Requirements for licensure are delineated in Arizona's rules and statutes, which have the force of law.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure their supervised experiences meet Arizona's requirements.
Only the Application Review Committee and the Board can decide if a supervised experience meets requirements during substantive review of an application.
Board staff cannot provide interpretation of the statutes or guidance. Please consult an attorney for interpretation of Arizona law and consider seeking application mentoring from an Arizona licensed psychologist, or a psychologist membership association. Links to Arizona associations are provided in the "Related Links" page under the About tab.
Please Note: Supervised experiences may be completed in another state or province, but they must meet ALL Arizona's requirements in order to be applied towards licensure in this state. Do not assume the Board will make an exception or waive a requirement because another state allowed it. The Board can only take action, such as waiving a requirement, if state law allows it. If authorization does not exist in Arizona's laws, the Board cannot waive a requirement.
High Level Overview:
- 3,000 hours of supervised experience is required to qualify for licensure.
- A minimum of 1,500 hours of predoctoral internship is required. Historically, some applicants have applied 3,000 internship hours towards licenure.
- A maximum of 1,500 hours of preinternship an/or postdoctoral experience hours may be applied towards licensure.
- The additional 1,500 hours may be any combination of preinternship/practicum, additional internship, and/or postdoctoral supervised experience hours.
- Preinternship hours MAY be applied towards licensure, but are not required.
- Postdoctoral hours MAY be applied towards licensure, but are not required.
Related Statutes and Rules:
Arizona Revised Statutes:
- A.R.S. § 32-2071: Qualifications for applicants for EPPP and/or Licensure
- Subsection E provides requirements for preinternships (practicums).
- Subsection F provides requirements for predoctoral internships.
- Subsection G provides requirements for postdoctoral supervised experirences.
- Subsection H applies to all three types of supervised experiences.
- On the Board's Statutes and Rules page, please also see substantive policy statements related to the above experiences.
- A.R.S. § 32-207.01: Requirements for licensure; remediation; credentials
- A.R.S. § 32-2072: Examination requirement for licensure
- A.R.S. § 32-2073(A) through (F): Supervised temporary license
Arizona Administrative Code (A.A.C. or Rules):
- Rules provide further details relative to the statutes.
- See Article 2: Licensure for the current publication of Rules relative to psychologist licensure requirements
Supervised Experience Verification Forms
Preinternships, internships and postdoctoral supervised experiences must be verified using Arizona's verification forms, even if the experience was previously verified when you applied for another state license. Each state is autonomous in this. Licenses do not transfer. Verifications do not transfer. Arizona does not have reciprocity with other states, and does not have an application by endorsement.
Verifications of Supervised Experience:
- Are considered primary source verifications
- Must be completed using the correct form (Forms are provided in the application packet and may be downloaded separately from the Psychologist Applications page)
- Applicant must follow the directions on the form and complete ONLY their designated part(s)
- Must be completed by the verifier based on their knowledge of the applicant and/or the training records
- Must be sent directly to the Board's office by the verifier
- Cannot be accepted from the applicant
- May be sent by email or uploaded to the submissions portal
- If providing a self-addressed stamped envelope for the verifier, the return address MUST be the verifier's.
Preinternship Verification Form
This form consists of 3 pages, divided into sections.
- Applicant completes page 1, Section A and page 2, Section B only.
- Complete additional copies of page 2, Section B, as needed. One page 2 for each site.
- Applicant submits all pages of the verification form to their training director.
- Verifier must REVIEW and VERIFY information listed by applicant in Section B and complete Sections C, D & E.
- Verifier must submit completed verification form directly to Board's office. If an employer firewall prevents use of the submissions portal, verifier may send form by email to Board staff.
Page 2, Section B - Terminology
Board staff fields many questions regarding the terminology on this form. These are basic terms
- Total Number of Supervised Experience Hours: All hours trainee worked while at this site. Includes supervision,