Psychologist Licensure in Delaware: Degree, Supervised Hours and the EPPP

Delaware issues two psychology licences, psychologist and licensed psychology associate, and two registrations, doctoral-level psychological assistant and master's-level psychological assistant.

The licence requirement covers doing the work and representing that you are qualified to do it, and the registration requirement covers acting as either kind of psychological assistant.

Every applicant also submits fingerprints for state and federal criminal history checks, and the statute bars licensure for a conviction substantially related to the practice of psychology unless a waiver applies.

Registrants who held the former 'psychological assistant' registration are deemed doctoral-level psychological assistants.

The doctorate must be psychological in content and specifically designed to train and prepare psychologists, from an accredited institution whose graduate program states that purpose, and based on studies accredited by the APA, the CPA, PCSAS or an equivalent program the Board approves.

A degree earned outside the United States goes through a credential evaluation by a NACES member.

The board's application page adds the paper route for other programs: an applicant from a non-APA or non-PCSAS program submits course descriptions and an Evaluation of Coursework form showing the program meets the criteria the rules list in sections 6.1.1.2.1 through 6.1.1.2.10.4, with the transcript sent directly from the university.

The statute requires a predoctoral internship complying with the Board's rules, and rule 7.2 sets it at a minimum of 1,500 hours of actual work experience completed in not less than 48 weeks nor more than 104 weeks, at least half in clinical services such as treatment, consultation, assessment and report writing, with at least a quarter of the clinical services face-to-face.

The postdoctoral half is not optional here: section 3508(a)(3) requires at least 1 year of supervised professional experience after the doctorate, and rule 7.3 quantifies it at 1,500 hours under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, at least a quarter in direct service.

The rules read contain no provision letting internship or practicum hours stand in for the postdoctoral hours.

Delaware requires the EPPP at the passing score ASPPB recommends for the administration taken, and no state jurisprudence or oral exam appears in the rules or board page read.

Rule 5.1.3 requires candidates not licensed in any other state to have passed within 5 years of application for licensure in Delaware.

The board's licensure-by-examination page applies the retake to examination-route applicants — a pass earned over five years ago must be retaken unless the applicant holds a Diploma of American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology — and that route is wider than rule 5.1.3's group: it also takes applicants licensed elsewhere who fall short of the reciprocity criteria, and applicants upgrading to the psychologist licence.

Reciprocity asks only for evidence of a passing score, with no age limit (rule 5.2.1.3).

No EPPP Part 2 requirement was found in the rules read.

That question is time-limited: ASPPB's integrated EPPP takes the place of both parts for first-time takers from fall 2027.

Because unlicensed practice is prohibited, a postdoc accruing supervised hours inside Delaware must obtain a psychological assistant registration before the supervision starts, and rule 9.5 bars an assistant from beginning work until the Board has approved the application, after reviewing the job description and supervisory arrangements.

Under rule 9.2.1 the supervising psychologist must have 2 years of post-licensure practice without disciplinary action (waivable for just cause), be employed or under contract where the clinical service takes place, and may not supervise more than 7 psychological assistants at any time.

For the postdoctoral experience itself, rule 7.3 requires at least 1 hour of face-to-face supervision for every 10 hours of clinical work and accepts group supervision with no more than 5 postdoctoral applicants meeting the psychologist at once, at 2 group hours per individual hour.

Assistants themselves fall under rule 9.6: weekly 1-on-1 face-to-face supervision at 1 hour minimum per 10 hours or fraction thereof of direct clinical work; group substitution needs a Board petition showing good cause, keeping at least 1 individual hour per week (rule 9.6.1).

A licensed psychology associate practises independently at the master's level within the scope of their training, and may administer brief screening instruments of orientation and current mental status, repeated measures of symptoms related to psychopathology, general measures of aptitude and interest, and measures of intellectual ability.

The carve-outs are statutory and specific: no comprehensive specialty or subspecialty testing requiring doctoral-level education, no neuropsychological evaluations, no forensic evaluations including capacity, competency and security matters, no medical or health capacity evaluations such as pre-surgical screenings, no personality, performance or projective assessments whose conclusions stand as a final determination, no child custody or parental fitness evaluations, and no public safety employment evaluations.

An associate also may not use any title implying they are a licensed psychologist, including neuropsychologist or forensic psychologist.

The LPA's EPPP passing score and supervision ratios were left to implementing regulations that had not been adopted in the rules read.

Delaware joined PSYPACT through HB 172, and the PSYPACT Commission map, as read in September 2026, lists the state as a member in effect: enacted June 27, 2019, effective July 1, 2020.

PSYPACT authorizations are doctoral-only, so a licensed psychology associate cannot practise under the compact.

A Delaware psychologist uses it to practise telepsychology or temporarily in person in another participating state, through ASPPB's E.Passport or Interjurisdictional Practice Certificate plus the matching PSYPACT authorization.

An applicant already licensed or certified as a doctoral-level psychologist, or as a licensed psychological associate, in another jurisdiction, with 2 years of continuous practice there, applies by reciprocity: proof of the current licence, evidence of the 2 years, an EPPP passing score, and degree evidence.

In lieu of that documentation, rule 5.2.2 lets an applicant currently licensed in another state qualify by holding a current CPQ or a National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology credential.

The board's page adds the practical screen: an applicant licensed elsewhere who has not practised continuously for at least two years, and holds neither a CPQ nor a National Register credential, applies by examination instead.

An applicant certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology licenses without examination.

Section 3510(c) lets a visitor with an earned doctoral degree in psychology, licensed or certified as a psychologist in another jurisdiction, practise up to an aggregate of 6 days per calendar year; section 3510(d) bars conversion therapy with a child for anyone practising under it.

Reciprocity does not extend to the assistant registrations.

Licences renew biennially on proof of continuing education, and the CE period runs from August 1 of each odd-numbered year through July 31 of the next odd-numbered year.

Psychologists need 40 hours per biennial period, at least 10 of them face-to-face or live webinar, including 3 hours in ethics and 3 in cultural inclusion, equity, and diversity; registered assistants need 20 hours with at least 5 live and the same 3-and-3 ethics and diversity hours.

The rules prorate the requirement for licensees first licensed or reactivating mid-period, on a sliding scale down to zero.

Confirm the current cycle on the board's CE page before renewal.

Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 208, signed June 24, 2026, created the licensed psychology associate licence and the master's-level psychological assistant registration, renamed the existing assistant registration doctoral-level, and added Canadian Psychological Association accreditation to the accepted degree list.

Substitute 1 also removed the 60-graduate-semester-hour minimum the original bill set for the associate's master's degree, and added cognitive rehabilitation and cognitive therapy to the practice definitions.

The act is effective on enactment, but implementation runs to the earlier of 12 months from enactment or the Board's notice, in the Register of Regulations, that final implementing regulations have been adopted.

As of the September 2026 retrieval those regulations had not been adopted.

Applications go through the Division's DELPROS portal, and an application opened but not submitted within six months must be restarted.

The psychologist application assembles an official transcript sent directly from the university, a Supervisory Reference Form from each supervisor documenting the 1,500 postdoctoral hours, licence verifications from every jurisdiction of current or past licensure, and the ASPPB score report sent directly.

The criminal background check is its own gate: a Delaware state and FBI check through the Division's fingerprinting process, and the board's page is explicit that checks run for any other purpose do not carry over.