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

Massachusetts issues one psychology licence, psychologist (M.G.L. c.112 §119), and one add-on credential: the Health Service Provider certification under M.G.L. c.112 §120 and 251 CMR 3.06.

There is no master's-level licence in the sources read — 251 CMR 3.00 covers doctoral licensure and HSP certification only — so a master's-trained practitioner has no psychology-board rung to hold.

Applicants must show good moral character and conduct their professional activities in accordance with accepted standards such as APA's Ethical Standards of Psychologists (§119(a), (d)).

The supervised-experience rule does require training in positions designated "psychologist in training", which titles the trainee but is not a credential the board issues.

The statute requires a doctoral degree in psychology from a recognized educational institution — recognized meaning regional accreditation, or a Commonwealth charter, in place when the degree was granted or within two years after (251 CMR 3.01).

The program itself must be designated by ASPPB or the National Register, or accredited by APA's Commission on Accreditation, at the time the degree is granted or within three years thereafter; such programs are presumed to meet the rule's criteria.

The criteria include a minimum of three academic years of full-time graduate study with at least one year in residence at the degree-granting program, supervised practica, competence in five substantive content areas — typically shown with a minimum of three graduate semester hours per area — and a dissertation psychological in method and content.

Foreign degrees require a credentials evaluation.

The statute requires the equivalent of at least two years full time of psychological employment, teaching, research or professional practice supervised by or in collaboration with a licensed psychologist, at least one year before the doctoral degree.

251 CMR 3.04(5) counts that as not less than 3,200 clock hours within 60 consecutive calendar months unless the Board for good cause allows additional completion time.

Hours only count after two full-time academic years of graduate training in psychology or its equivalent; each training experience must run at least four months at 16 hours weekly with at least one individual supervision hour weekly; maximum 16 hours credited per supervision hour.

An internship of at least 1,600 clock hours in not less than ten calendar months fulfills one year only after two full-time post-bachelor's academic years, at least one in the degree-granting doctoral program; advanced practica likewise require two full-time post-bachelor's academic years, at least one in the degree-granting doctoral program.

Nothing read requires a postdoctoral year or states all 3,200 hours may be earned before the degree; confirm with the board.

251 CMR 3.08 requires every applicant to take a national examination in psychology whose form and content the Board determines — with the passing score a scaled 500 or higher commencing April 2001, unless the Board determines otherwise — and to pass the Massachusetts Jurisprudence examination.

A candidate must pass the national exam within three calendar years of the Board's approval for examination or re-apply and meet current requirements; each exam may be taken at most four times per calendar year, with retakes at least three months apart.

The rules read do not name EPPP Part 2, and no Part 2 requirement was found.

That question is time-limited anyway: ASPPB's single integrated EPPP becomes the required version for first-time takers from fall 2027 and the only version from April 1, 2028, so confirm with the board which exam to sit.

Supervision must be a formal relationship with weekly contact, face to face, individually or in groups of no more than three, and the supervisor must be on the premises while the trainee renders services.

The supervisor must be a licensed psychologist or one clearly eligible for licensure; a psychiatrist certified or eligible for certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, or a certified member of another psychological specialty approved by the Board, is presumed clearly eligible.

Supervisors must be staff members of, or consultants to, the training organization, may not be reimbursed by the trainee, and in the private sector the applicant must be employed by the person, group or corporation providing the supervision, which must assume both the legal and professional responsibility for the trainee's services.

Personal psychotherapy or psychoanalysis may not be substituted for supervised experience.

The Health Service Provider certification is Massachusetts's credential for psychologists who provide health services.

Section 120 asks for at least two years of full-time supervised health service experience, and 251 CMR 3.06(4)(a) counts that as not less than 3,200 clock hours within 60 consecutive calendar months, 800 of them providing health services directly to clients.

In each of the two years, at least half the supervision must come from a licensed psychologist and at least 25% of the hours must be direct client contact; vocational guidance, industrial or organizational consulting, teaching and research do not count.

The qualifying training must sit in a health service setting: an APA-accredited pre- or post-doctoral program, or a program meeting the rule's detailed criteria, which for non-APA programs include at least 400 hours of direct client contact and a minimum 1,600-hour experience completed within 24 months.

HSP is a certification on top of the licence, not a separate licence and not a master's rung.

Massachusetts is not a PSYPACT state: the PSYPACT Commission map, as read in September 2026, lists it among the jurisdictions with no enacted PSYPACT legislation, with bills introduced in 2025 — H.

2528 and S.

1487 — not enacted.

A Massachusetts-licensed psychologist therefore has no PSYPACT home state, so the compact's Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology and temporary in-person authorization are unavailable; a psychologist licensed in a PSYPACT state cannot use PSYPACT authorizations to treat clients located in Massachusetts.

PSYPACT is doctoral-only in any case, so no master's-level practitioner could hold its credentials.

Check the commission's map and the legislature for movement before relying on either side of that line.

The board licenses by reciprocity under M.G.L. c.112 §121: it issues a licence to an applicant currently licensed or certified as a psychologist in another jurisdiction whose requirements are substantially equivalent to section 119's.

Applicants who meet the academic requirements of 251 CMR 3.03(1) are recognized as meeting the requirements for reciprocity licensure when they hold an ABPP diplomate, or a current ASPPB Certificate of Professional Qualification together with at least five years of licensure in good standing.

Meeting the same academic requirements plus five years of licensure in good standing with current listing in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology is recognized for reciprocity licensure together with HSP certification.

Every reciprocity applicant must still pass the Massachusetts psychology jurisprudence exam.

A licensee must renew the licence every two years, filing the renewal application and fees before it expires (251 CMR 3.10(1)).

Renewal also requires the continuing education set by 251 CMR 4.00, which was not among the texts read; the only CE figure in the text read is the 20 hours per renewal period used to compute make-up CE on a lapsed-licence renewal, so confirm the current requirement with the board.

Domestic violence and sexual violence training under M.G.L. c.112 §264 is a condition of licensure, renewal, revival and reinstatement, though a previously completed approved course need not be repeated unless the board, in its discretion, requires it.

Letting the licence lapse suspends both practice and the title "psychologist" until it is renewed.

Section 119(e) requires every licence applicant to apply to participate in the medical assistance program administered under chapter 118E, for the limited purpose of ordering and referring services covered under the program — but only if regulations governing such limited participation are promulgated under chapter 118E; a psychologist who chooses to participate in a medical assistance program as a provider of services is deemed to have fulfilled the requirement.

The application must also state the area or areas of the applicant's competence, and a licensee who later asserts competence in a new area must be able to furnish the Board with information sufficient to support it (251 CMR 3.02).

File the endorsements too: three from individuals of recognized standing in a psychological field, at least one from a licensed psychologist, and one from a training supervisor or another individual having direct knowledge of the applicant's work, with no more than one from a current board member (251 CMR 3.07).