Vermont Psychologist-Doctorate Requirements & Hours Tracker

Licensure as a Psychologist‑Doctorate in Vermont is governed by 26 V.S.A. Chapter 55 and the Administrative Rules of the Board of Psychological Examiners (Code of Vermont Rules 04‑030‑270). Together, they spell out the degree, supervised‑practice hours, exams, and procedures required for a psychologist‑doctorate license. (legislature.vermont.gov)

Below is a step‑by‑step, requirements‑focused guide, with emphasis on the types and structure of supervised hours, using the Board’s own terminology.

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1. License category and legal authority

Vermont recognizes two psychology licenses under the Board of Psychological Examiners:

• Psychologist‑Doctorate
• Psychologist‑Master

The doctoral‑level rules are set out in Part 2 – Doctoral Level Licensure of the Board’s Administrative Rules, and the core statutory requirements for all psychologists appear in 26 V.S.A. § 3011a (Applications). (legislature.vermont.gov)

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2. Core eligibility requirements for Psychologist‑Doctorate

To be licensed as a psychologist at the doctoral level by examination, you must: (law.cornell.edu)

1. Age

   • Be at least 18 years old.

2. Degree

   • Hold a doctoral degree in psychology that meets the Board’s program and coursework standards (see Section 3 below).

3. Supervised practice

   • Complete 4,000 hours of “supervised practice”, at least 2,000 of which must be completed after the doctoral degree is awarded. (legislature.vermont.gov)

4. Examinations

   • Pass the EPPP (Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology) or another Board‑approved licensing exam. (law.cornell.edu)
   • Pass the Board’s jurisprudence (statutes and rules) examination. (law.cornell.edu)

5. Application and good standing

   • Submit a complete application and supporting documentation through the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) and meet any character/discipline review standards. (law.cornell.edu)

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3. Doctoral degree requirements (type of program)

Under Section 2.3 – Degree Requirement, you must hold a doctoral degree in psychology from one of the following: (law.cornell.edu)

• A regionally accredited professional psychology training program in the U.S. approved by a recognized accreditor; or
• A Canadian institution meeting specified accreditation and designation standards; or
• An APA‑ or CPA‑accredited doctoral program in psychology; or
• An “other acceptable degree program” that the Board deems equivalent under detailed criteria in Rules 2.4–2.6 (e.g., clearly labeled as a psychology program, identifiable psychology faculty, substantial psychology coursework, minimum in‑person campus hours, and specified coverage of assessment, intervention, psychopathology, statistics, and ethics). (law.cornell.edu)

If your program is not directly APA/CPA‑accredited or otherwise pre‑approved, the Board can still accept it if it meets the structural and coursework requirements in Rules 2.4–2.6, and you may be allowed limited “supplementation” with additional graduate coursework. (law.cornell.edu)

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4. Supervised practice: total hours and what “counts”

4.1 Total hours and timing

Both statute and Board rules require: (legislature.vermont.gov)

• 4,000 hours of supervised practice in total, and
• At least 2,000 of those hours must be completed after the doctoral degree is conferred.

The remaining up to 2,000 hours may be completed before the degree (e.g., qualifying internship/practicum), if they meet the Board’s definition and documentation requirements. The Board’s rules emphasize post‑degree supervised practice, but the statute explicitly permits part of the 4,000 hours to be pre‑degree so long as the post‑degree minimum of 2,000 is met. (legislature.vermont.gov)

4.2 Board definition of “supervised practice”

The Board defines “supervised practice” (for licensure) as post‑graduate‑degree clinical work toward licensure that: (law.cornell.edu)

• Is supervised by a licensed psychologist familiar with your clinical activities;
• Involves the supervisor monitoring the quality of your work;
• Is intended to enhance your clinical skills and professional self‑knowledge;
• Is conducted in person (the rules say supervised practice “is always in person”).

Only clinical supervision (not purely administrative oversight) counts toward the supervised‑practice requirement. (law.cornell.edu)

4.3 Mandatory registration before counting hours in Vermont

If you complete any post‑degree supervised practice within Vermont and are not already licensed as another independent mental health professional (e.g., LCMHC, LMFT, LICSW, LMSW), the law and the Board’s rules require that you: (legislature.vermont.gov)

• Register on the “roster of psychotherapists who are nonlicensed and noncertified” before you begin supervised practice; and
• Maintain that registration during the entire period of supervised practice.

Key consequences in the rules:

• Unregistered supervised practice is considered “unauthorized practice.”
• Hours obtained while not properly registered will not be credited toward the supervised‑practice requirement. (law.cornell.edu)

This roster requirement applies specifically to supervised practice performed in Vermont.

4.4 Supervisor prerequisites (who can supervise)

Under Section 4.4 – Supervisor Prerequisites, a supervisor for your supervised practice must: (law.cornell.edu)

• Hold a valid, unencumbered psychologist’s license in the jurisdiction where the supervised practice occurs; and
• Have at least three years of licensed practice in good standing before supervision begins and remain in good standing throughout the supervision; and
• Provide supervision only in areas where they have sufficient education, training, and experience.

The Board also makes the supervisor professionally and legally responsible for the supervisee’s work. (law.cornell.edu)

4.5 Required number of supervisors

The rules require you to work with at least two different supervisors over the course of your supervised practice. Each supervisor must oversee at least 500 hours of clinical practice for that supervision to be accepted. (law.cornell.edu)

This is an explicit Board requirement and is often overlooked when planning hours.

4.6 Supervision frequency and practice limits (how hours are structured)

The Board does not split the 4,000 hours into “direct” vs “indirect” categories by a fixed number, but it does tightly regulate the supervision ratio and how hours can be counted. Under Part 4 – Post Graduate Degree: Supervised Practice: (law.cornell.edu)

1. Minimum supervision per practice hours

   • You must maintain at least 1 hour of clinical supervision for every 20 hours of practice.
   • Put another way, for every 40 hours of supervised practice, you must receive 2 hours of supervision.

2. Form of supervision

   • For each 40 hours of practice:
     • At least one hour must be formal, individual, in‑person supervision;
     • The second hour may be group supervision.
   • If you practice fewer than 20 hours per week, you may not count group supervision toward the supervision requirement; only individual supervision counts.

3. Weekly and annual limits

   • You may not count more than 40 hours of practice per week as supervised practice for licensure purposes.
   • Supervised practice (post‑degree) cannot be completed in less than one year. (law.cornell.edu)
   • As a general rule, a year with fewer than 700 supervised‑practice hours will not be counted toward the requirement (absent exceptional unforeseen circumstances). (law.cornell.edu)

4. Recency of hours

   • For applications filed under the current rules, the Board will only count supervised‑practice hours acquired within five years of completing your application, to ensure your competence is current. (law.cornell.edu)

5. Clinical vs administrative supervision

   • The rules distinguish clinical and administrative supervision and explicitly state that only clinical supervision counts toward the supervised‑practice requirement. (law.cornell.edu)

4.7 Identification of role while accruing supervised hours

While engaged in supervised practice toward licensure, you must: (law.cornell.edu)

• Identify yourself to clients as a “psychological trainee” or “psychological intern”;
• Not hold yourself out as a “psychologist” until licensed;
• Comply with the disclosure requirements applicable to rostered psychotherapists.

4.8 Documentation of supervised hours

You and your supervisors must maintain detailed documentation. The rules require: (law.cornell.edu)

• Supervisors to keep records of:
  • Dates and number of individual vs group supervision hours;
  • Total practice hours and the nature of your duties;
  • Evaluation of your skills and readiness for independent practice.
• Each supervisor to file a Supervision Report with the Board.
• You to submit a “Summary of Supervised Experience” listing:
  • Total supervised‑practice hours;
  • Practice settings;
  • Names of all supervisors;
  • Number of individual and group supervision hours.

These documents allow the Board to verify that your hours meet its definitions and ratios.

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5. Examinations

5.1 EPPP (licensing exam)

Under Section 2.10, doctoral applicants must successfully complete the EPPP, prepared by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB), or another Board‑approved equivalent. (law.cornell.edu)

Key points:

• You must usually complete the EPPP within five years of applying for licensure (for applications under the current rules). (law.cornell.edu)
• Passing score is set by ASPPB; the Board receives and records your score.

5.2 Jurisprudence examination

All applicants (including those licensed elsewhere) must pass the Board’s jurisprudence (statutes and rules) examination before a Vermont license will be issued. (law.cornell.edu)

This exam covers Vermont statutes in Title 26, Chapter 55, and the Board’s Administrative Rules.

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6. Application process

The rules describe the application process in Part 5 – Application Process: (law.cornell.edu)

1. Obtain application forms

   • Applications for psychologist licensure and for the roster of nonlicensed/noncertified psychotherapists are available through the Vermont OPR website or directly from the Office.

2. Submit complete application

   • Include:
     • Official transcripts;
     • Supervision reports from each supervisor;
     • Your summary of supervised experience;
     • Examination score verification;
     • Any required fees.

3. Timing

   • The Board must receive a completed application in time to allow at least 60 days for review before you sit for the EPPP (for those applying by examination). (law.cornell.edu)

4. Application expiration

   • For applications under the current rules, if no progress report is provided within five years, the application is considered expired, and you must reapply and pay a new application fee. (law.cornell.edu)

5. Review, preliminary denials, and appeals

   • The Board may request additional information if something is unclear.
   • If it appears you do not meet the requirements, the Office will issue a preliminary denial; you have the right to appeal and receive a formal written decision after hearing. (law.cornell.edu)

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7. Other routes to a Psychologist‑Doctorate license (beyond initial examination)

The Board’s rules also provide additional routes for those already licensed elsewhere: (law.cornell.edu)

1. Licensure by endorsement (Section 2.17)

   • For doctoral‑level psychologists licensed in another U.S. or Canadian jurisdiction whose current licensing standards are “substantially equivalent” to Vermont’s.
   • In assessing equivalence of supervised‑practice standards, Vermont considers another state’s standards substantially equivalent if they require at least 1,500 hours of post‑degree supervised practice. (law.cornell.edu)

2. Licensure based on ABPP diplomate status (Section 2.18)

   • Applicants who are diplomates in good standing of an American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) specialty board may be granted a license, subject to Board review.

3. Licensure based on other recognized certification programs (Section 2.19)

   • The Board may license applicants who hold certain professional certifications accepted by the Board.

4. Upgrade from psychologist‑master to psychologist‑doctorate (Sections 2.20–2.23)

   • A Vermont‑licensed psychologist‑master who later obtains an acceptable doctoral degree can apply to “upgrade” to psychologist‑doctorate without starting over entirely, though this path may not meet licensure requirements of other jurisdictions. (law.cornell.edu)

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8. Summary of hour‑related requirements for Psychologist‑Doctorate licensure in Vermont

Drawing the hour‑structure together, Vermont’s Board of Psychological Examiners requires:

• 4,000 total hours of supervised practice, as defined by the Board;
• At least 2,000 of those hours must be completed after the doctoral degree is awarded (postdoctoral supervised practice); (legislature.vermont.gov)
• Supervised practice must:
  • Be clinical work toward licensure, supervised by a licensed psychologist;
  • Be in person and under clinical supervision (administrative oversight does not count); (law.cornell.edu)
• Supervision ratio and structure:
  • Minimum of 1 hour of supervision per 20 hours of practice;
  • For 40 hours of practice, at least one hour must be individual, in‑person supervision; the second may be group supervision (subject to weekly practice hours);
  • If practicing fewer than 20 hours per week, only individual supervision counts;
  • No more than 40 practice hours per week can be counted as supervised practice;
  • A supervised‑practice year generally must include at least 700 hours to count. (law.cornell.edu)
• Multiple supervisors requirement:
  • At least two supervisors, each supervising a minimum of 500 hours of your clinical practice. (law.cornell.edu)
• Registration condition in Vermont:
  • For post‑degree supervised practice performed in Vermont (unless already independently licensed in another mental health profession), you must be on the roster of nonlicensed, noncertified psychotherapists before beginning practice;
  • Unregistered supervised practice is unauthorized and will not be credited toward the 4,000‑hour requirement. (legislature.vermont.gov)

Vermont does not divide the required 4,000 hours into fixed numerical quotas of “direct client contact” versus “indirect” hours in its statutes or rules. Instead, it defines the type of hours through the concept of “supervised practice” (post‑degree clinical work under a licensed psychologist) and then regulates how those hours must be supervised, structured, and documented in order to count toward licensure. (law.cornell.edu)