Section 1400.110  Experience Defined

The following sets forth standards for practicums, internships or equivalent supervised experience and the two years of supervised experience required for licensure as a clinical psychologist pursuant to Section 10 of the Act and Section 1400.100 of this Part:

a)         Practicums, internships or equivalent supervised experience and the two years of supervised experience:

1)         Shall be experience obtained after enrollment in a doctoral psychology program.

2)         Shall involve the practice of clinical psychology as defined in Section 2(5) of the Act. Illustrative tasks are:  assessing, diagnosing and treating individuals with mental, emotional, behavioral or nervous disorders or conditions, or individuals with developmental disabilities.

3)         Shall not be limited to repetitious and routine tasks that, although involving psychological activities, are at the pre-professional level.  Tasks illustrative of pre-professional experience are:  administering and scoring structured tests; conducting standardized interviews; collecting data; academic guidance counseling; and assisting in a laboratory or teaching situation.

4)         Shall not be supervised experience in which the supervisor receives monetary payment or other considerations from the supervisee or in which the supervisor is hired by or otherwise employed by the supervisee.

b)         Practicum.  In addition to the requirements set forth in subsection (a), the applicant's practicum (externship or clerkship) shall:

1)         Be a part of the coursework in the doctoral program or be an equivalent 400 hours of coursework or training completed with a grade of satisfactory or better in a new area of competence approved by the Board prior to initiating the training.

2)         Involve the applicant in direct clinical psychology services to the client.

3)         Provide for personal supervision by a licensed clinical psychologist, licensed psychologist who is engaged in the practice of clinical psychology or a person possessing the educational and experience qualifications necessary for licensure under the Act.  However, failure of the licensing examination disqualifies one as a supervisor.

4)         Be performed pursuant to the order, control and full professional responsibility of the supervisor, who shall meet with the applicant face-to-face for a minimum of 40 hours.

5)         Be a minimum of 400 hours in duration.  This 400 hours does not have to take place in a single setting.

6)         Be wholly separate from the two years of supervised experience required for licensure.

7)         Clearly delineate between practicum, internship and supervised work experience, using identifiable dates at the time of application.

c)         Internship.  To meet the requirements of internship in accordance with Section 1400.100 or equivalent supervised clinical experience in an organized health care setting pursuant to Section 10(3)(c) of the Act and Section 1400.100(c) of this Part, the internship or clinical experience may include both paid and unpaid experience obtained by the applicant and shall, in addition to the requirements set forth in subsection (a):

1)         Be an organized pre-planned training program (in contrast to supervised experience or on the job training) designed to provide the applicant with a pre-planned, programmed sequence of training experiences that includes documented goals and objectives.  The primary focus and purpose is assuring breadth and quality of training.

2)         Include a minimum of one hour per week of regularly scheduled, face-to-face individual supervision with the specific intent of dealing with health services rendered directly by the applicant.  There must also have been at least two additional hours per week in learning activities such as case conferences, including cases in which the intern was actively involved; seminars dealing with clinical issues; co-therapy with a staff person, including discussion; group supervision; and additional individual supervision.

3)         Involve the applicant in direct clinical psychology services to the client (defined in Section 2 of the Act) as a part of the training experience.

4)         Be under the individual and personal supervision of a licensed clinical psychologist or a licensed psychologist who is engaged in clinical psychology whose license is active and in good standing (i.e., no disciplinary action in accordance with Section 15 of the Act).

5)         Be performed pursuant to the order, control and full professional responsibility of the supervisor.

6)         Include a minimum of 1750 hours completed within 24 months. The 1750 hours may not be completed in less than 50 weeks regardless of the number of hours worked per week.

A)        Full-time experience shall be at least 35 hours per week and shall be obtained in a single setting during a minimum of six months.

B)        Part-time experience will only be counted if it is 18 hours or more per week during a minimum of nine months and is in a single setting.

7)         Be post-practicum (post-clerkship or post-externship) level.

8)         Be evaluated by the supervisor as satisfactory or better.

9)         If experience takes place in a work setting, be distinct from the regular work duties of the applicant and the internship or equivalent clinical experience.

d)         Clinical Experience.  To meet the experience requirements of Section 10 of the Act, the experience may include both paid and unpaid experience obtained by the applicant and, in addition to the requirements set forth in subsection (a) shall:

1)         Contain/include clinical psychology experience, at least one year of which must be post-doctoral.  Practicum experience may not be counted toward fulfilling the two years of supervised experience.

A)        A year of experience is defined as 1750 hours obtained in not less than 50 weeks and completed within a 36 month period.

B)        Full-time work experience must be obtained in a single setting for a minimum of six months with at least 35 hours per week.

C)        Part-time experience will only be counted if it is 18 hours or more a week during a minimum of nine months and is in a single setting.

D)        Post-doctoral experience may begin upon completion of degree requirements for the doctoral degree, if verification of the date of completion of the degree requirement, when different from the date of graduation, is certified to the Division by the appropriate administrative official of the applicant's educational institution.

2)         Be personally and individually supervised by a licensed clinical psychologist or a licensed psychologist who is engaged in the practice of clinical psychology whose license is active and in good standing (i.e., no disciplinary action in accordance with Section 15 of the Act).  The experience must be performed pursuant to the order, control and full professional responsibility of the supervisor.

3)         Be evaluated by the supervisor as satisfactory or better.

4)         Be obtained prior to the date of the examination.  Applicants completing the required experience after the examination date will be considered for the next examination.  All supervised experience completed prior to the application date must be listed on the application in order to be considered.

5)         Include a minimum of one hour per week of regularly scheduled, face-to-face individual supervision with the specific intent of dealing with health services rendered directly by the applicant.

6)         Include a minimum of 50% of the required hours must be spent providing services for which the applicant establishes an ongoing, face-to-face relationship with the individuals being treated or is otherwise working with.

A)        Examples of experience that fulfill this requirement include, but are not limited to:

i)          Ongoing individual or group psychotherapy;

ii)         Time limited psychotherapy;

iii)        Assessments for ADHD, learning disabilities, developmental disabilities or behavioral disorders;

iv)        Forensic evaluations;

v)         General psychological assessments;

vi)        Neuropsychological assessments; and

vii)       Comprehensive intake assessments at a psychiatric facility.

B)        Examples of experience that does not fulfill the requirement of this subsection (d)(6), but may be included in work experience hours if the hours make up less than 50% of the required experience, include:

i)          Providing telephone-based intake assessments;

ii)         Working in the front office of a mental health center;

iii)        Going to schools providing drug abuse prevention lectures to large groups of students;

iv)        Working for a crisis line answering phone calls, collecting questionnaire-based research data, entering it into a computer, and conducting statistical analyses; and

v)         Teaching psychology to college or high school students.

(Source:  Amended at 48 Ill. Reg. 12770, effective August 9, 2024)