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

Section 1 names the law the Clinical Psychologist Licensing Act.

Section 3 makes a valid licence the gate: no one may hold themself out as a psychologist or clinical psychologist, or render clinical psychological services, without one. §2(6) reaches title use — any description incorporating psychological, psychologic, psychologist, psychology or clinical psychologist.

A prescribing psychologist is a licensed doctoral-level psychologist who completed the specialized training, passed the rule-set exam, and holds the §4.2 licence (§2(9)).

Two pre-licence stages exist: students, interns and residents designated by a title such as intern, resident or other trainee designation may practise under the direct supervision and full professional responsibility of a licensed clinical psychologist (§4(a)), and, since January 1, 2026, an applicant may practise under supervision while the Department processes the application (§10.5).

School psychologists certified by the State Board of Education keep a narrow exemption limited to school psychological services, for those at least 21 years of age with at least 3 years of full-time experience as a certified school psychologist (§4(c)).

All three routes start from a doctorate granted by a regionally accredited institution, and the applicant must be at least 21 years of age (§10(1)).

Route (a) is a doctoral program in clinical, school or counseling psychology accredited by APA or PCSAS, or approved by the National Register council or other national board recognized by the Board.

Route (b) is a program the Department establishes as equivalent by rule, plus one actual-attendance course in each of seven content areas — scientific and professional ethics; biological, cognitive-affective and social bases of behavior; individual differences; assessment; and treatment modalities.

Route (c) is a doctorate whose content is psychological in nature from an accredited school that misses (a) and (b); it adds the seven courses, an appropriate practicum, an internship or equivalent supervised clinical experience in an organized mental health care setting, and two years of satisfactory supervised experience in clinical or counseling psychology, at least one of which is postdoctoral.

Rule 1400.100 restates the routes for applicants.

For the (a) and (b) degree routes the statute asks for two years, one an internship and one postdoctoral.

Full-time supervised experience counts only if obtained in a single setting for at least 6 months; part-time and internship experience counts only at 18 hours or more a week for at least 9 months, in a single setting (§10).

The internship itself is a minimum of 1,750 hours completed within 24 months, and the rule adds that the 1,750 hours may not be completed in less than 50 weeks regardless of the number of hours worked per week (1400.110(c)(6)).

The practicum is a minimum of 400 hours, need not sit in one setting, and must be wholly separate from the two years (1400.110(b)).

In the supervised years themselves, a year of experience is 1,750 hours obtained in not less than 50 weeks and completed within a 36-month period, the postdoctoral hours may begin on completion of degree requirements if the institution certifies the date, and at least half the hours must be face-to-face clinical services (1400.110(d)).

The required examination is the EPPP; the minimum passing grade is the passing score set by the testing entity, and proof of an EPPP passed in another jurisdiction must be forwarded directly to the Division by the testing service (1400.130(a)-(c)).

In lieu of the EPPP, the Division accepts passage of the American Board of Professional Psychology's examination in clinical or counseling psychology (1400.130(d)).

No separate jurisprudence examination and no EPPP Part 2 requirement was found in the Act or the rules read — and the two-part exam is time-limited anyway, because ASPPB's single integrated EPPP takes over for first-time takers from fall 2027.

A 2026 amendment to §10 lets the exam be taken upon graduation, before the postdoctoral supervised experience, beginning one year after the effective date of the amending Act; §10's source lines show P.A.

104-301 (eff.

2026-01-01) and P.A.

104-796 (eff.

2026-08-07) without showing which added the sentence.

Rule 1400.110(d)(4) still requires experience before the examination date, and Part 1400's last amendment was June 5, 2025, so confirm the current process with the Division.

Supervision for the two years must be performed under the order, control and full professional responsibility of a licensed clinical psychologist, or of a licensed psychologist engaged in the practice of clinical psychology whose licence is active and in good standing (1400.110(d)(2); the internship rule says the same at (c)(4)).

The rule and the Act both bar supervised experience in which the supervisor receives monetary payment or other consideration from the supervisee, or is hired or employed by the supervisee — the Department will not accept such hours for the practicum, the internship or the two years.

The clients are the clients of the agency or supervisor rather than the supervisee.

Face-to-face means live, interactive and visual; synchronous video with verbal and visual interaction qualifies (1400.10).

A practicum supervisor who failed the licensing examination is disqualified (1400.110(b)(3)).

The prescribing psychologist licence rides on a current clinical psychologist licence (§4.2(a)(1)) and adds undergraduate biomedical prerequisites, a minimum of 60 credit hours of didactic coursework with at least three credit hours in each of ten subject areas, and a full-time practicum of 14 months' supervised clinical training including a research project (§4.2(a)(2); 1400.200, 1400.220).

Applicants must pass the Psychopharmacology Examination for Psychologists (1400.200(a)(3)).

Prescribing happens only under a written collaborative agreement (§4.3(a)).

The P.A.

104-796 text bars delegations covering patients under 17 or over 65, patients during pregnancy, patients with serious medical conditions and with developmental disabilities and intellectual disabilities, or benzodiazepine Schedule III controlled substances (§4.3(b)); the P.A.

104-622 text omits only the over-65 exclusion.

No Schedule II controlled substance and no controlled substance delivered by injection may be delegated, and the prescribing psychologist may not prescribe narcotic drugs (§4.3(d)).

The collaborating physician must provide in-person consultation at least once a month and review medication orders no less than monthly (§4.3(h)); graduates of the Department of Defense Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project may apply by endorsement (§4.5).

§11.11, added by P.A.

100-1028 (eff.

January 1, 2020), subjects Illinois clinical psychologists to the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact Act.

The PSYPACT Commission map, as read in September 2026, lists Illinois as a member in effect: IL HB 1853, enacted August 22, 2018, effective July 1, 2020.

An Illinois clinical psychologist can therefore practise telepsychology or work temporarily in person in other participating states, through ASPPB's E.Passport or Interjurisdictional Practice Certificate plus the matching PSYPACT authorization.

The compact covers doctoral-level psychologists, and both Illinois psychology licences are doctoral.

The Department may grant a licence to an applicant licensed elsewhere whose standards, in the Department's opinion, were substantially equivalent at the date of that licensure (§11(a)).

The Board-recommended route requires licensure based on a doctorate for at least 30 months within the 5 consecutive years before applying, no disciplinary action in any jurisdiction during the entire period of licensure, and compliance with the Act and its rules (§11(b)); the application must be completed within 3 years (§11(c)).

Rule 1400.140(b) treats a valid ASPPB Certificate of Professional Qualification (clinical or counseling doctorate), or current National Register credentialing with at least five years of independent doctoral-level practice, as proof of substantial equivalence.

A senior route covers psychologists licensed at least 20 consecutive years in another US state or Canada with no discipline on record (1400.140(c)).

Short stays need no licence: a psychologist licensed in good standing to practise psychology independently and at the doctoral level in another state, province, or territory may practise in Illinois up to 10 calendar days per year (§11.5(a)).

Both licences expire on September 30 of each even-numbered year and may be renewed in the month preceding expiry (1400.20(a)); the prerenewal period is the 24 months before that date (1400.60(a)(3)).

Renewal takes 24 hours of continuing education, at least 3 in the ethical practice of clinical psychology and, beginning September 30, 2026, at least 3 in diversity, with CE obtained as set forth in 68 Ill.

Adm.

Code 1130 Subpart E (1400.60(a)(1)).

The pharmacology requirement appears with two different figures in the sources read: §4.2(c)(2) states 10 hours of continuing education annually in pharmacology from accredited providers, while rule 1400.60(a)(2) requires 20 hours on the subject of pharmacology per renewal, in addition to the 24.

Confirm with IDFPR which figure applies to your renewal cycle.

Part 1400 was amended at 47 Ill.

Reg.

6298, effective April 20, 2023; 48 Ill.

Reg.

12770, effective August 9, 2024; and 49 Ill.

Reg.

8360, effective June 5, 2025.

The statute then moved repeatedly in 2026: §10.5 (practice pending licensure) took effect January 1, 2026 under P.A.

104-178; §10 was amended under P.A.

104-301 (eff.

2026-01-01) and P.A.

104-796 (eff.

2026-08-07), and the current §10 text carries the exam-at-graduation clause; §4.3 was re-enacted under P.A.

104-622 (eff.

2026-07-24) and again under P.A.

104-796, whose text extends the excluded-patient list to patients over 65 years of age.

The Act carries a scheduled repeal of January 1, 2032 unless reauthorized.