WASHINGTON — The American Psychological Association has taken a key step toward extending its highly respected accreditation beyond doctoral, internship and postdoctoral residency psychology programs to master’s- level programs in health service psychology, seeking to ensure quality in training.
APA’s governing Council of Representatives voted Feb. 26 to approve standards for accrediting master’s-level programs in health service psychology (PDF, 193KB), the culmination of several years of study and public comment. Health service psychology includes clinical, counseling and school psychology programs, and combinations of these areas, as well as specialty-practice area residency programs.
“As the only psychology accreditor recognized by both the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, APA is at the forefront of accreditation trends in psychology and the creation of quality accreditation standards,” said APA President Jennifer F. Kelly, PhD. “This action addresses changes in the field of psychology accreditation and the increasing demand from the public for psychological services. We believe it is our responsibility to ensure that psychology provides the highest-quality care.”
The next step in this process is for APA’s Commission on Accreditation to develop procedures and regulations that will be required for a program to obtain APA accreditation. These will be subject to public comment and will define the competencies that are part of master’s-level education.
APA’s Commission on Accreditation formed a Master’s Workgroup in 2019, which developed the standards for accreditation of these programs. Such standards consider a range of issues, including how education and training occurs in master’s degree programs in health service psychology, how such training is similar to and unique from the education and training provided in doctoral programs and what outcomes/student achievement are appropriate for master’s degree programs in these subfields.
The minimum level of education necessary to qualify for licensure as a psychologist in most jurisdictions is the doctoral degree. APA began accrediting clinical psychology doctoral programs in 1948, counseling psychology doctoral programs in 1953, and internships in 1956, followed by school psychology doctoral programs in 1971 and postdoctoral residencies in 1997.
The decision to accredit health service psychology master’s programs comes after almost 70 years of debate within the association and the field about the role of master’s-trained individuals in psychology. Given the association’s policy that the doctorate is the minimum educational requirement for entry into professional practice as a psychologist, APA had not sought to accredit training programs in psychology at the master’s level. However, changes in the field led to a decision in 2018 by the Council of Representatives to direct APA to develop an accreditation system for master’s programs in health service areas of psychology.
APA will seek recognition from the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation to extend its current accreditation authority.