Kentucky CP Requirements & Hours Tracker

In Kentucky, “CP – Certified Psychologist” is essentially a legacy credential rather than an active pathway for new applicants. The statutes and current Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology regulations now route new master’s‑level applicants into the Licensed Psychological Associate (LPA) track, and doctoral‑level applicants into the Licensed Psychologist track.

Because of that shift, it’s important to separate:

1. What the law currently says about the Certified Psychologist (CP) title; and
2. The actual, current training and hour requirements the Board applies to new licensees (LPA, Licensed Psychologist, and—if desired—health service provider designation).

Below is an organized guide to both.

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1. Status of the “Certified Psychologist (CP)” credential in Kentucky

1.1 What KRS 319.056 does (and does not) do

The controlling statute for CPs is KRS 319.056, “Certified psychologist with autonomous functioning” – “Certified psychologist” – practice and title authorization. It does not create a new application pathway. Instead, it tells you what happens to people who already hold these titles:

• A person currently authorized to use the title “certified psychologist with autonomous functioning” may:

  • Keep that title, or
  • Permanently change it to “licensed psychological practitioner” and notify the Board; the Board issues the preferred title at renewal. (law.justia.com)

• A person currently authorized to use the title “certified psychologist” may:

  • Keep that title, or
  • Permanently change it to “licensed psychological associate” and notify the Board; again, the Board issues the new title at renewal. (law.justia.com)

• A certified psychologist (CP), whether they keep that title or convert to LPA, must:

  • Continue to function under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, and
  • “may perform certain functions within the practice of psychology only under the supervision of a licensed psychologist approved by the board, and shall not employ or supervise other certified psychologists, licensed psychological practitioners, or licensed psychological associates.” (law.justia.com)

Nowhere in KRS 319.056 or in the Board’s current regulations is there a section laying out new education or hour requirements for someone to become a new CP. The statute’s language is all about persons “currently authorized to use the title,” i.e., existing credential holders.

1.2 No current “Certified Psychologist: application procedures” regulation

The Board’s current administrative regulations list application procedures for:

• Licensed Psychologist – 201 KAR 26:155 (Licensed psychologist: application procedures and temporary license) (apps.legislature.ky.gov)
• Licensed Psychological Associate – 201 KAR 26:280 (Licensed psychological associate: application procedures and temporary license) (psy.ky.gov)
• Licensed Psychological Practitioner – 201 KAR 26:290 (Licensed psychological practitioner: application procedures) (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

There is no counterpart regulation such as “Certified psychologist: application procedures.” The Board’s own KAR index confirms this: Certified Psychologist appears only in scope‑of‑practice, supervision, and renewal/discipline rules, not in any initial-application rule. (psy.ky.gov)

Combined with the wording in KRS 319.056, the legal effect is:

Kentucky does not provide a current path to become a new Certified Psychologist (CP).
The CP title is reserved for people who were already certified under earlier law; they may keep or convert that title, but no new CP certificates are being issued.

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2. What this means if you are trying to become a “CP”

2.1 Practical takeaway

If you are a student or out‑of‑state applicant today and say, “I want to become a CP (Certified Psychologist) in Kentucky,” the Board will not route you into a CP track. Instead, you would be expected to pursue one of:

• Licensed Psychological Associate (LPA) – master’s‑level, supervised practice.
• Licensed Psychologist – doctoral‑level, with extensive supervised professional experience.
• Licensed Psychological Practitioner (LPP) – a route for certain master’s‑level practitioners (including some who previously held “certified psychologist with autonomous functioning”) to independent practice under KRS 319.053. (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

The supervised‑experience hour requirements you’re looking for now live in the regulations that govern Licensed Psychologists, LPAs, and LPPs, not in a standalone CP rule.

The sections below walk through those hour requirements in the Board’s own terminology.

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3. Supervised‑experience hours for Licensed Psychologist (doctoral level)

All of the supervised‑experience rules—regardless of whether you end up with doctoral or master’s title—are centralized in 201 KAR 26:190, “Requirements for supervised professional experience.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

3.1 Total hours required

For an applicant for licensure as a psychologist with authorization to provide psychological health care services (i.e., a full Licensed Psychologist with health‑care scope):

• “The applicant… shall have completed a minimum of 3,600 hours of supervised professional experience….” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

The regulation then splits those 3,600 hours as follows:

1. Predoctoral internship (1,800 hours)

   • “A minimum of 1,800 hours of the supervised professional experience shall be a predoctoral internship of 1,800 hours with at least 100 hours of supervisory sessions.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

2. Additional supervised professional experience (1,800 hours)

   • “The remaining 1,800 hours of supervised professional experience shall be predoctoral, postdoctoral, or a combination of pre‑ and post‑doctoral supervised professional experience acceptable to the board….” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

So, in Board language, the core requirement is:

3,600 hours of supervised professional experience, of which
– 1,800 hours must be a predoctoral internship (with ≥ 100 hours of supervision), and
– 1,800 hours must be additional supervised professional experience (pre‑ or post‑doctoral, or both).

3.2 Types of activities within those hours

The Board does not break the 3,600 hours into a fixed number of “direct” vs “indirect” hours. Instead, it specifies percentages and activity types.

Key phrases:

• “Supervised professional experience at the pre‑internship level shall consist of practica, field placement, or other professional experiences, all of which shall take place in an identifiable clinical setting with mental health clients.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

• “At least fifty (50) percent of the supervised professional experience shall be in service‑related activities, such as treatment, assessment, interviews, report‑writing, case presentations, and consultations.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

In other words:

• ≥ 50% of the 3,600 supervised hours must involve “service‑related activities.”
  The regulation lists these as:
  • treatment
  • assessment
  • interviews
  • report‑writing
  • case presentations
  • consultations

This is the closest Kentucky comes to the kind of “direct hours” breakdown you mentioned; it is framed as a percentage and activity category, not separate numeric minimums for “direct client contact” vs “supervised” hours.

3.3 Definition of “one year” of supervised practice

In 201 KAR 26:171 (Requirements for clinical supervision), which applies across credential types, the Board defines the equivalence between time and hours:

• “In calculating the amount of time spent in full‑time practice while under clinical supervision, 1,800 hours of supervised practice shall be equivalent to one (1) year of experience.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

So, the 3,600‑hour doctoral supervised experience requirement is two full‑time (1,800‑hour) years of supervised practice.

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4. Additional clinical hours for Health Service Provider designation (for Licensed Psychologists)

If your eventual goal is to clinically supervise others or bill as a health‑service psychologist, the Board adds another layer of supervised, clinically focused hours in 201 KAR 26:125 (Health service provider designation).

For the health service provider designation, a Licensed Psychologist must have either:

• “1,800 hours of clinically supervised experience” in specific health‑care settings in addition to the 3,600 supervised experience hours required for licensure, or
• Certain national certifications (e.g., CPQ, ABPP, National Register) plus at least five years of independent practice and a clean disciplinary record. (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

More precisely:

• “The training and supervised experience shall include:
  (a) 1,800 hours of clinically supervised experience as established in subsection (2) of this section; or
  (b) Certification as established in subsection (3) of this section.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

• “The 1,800 hours of clinically supervised experience shall be within one (1) or more health care settings in which the licensed psychologist delivered direct psychological health care services… in addition to the 3,600 supervised experience hours required for licensure as a licensed psychologist under 201 KAR 26:190.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

• “The clinical supervision shall be provided by a licensed psychologist with the health service provider designation approved by the board and shall consist of one (1) hour of individual supervision each week.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

So a fully developed, clinically focused Licensed Psychologist in Kentucky has:

• 3,600 hours of supervised professional experience (doctoral training + internship + additional supervised work), and
• Either an extra 1,800 hours of clinically supervised experience in health‑care settings or recognized national level credentials (e.g., ABPP) plus 5 years independent practice.

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5. Supervised‑experience hours for Licensed Psychological Associate (master’s‑level)

Because new CPs are not being created, the Licensed Psychological Associate (LPA) is the relevant master’s‑level entry credential. Its supervised‑experience requirements are also defined in 201 KAR 26:190.

For LPAs:

• “An applicant for licensure as a psychological associate shall complete supervised professional experience consisting of course‑related field experience, practica, and formal predoctoral internships adding up to a minimum of 600 supervised hours….” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

The regulation then specifies the nature of those 600 hours:

• The experience must:

  • Occur “within an organized training program and consist of a planned, programmed sequence of training experiences.”
  • Have a designated placement director responsible for the integrity of the experiential component. (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

• Supervision requirements:

  • “Weekly practicum and predoctoral internship supervision shall be provided by a staff member of the placement agency, by an affiliate of that agency, or by a university faculty member. At least half of the supervision shall be provided by one (1) or more psychologists with an appropriate doctorate degree and license.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

• Nature of clinical activities:

  • “Field experiences, practica, and predoctoral internships shall provide training in a range of diagnostic and treatment activities conducted directly with clients seeking psychological services.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

• Direct‑contact proportion:

  • “At least twenty‑five (25) percent of the trainee’s time shall be in direct client contact.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

So, in Board language, the LPA pre‑licensure experience is:

600 supervised hours in organized training placements (course‑related field experience, practica, formal predoctoral internships), with:
– At least 25% of time in direct client contact, and
– Supervision dominated (≥ 50%) by licensed doctoral‑level psychologists.

Once licensed as an LPA, additional post‑licensure supervised professional experience can be accumulated under 201 KAR 26:171 and 26:190 if the associate later wishes to become a Licensed Psychological Practitioner or a Licensed Psychologist via status change under 201 KAR 26:270. (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

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6. How this all maps back to “CP – Certified Psychologist”

Given the current law and regulations:

• There is no active “Certified Psychologist” licensure track for new Kentucky applicants. The CP title is restricted to people already holding it under earlier statutes.

• Those existing CPs:

  • May keep the CP title or convert to LPA;
  • Must practice under the supervision of a Licensed Psychologist and may not employ or supervise other CPs, LPAs, or LPPs. (law.justia.com)

• New applicants seeking the functional role that CPs historically had (master’s‑level psychological practice under supervision) now pursue:

  • Licensed Psychological Associate (600 hours of supervised university‑sanctioned clinical experience with at least 25% direct client contact), and then, if desired,
  • Licensed Psychological Practitioner (two full‑time years = 3,600 hours of supervised professional experience after initial associate credentialing). (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

• Applicants wanting fully independent practice at the doctoral level pursue:

  • Licensed Psychologist – 3,600 hours of supervised professional experience as defined above, plus optional 1,800 hours of clinically supervised experience (or equivalent certification + experience) for the health service provider designation. (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

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Summary in the terms you asked for

Using Kentucky’s exact framework and terminology:

• There is no current requirement like “1,500 direct + 1,500 supervised” specifically for CP, because no new CP credentials are issued.

• For a new doctoral‑level psychologist in Kentucky, the relevant supervised‑experience requirements are:

  • 3,600 hours of “supervised professional experience,” of which:

    • 1,800 hours = predoctoral internship of 1,800 hours with at least 100 hours of supervisory sessions, and
    • 1,800 hours = additional pre‑ or post‑doctoral supervised professional experience. (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

  • At least 50% of those supervised hours must be in “service‑related activities, such as treatment, assessment, interviews, report‑writing, case presentations, and consultations.” (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

• For a new master’s‑level entrant (the modern analogue to CP):

  • 600 supervised hours of course‑related field experience, practica, and formal predoctoral internships in an organized training program,
  • With at least 25% of the trainee’s time in direct client contact, and
  • With at least half of the supervision provided by doctoral‑level, licensed psychologists. (apps.legislature.ky.gov)

Those are the operative hour requirements the Kentucky Board uses today, expressed in the Board’s own terms.