Texas Association Of Psychological Associates (TAPA) Seeks Independent Practice For Licensed Psychological Associates (LPA)
In a potential major and controversial development for Texas psychology and those who hold a Master’s degree in psychology, Texas Association Of Psychological Associates (TAPA) announced their intention to seek, and file a lawsuit if necessary, independent practice status for Licensed Psychological Associates (LPAs). LPA is a Texas licensure designation that requires a Master’s degree in psychology and allows LPAs to work with patients under the supervision of a Licensed Psychologist. Check the end of this report for a link to the publicly available TAPA letter that explains their position.
TAPA claims that the Texas State Board of Examiners Of Psychologists (TSBOE) have no statutory authority to require supervision by a Licensed Psychologist (doctoral level designation) and has sent a letter to TSBOE demanding the independent practice for LPAs. Their letter is publicly available. TAPA gave TSBOE 45 days to respond else face a lawsuit in District court.
TAPA recently sent post-card mailers to LPAs explaining the current movement toward independent practice with urgent requests for donations for their Legal Fund.
If agreed upon by TSBOE or enforced by District Court Judge, LPAs entering independent practice is expected to generate many future legal, professional, and insurance related controversies, and could change the face of Texas psychological services delivery.
Here are a summary of the current licensure requirements as published by TSBOE:
Licensed Psychological Associate (Supervision Required)
Requires a master’s degree primarily psychological in nature
Requires passage of the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology at the master’s level at 55%
Requires passage of the Jurisprudence Examination at 80%
Board rule 463.8.
Provisionally Licensed Psychologist (Supervision Required)
Requires a doctoral degree in psychology
Requires passage of the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology at the doctoral level at 70%
Requires passage of the Jurisprudence Examination at 90%
Board rule 463.10.
Licensed Psychologist (Independent Practice)
Requires prior licensure as a Provisionally Licensed Psychologist (see below)
Requires a doctorate degree in psychology
Requires the passage of the Oral Examination
Requires two years of supervised experience
Board rule 463.11. and 463.13
Resources
Texas Association Of Psychological Associates
TAPA Letter Demanding Independent Practice
Texas State Board of Examiners
Acts and Rules of the Board (TSBOE) via Texas Administrative Code
 Seeks Independent Practice For Licensed Psychological Associates (LPA) "Pin It")
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Christopher Fisher, PhD
LPAs desire to receive similar independent practice rights as Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) – also Master’s level designation with independent practice rights – is understandable given the similar amount of time spent in university coursework. However, I have one major concern about LPAs obtaining independent practice. This opinion is based on my personal experience. I received a terminal Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and an LPA on the road to receive my PhD. Although my Master’s program was fantastic, it is hard to imagine being granted independent, or even unsupervised, work with patients immediately after graduation, mostly due to the limited direct patient therapy contact hours. I completed a 7-month practicum at a major hospital, but the focus was on patient psychological and intellectual assessment. Quite frankly, I suspect that most current master’s psychology university programs are simply not designed to train LPAs for independent practice.
LPCs also complete an additional 3000 hours of supervised internship before they are licensed for independent practice. Psychology must maintain a high standard of care from all psychological professionals, and this should be a minimum level of additional training that LPAs should receive if they are eventually granted independent practice status.
An additional minor concern is that the general public may find these two similar sounding professional designations – Licensed Psychologist and Licensed Psychological Associate – to be confusing. “Title confusion” alone should not stop a qualified professional from independent practice, but it is a concern nonetheless. Psychologists will have to take it upon themselves to educate the public about the differences in training that separates these two professions.
Christopher Fisher, PhD
TXAPA recently announced that a law suit has been filed against the TSBOE. This should be very interesting. The announcement is here: http://txapa.net/big_news.html