background: hours you already had to complete as a psychologist

Because the volunteer license is only available to people who were fully licensed psychologists, it implicitly assumes you previously met Georgia’s standard training/experience hours. Under current Board rules for initial licensure by examination, those include:

• Predoctoral internship

  • Minimum 2,000 hours of organized training experiences in an approved internship.
  • At least 500 hours of direct contact with clients/patients (I/O interns are exempt from the direct‑contact minimum). (law.cornell.edu)

• Postdoctoral Supervised Work Experience (SWE)

  • A 1,500‑hour postdoctoral SWE, defined by rule as 1,500 hours of individually supervised experience after completion of internship and the doctoral degree. (law.cornell.edu)
  • Of those 1,500 hours, at least 500 hours must be client/patient involvement (face‑to‑face contact, document review, test scoring, report writing, and other direct service activities). (law.cornell.edu)

So if you were initially licensed in Georgia by examination, you will already have completed:

• 2,000 hours of internship (≥500 direct client hours), plus
• 1,500 hours of supervised postdoctoral work (≥500 client involvement hours),

for a total of 3,500 supervised professional hours, with at least 1,000 hours directly involving clients/patients.

However, these internship and SWE hours are not repeated or re‑documented for the VOL‑PSY license; they are part of the historic licensure that makes you eligible in the first place.

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4. Where and How You May Practice Under VOL‑PSY

Board Rule 510‑9‑.04 is very strict about practice settings and compensation:

• Your practice must be only in the non‑compensated employ of:

  • Public agencies or institutions,
  • Nonprofit agencies,
  • Nonprofit institutions,
  • Nonprofit corporations, or
  • Nonprofit associations
    that provide services to indigent patients in underserved or critical‑need population areas of Georgia. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

• You cannot receive any compensation for your psychological services under this license.

• The Board also requires a notarized statement from the host agency confirming that:

  • You will not be compensated;
  • The agency will not bill or otherwise be compensated for the services you provide; and
  • The agency will provide malpractice insurance coverage for you as a volunteer psychologist. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

The license is thus explicitly designed for charity and safety‑net work—no private practice, no billing, and no indirect compensation.

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5. Application Components and Process

Georgia treats the volunteer license as a license by consent order, which means the terms of your license (including renewal timing) are set out in a Board‑approved order specific to you. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

5.1. Core Board‑rule requirements

Under Rule 510‑9‑.04, to be approved for a volunteer service license you must:

1. Apply and complete a personal interview

   • The Board “will issue a license by consent order for volunteer service” only after you have applied and successfully completed a personal interview with the Board. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

2. Submit an application package that includes:

   • Verification that your most recently held license was in good standing (this typically takes the form of official license verification from your former or current licensing jurisdiction). (rules.sos.ga.gov)
   • Proof of at least 20 hours of qualifying continuing education completed within the two years immediately before your application, sufficient to meet licensure renewal CE requirements (with the 6‑month temporary option if CE is incomplete). (rules.sos.ga.gov)
   • A notarized statement from the receiving agency:
     • Confirming no compensation to you;
     • Confirming the agency will not bill or be compensated for your services; and
     • Confirming the agency will provide malpractice coverage for you. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

5.2. Secretary of State checklist

The Secretary of State’s “Volunteer Psychologist” section gives a more practical checklist that aligns with the rule but adds implementation details. As of late 2025, it lists the following items for a Volunteer Service Psychologist application: (sos.ga.gov)

• Completed, signed, notarized application (submitted via the GOALS online portal).
• Verification of license (you select the state that will send official verification).
• Notarized Volunteer Services Statement (the Board’s form incorporating the statements required by Rule 510‑9‑.04(e)(3)).
• Continuing Education certificates documenting your qualifying CE.
• Continuing Education Report Form (Board form summarizing your CE credits).
• Fingerprint‑based background check registration (per the general criminal‑background requirement for licensure). (rules.sos.georgia.gov)
• Any disciplinary or sanctions documentation, if applicable (court documents, explanation letter, etc.).
• Secure & Verifiable Document and Affidavit of Citizenship, and immigration documents if applicable (standard Georgia licensing requirements). (sos.ga.gov)

5.3. Fees and the waiver provision

There is a technical discrepancy between sources:

• Board Rule 510‑9‑.04(c) states that examinations, application fees, and all licensure and renewal fees are waived for the license for volunteer service. (rules.sos.ga.gov)
• The current Secretary of State checklist still refers to an “application with fee” and links to the general fee schedule. (sos.ga.gov)

The rule itself is the controlling legal standard, but in practice the online GOALS system and current fee schedule reflect how the Board is actually administering the process at a given time.

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6. Board Interview and Consent Order

Once your application materials are complete, you will be scheduled for a personal interview with the Board. A license for volunteer service is issued only after you have successfully completed this interview. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

If the Board approves you, it will issue a consent order that:

• Grants you the volunteer service license;
• Specifies that your practice is limited to uncompensated service at qualifying entities; and
• Sets the renewal timing and any additional conditions.

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7. Renewal and Ongoing CE Obligations

Rule 510‑9‑.04(f) states that renewal requirements for the volunteer service license are the same as those for a regular psychology license, except that:

• The time for renewal is determined by the consent order; and
• The Board may require another personal interview at renewal, if it chooses. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

Standard Georgia license renewal rules (for a full psychology license) include:

• 40 CE credits every two years, with at least 6 CE credits in professional ethics obtained via an in‑person or live synchronous workshop. (rules.sos.georgia.gov)

For a volunteer license, your consent order will specify exactly how those requirements apply, but the rule makes clear that you must maintain continuing education on substantially the same terms as an active psychologist.

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8. Key Takeaways Focused on “Hours”

• To obtain VOL‑PSY / Volunteer Service Psychologist status in Georgia, the only new hour requirement explicitly stated is:

  • 20 hours of qualifying continuing education completed in the two years immediately before application. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

• There is no requirement for new direct client contact hours or additional supervised practice hours beyond those already completed for your original psychologist license.

• Underlying your eligibility, however, Georgia’s initial psychologist licensure rules require that you previously completed:

  • An internship of 2,000 hours (with ≥500 hours of direct client contact), and
  • A postdoctoral SWE of 1,500 hours, including ≥500 hours of client/patient involvement, all under Board‑qualified supervision. (law.cornell.edu)

• Practice under the volunteer license is strictly limited to uncompensated work for qualifying public or nonprofit entities that serve indigent and underserved populations, with malpractice coverage provided by the host agency and no billing for your services. (rules.sos.ga.gov)

Taken together, becoming a VOL‑PSY in Georgia is primarily about documenting your past licensure in good standing, demonstrating recent continuing education, securing a qualifying volunteer placement with appropriate protections, and completing a Board interview—not about accumulating new supervised clinical hours.