Practicing as a clinical psychologist in the US with a foreign PhD?

[eeggeek]

Hey everyone,

I'm an American citizen currently living in Amsterdam and I'm considering staying in the Netherlands for my PhD. I want to eventually practice as a clinical psychologist in the US, but I'm having trouble figuring out what the best route to licensure would be if I have a Dutch PhD. I've already tried contacting state boards in several different states but they have not been particularly helpful, so I would love some advice from anyone who has been through this sort of process. My situation is a little complicated, so I apologize for boring you with every single detail of the Dutch education system 🙂

The Dutch system is very different from the American system, and it seems as though there really isn't a Dutch degree equivalent to a clinical psychology PhD. You need a Master's degree to enter a PhD program in the Netherlands, but the PhD program is entirely focused on research and there is no coursework. One possibility would be to get a master's degree in clinical psychology, which might fulfill some requirements for coursework and clinical training but I don't think comes close the number of clinical hours needed for licensing in the US. Does anyone have any experience with programs like this, or have any sense of whether a clinical master's + research PhD could be viewed as roughly equivalent to a clinical psychology PhD from the US? I know there are agencies that conduct education equivalency reviews and could determine what additional requirements need to be met, but is it possible to complete additional coursework or clinical hours as a postdoc?

Another possibility I have been considering is clinical respecialization, where I would complete a non-clinical psychology PhD in the Netherlands and return to the US to complete coursework and clinical training in order to "respecialize". I think this might be a better way to fulfill requirements needed for clinical licensure since it's an American program, but again I wonder if my Dutch PhD would be acceptable. Respecialization programs require you to already have a PhD in a non-clinical area of psychology, but a Dutch PhD isn't "in" anything, in the way that you would receive a PhD "in" psychology in the US. Instead, the focus of the PhD is on a very specific research project. So again, I don't know if a Dutch PhD + respecialization in clinical psychology would allow me to get licensed in most states. Does anyone know if respecialization certificates are even accepted in most states?

I know the simplest answer to these questions would be "Obviously you need to come back to the US for your PhD, *******". I won't bore you with my personal reasons for needing to stay in the Netherlands for several years, but would really love any advice from those of you who received training abroad and now practice in the US. Sorry for the long post- let me know if you have any suggestions!

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[WisNeuro]

The vague answer is that it is possible, but will be very difficult in most jurisdictions. Our state has pretty strict requirements on what coursework and training you had to have completed. SO, you'd have to show the equivalency, which would be very difficult from the path you outline here.

As for clinical master's +research PhD, not a great route on average. Masters level coursework tends to be quite different from PhD coursework in most programs. Very seldom does that coursework allow someone to go into a PhD program with credits. Most of the time they have to retake those classes.

 

[PsyDr]

In general, a Dutch psychology PhD would not meet the educational requirements for licensure in any US state. You would not have the standard curriculum. Many states want to see transcripts and or syllibi. You would not have the required practica. You would not have the required internship. Keep in mind that the merits of an application are determined by a low level state bureaucrat who has no incentive to say "yes".

If you obtained a Dutch PhD, you would then have to do a respecialization program AND an internship AND a post doc. That would take a minimum of 4 years (2 one year practica, 1 one year internship, 1 one year post doc) before you would be eligible to be licensed. There would also be substantial coursework that you would need to make up in things like test administration, psychotherapy, etc. There is also the very real possibility that the two remaining respecialization programs would be shut down before you start, due to the decreasing popularity of these programs.

This is one of those situations where the standards are set. And you are asking if an exception can be made. Those in control of these things are motivated to say no.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I agree with the above--this has the makings of a logistical nightmare with the very real possibility of not being successful, unfortunately.

You could try contacting the board(s) of the state(s) in which you'd like to be licensed and ask, but they may tell you they'd need to process the request on a case-by-case basis.