Getting Licensed: some useful hints

[aequitasveritas]

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I'm (presumably) going to be licensed soon, in CT and in NY.

Here are some short cuts that I would have taken along the way.

1. EPPP: some states require that you have your post doc hours finished before they grant permission to take it, and some states only require completion of doctorate and pre-doc hours. If I knew how long and dragged out the process of obtaining approval of an application would have been, I would have applied to states where I could have taken thew EPPP as soon as I graduated. I would gladly have paid the full licensure fee in any state and taken the exam during my post doc year. As it stands, my girlfriend and I are perched on the precipice of a new life, and everything relies on my passing the exam...literally. I have contracts on the table with a few firms that sorta pimp out psychologists to the state for various services, but they require a license.

To do it over, I would have applied to CA (where I was located) waited the 3-4 months they have for a turnover time, paid the $40 they require for exam application, and taken the test a while back. Or, find another state where the approval time is shorter. Washington, Virginia? It's worth it.

Long story short, do NOT put yourself in a position where your professional life depends on passing the exam. It is not conducive to studying, or blood pressure health for that matter!

2. Make sure you contact your supervisors both pre- and post for documentation of hours very far in advance. You don't want to chase people. I chased one person, and thank god I caught her.

3. Once licensed become credentialed through the National Register. You'll never have to hunt down old supervisors again, and it makes insurance credentialing much easier. If you have sups who are old or nearing retirement, this is very important. You don't want to trying dealing with a proxy custodian of records if they die, and you don't want to ask them to fax something from the common area at Del Boca Vista, Fla (Seinfeld, anyone?)

4 Do not make a single error on your app, and make sure you know what everything means. There was a section for NYS where they asked whether I was ever registered/licensed etc in any way in any state. I said yes because I was a psych assistant in CA. and I wrote down my PSB number. They took this to mean that I was fully licensed and then proceeded to ask CA for my licensure status and exam score. The misinterpretion added 2 weeks to my process. So there are things written down, and then there is the perceived meaning of such things. Make sure you and the board have shared meaning.

5. In some states, you must present a valid in-state I.D. to become licensed. Make sure.

6. Expedite shipping for everything you or your sups send to the board.

7. Be very, very nice and factual when speaking to the board reps.They seemed amazed at how nice and reasonable I was to them. I have friends who applied earlier than I did, and who are still in process, whereas I am set to go. Perhaps there was a connection here.

8. Keep up the exercise. I wax an waned here, but damn, there is no reason to age a decade in a year for this.

If anyone has more to add, do so. I feel that there is a little transfer of procedural knowledge in our field, so let's change that.

 

[Pragma]

I'm (presumably) going to be licensed soon, in CT and in NY.

Here are some short cuts that I would have taken along the way.

1. EPPP: some states require that you have your post doc hours finished before they grant permission to take it, and some states only require completion of doctorate and pre-doc hours. If I knew how long and dragged out the process of obtaining approval of an application would have been, I would have applied to states where I could have taken thew EPPP as soon as I graduated. I would gladly have paid the full licensure fee in any state and taken the exam during my post doc year. As it stands, my girlfriend and I are perched on the precipice of a new life, and everything relies on my passing the exam...literally. I have contracts on the table with a few firms that sorta pimp out psychologists to the state for various services, but they require a license.

To do it over, I would have applied to CA (where I was located) waited the 3-4 months they have for a turnover time, paid the $40 they require for exam application, and taken the test a while back. Or, find another state where the approval time is shorter. Washington, Virginia? It's worth it.

Long story short, do NOT put yourself in a position where your professional life depends on passing the exam. It is not conducive to studying, or blood pressure health for that matter!

2. Make sure you contact your supervisors both pre- and post for documentation of hours very far in advance. You don't want to chase people. I chased one person, and thank god I caught her.

3. Once licensed become credentialed through the National Register. You'll never have to hunt down old supervisors again, and it makes insurance credentialing much easier. If you have sups who are old or nearing retirement, this is very important. You don't want to trying dealing with a proxy custodian of records if they die, and you don't want to ask them to fax something from the common area at Del Boca Vista, Fla (Seinfeld, anyone?)

4 Do not make a single error on your app, and make sure you know what everything means. There was a section for NYS where they asked whether I was ever registered/licensed etc in any way in any state. I said yes because I was a psych assistant in CA. and I wrote down my PSB number. They took this to mean that I was fully licensed and then proceeded to ask CA for my licensure status and exam score. The misinterpretion added 2 weeks to my process. So there are things written down, and then there is the perceived meaning of such things. Make sure you and the board have shared meaning.

5. In some states, you must present a valid in-state I.D. to become licensed. Make sure.

6. Expedite shipping for everything you or your sups send to the board.

7. Be very, very nice and factual when speaking to the board reps.They seemed amazed at how nice and reasonable I was to them. I have friends who applied earlier than I did, and who are still in process, whereas I am set to go. Perhaps there was a connection here.

8. Keep up the exercise. I wax an waned here, but damn, there is no reason to age a decade in a year for this.

If anyone has more to add, do so. I feel that there is a little transfer of procedural knowledge in our field, so let's change that.

Good tips here. I second the part about not making everything depend on getting licensed...but for folks who want to be clinicians, this absolutely necessary. I don't see a way around it for some people.

I'd also mention that the process will be about as stressful as you want to make it. It did take some time to get the documentation together, and then about 3 months in my state to get the approval to test after submitting. But as long as you plan ahead, these aren't really stressful things, just basic paperwork.

Where I did my postdoc, my boss constantly minimized the process. Said it would be easy and that no one they knew had ever not passed. Didn't care to listen if I was frustrated, and said if you know how to take tests, you should be fine.

On the back end of it, I'd say it is true. I am on record saying I think it is a stupid test. But I didn't let it take over my life. I studied passively for about 2-3 months listening to audio files while commuting and taking a handful of practice exams. But I did most of my "active" studying during the two weeks prior to the test (spending multiple hours per day, writing notes, etc). By not obsessing, I was able to keep at my postdoc and continue teaching on the side.

It is a stressful hurdle, but I wouldn't say it is much different than other stressful hurdles you encounter throughout graduate school. Don't make it into a bigger monster than it is...it's just a poorly-worded test 😀

 

[Doctor Eliza]

Some states actually let you take the EPPP before finishing your degree. My friend went to school in MN and her program actually required that she take it after passing comps (when that sort of info is still pretty fresh in your head). I was pretty jealous that she got it out of the way right away.

The trick to licensing in my state is to be nice to the board secretary. She has the ability to speed up or slow down the process (e.g. Asking the board president your question now or waiting until the next meeting about prospective licensees).

And I echo what was said about following up with people that you request forms from. Ugh the hassle!

Dr. E

 

[Pragma]

Some states actually let you take the EPPP before finishing your degree. My friend went to school in MN and her program actually required that she take it after passing comps (when that sort of info is still pretty fresh in your head). I was pretty jealous that she got it out of the way right away.

The trick to licensing in my state is to be nice to the board secretary. She has the ability to speed up or slow down the process (e.g. Asking the board president your question now or waiting until the next meeting about prospective licensees).

And I echo what was said about following up with people that you request forms from. Ugh the hassle!

Dr. E

Both you and AV mentioned having conversations with your Board. That's interesting to me - such a thing was never encouraged at all in my state. They had a pretty clear process in place for us to communicate via mail, and from what I understand, the Board members are just regular psychologists who meet once a month for the licensing part. It never occurred to me to talk to any of them - but I probably would have if there was an actual problem.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

Both you and AV mentioned having conversations with your Board. That's interesting to me - such a thing was never encouraged at all in my state. They had a pretty clear process in place for us to communicate via mail, and from what I understand, the Board members are just regular psychologists who meet once a month for the licensing part. It never occurred to me to talk to any of them - but I probably would have if there was an actual problem.

Not so much encouraged as necessary. Our board office has a president who I believe is there FT and an office staff. Other board members come by to administer orals and meet every month or 2. I only actually was put on the phone with the president once but made many calls to the office. Having some issue that requires you to call the board is the norm rather than the exception around here.

Dr. E

 

[LM02]

In my state, there are never any Board members in the office available to chat. There are a handful of staff members who work in the "Medical and Professional Licensing" office, that we do interface with, however.

I have to say that my licensure experience was really smooth and simple. Doing a formal postdoc helped a lot with that process, I believe, as there were already several systems in place for documenting hours, obtaining signatures, and just generally having a critical mass to keep us all on target for the various deadlines and requirements. Having completed an APA accredited degree and internship also helped move things along in a smooth manner. As noted above, taking the EPPP early was also a really good decision (in our state, you can apply for licensure in advance of having your hours - they will give permission to take the test, and then you can just submit your hours at a later date).

This is not to minimize the OP's stress or experience, but just to give one alternative perspective.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Definitely be prepared to give the process more than a few weeks/months. I am trying to get licensed in a new state and it has been a very slow process. If nothing else, people should seriously consider boarding so they can avoid all of the paperwork delays associated with "application and credential review" (credential banking can also do this, but if you need to be boarded anyway, it is 2 birds 1 stone). When you are boarded, they can waive everything but the fee and J.P. Motivation for my ABPP app I guess . I already have the general app approved, now I need to apply for the speciality board.