To meet the education requirements of RCW 18.83.070, an applicant must possess a doctoral degree from a regionally accredited institution. Regional accreditation is awarded to an institution by one of the regional accrediting agencies, each of which covers a specified portion of the United States and its territories, or equivalent accreditation in another country, upon approval by the board.

(1) The doctoral degree program must include:

(a) At least forty semester credits, or sixty quarter credits, of graduate courses in curriculum areas described in subsection (3) of this section.

(i) Courses must be clearly identified by title and course content as being part of an integrated psychology program.

(ii) Courses taken before the doctoral degree program may be accepted if the doctoral degree program accepted the course(s).

(b) One year in residency as described in subsection (4) of this section;

(c) Submission of an original dissertation which is psychological in nature and endorsed by the program; and

(d) An organized, sequential and coordinated practicum and internship experience as described in WAC 246-924-049 and 246-924-056.

(2) The curriculum requirements: The doctoral degree program must encompass a minimum of three academic years of full-time graduate study or the equivalent.

(3) The applicant must complete three or more semester credits, or five or more quarter credits, of core study in each of the following content areas:

(a) Biological bases of behavior. For example: Physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neural bases of behavior, sensation and perception, and biological bases of development;

(b) Cognitive-affective bases of behavior. For example: Learning, thinking, motivation, emotion, and cognitive development;

(c) Social bases of behavior. For example: Social psychology, organizational theory, community psychology, and social development;

(d) Individual differences. For example: Personality theory and psychopathology;

(e) Scientific and professional ethics;

(f) History and systems of psychology;

(g) Statistics and psychometrics;

(h) Research design and methodology;

(i) Techniques of data analysis;

(j) Human development. For example: Developmental psychology, child development, adult development and aging;

(k) Cultural and individual differences and diversity;

(l) Psychopathology and dysfunctional behaviors;

(m) Theories and methods of assessment and diagnosis-minimum of two courses;

(n) Effective psychological intervention and evaluation of the efficacy of interventions-minimum of three courses; and

(o) Psychopharmacology.

(4) Doctoral degree programs accredited by the American Psychological Association or the Canadian Psychological Association are recognized as having met the minimum education requirements.

(5) Residency requirement:

(a) The doctoral degree program must involve at least one continuous year of full-time residency at the institution which grants the degree or a minimum of seven hundred fifty hours of student-faculty contact involving face-to-face individual or group educational meetings.

(b) Educational meetings:

(i) Must include both faculty-student and student-student interaction;

(ii) Be conducted by the psychology faculty of the institution at least seventy-five percent of the time;

(iii) Be fully documented by the institution and the applicant; and

(iv) Relate substantially to the program components specified.