What Psychologists Should Know About License Renewal
This article was published in the September 2023 issue of The Pennsylvania Psychologist.
In Pennsylvania, all full psychology licenses run on the same renewal cycle: December 1 of an odd-numbered year to November 30 of the next odd-numbered year. By the end of September (i.e., approximately 60 days prior to the end of the licensure cycle), the State Board of Psychology will send renewal notices via e-mail. Previously, these e-mails have come from the address "RA-STPALSNOTIFY@pa.gov" with the subject line "Attention: Commonwealth of PA State Board of Psychology Update." It is important to note that psychologists will receive the e-mail at the e-mail address on file with the State Board of Psychology. If you need to see what e-mail address is on file and/or update your e-mail address, you can do so at https://www.pals.pa.gov.
Once the renewal period opens, you will return to https://www.pals.pa.gov and enter your User ID (which will be included in your renewal email_. If you do not remember your password, you can use the registration code included in the e-mail to recover your password through the PALS site. After you are logged in, click the "Renew" box in the toolbar located at the top of your screen. There will be a pop-up message with additional information, and then you just need to follow the steps to complete the renewal process. The renewal fee must be paid at the time of renewal. You will receive a confirmation e-mail once your license has been successfully renewed. If there are any issues with your renewal, you will receive an e-mail from the Board addressing what needs to be completed for your license to be renewed.
As part of the renewal process, you must indicate whether you completed your required continuing education (CE) credits. You do not have to submit copies of your CE certificates unless you are selected for auditing, which typically happens shortly after the start of the next biennium (i.e., December 2023 - January 2024). Psychologists must complete 30 CE credits each renewal cycle, which includes 3 ethics credits, 2 child abuse reporting (act 31) credits, and 1 suicide prevention credit.
There has been some confustion regarding whether CE must be completed in person. Some of the confusion likely came from the COVID-19 waivers that used different wording than the State Board does regarding CE. The COVID-19 waivers have expired, which means that we revert to standard regulations, and that for the current biennium and beyond, only up to 15 credits may be completed via home study courses. However, the State Board considers webinars that are live with the ability to interact with the instructor (e.g., a Zoom webinar you attend in real time with a chat or Q&A feature) as equivalent to in-person events. There is no requirement that psychologists attend in-person CE; the requirement is that no more than 15 of the required credits may be completed via home study (i.e., courses you complete asynchronously on your own that include an assessment component) (PA State Board of Psychology, 2022).
Your continuing education credits must be dated within the current biennium unless you are using carryover credits. Psychologists may carry over up to 10 hours in excess of the 30 from the immediately preceding biennium; although carryover credits cannot be used to fulfill ethics, suicide, or child abuse reporting requirements.
For the required specialized topics, to count as ethics credit, the word ethics or a derivative (e.g., ethical, ethically) must be in the title or the course completion certificate must specify it counts toward ethics credit hours. Similarly, for the suicide prevention credits, the word suicide or a derivative must appear in the title or the completion certificate must specifically state the course counts toward suicide prevention credits. While some courses meet the requirements for both ethics and suicide prevention, psychologists can only count a course towards one of the requirements (ethics credits OR suicide prevention credits), not both. Child abuse recognition and prevention credits must be from an approved Act 31 provider, those credits will be sent directly to the State Board from the CE provider, so the provider will require your license number, date of birth, and last 4 digits of your Social Security Number. You can verify the credits were sent to the state by logging into your account in the PALS system. Please note there is often a delay of 24 hours or more from the time you complete your course until the State Board receives verification. So, it is highly recommended that you complete your Act 31 course well before the renewal deadline, as your renewal will NOT process without this verification.
Psychologists should be sure that CE credits from from providers approved by the State Board of Psychology. According to 49 Pa. Code §41.59 (d)(3), approved sponsors include accredited universities (as long as the course related to the practice of psychology and generates semester/quarter credit), American Psychological Associaton (APA) and APA-approved sponsors (including PPA), sponsors approved by the American Medical Association that directly relate to the practice of psychology, and other sponsors approved by the Board on a biennial basis (PA Board of Psychology, 2021).
There are several other ways to earn CE credits approved by the State Board. These include completing a college course that has a PSY prefix and generates credit hours, teaching at a regionally accredited college, presenting CE workshops for approved sponsors, and professional writing. Psychologists may earn up to 15 CE hours each biennium through teaching by may only receive credit for the same course or workshop once every 4 years. If there are multiple instructors, the amount of CE for each instructor is determined by dividing the overall number of CE hours by the number of instructors (e.g., a 3-hour workshop presented by three people would be 1 CE hour per instructor). There are also specific guidelines for what counts as professional writing (PA State Board of Psychology, 2022).
Some additional words of advice: (1) Don't wait until the last minute to complete your required CE, and be sure to double check the math to ensure you have met your requirements; (2) don't wait until the last minute to process your renewal in case you run into any issues; and (3) don't hesitate to reach out to PPA staff with your questions about or help with the renewal process!
References
49 Pa. Code §41.59. Continuing education.
Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology. (2021). Board approved continuing education sponsors/providers. https://www.dos.pa.gov/ProfessionalLicensing/BoardCommissions/Psychology/Documents/Applications%20and%20Forms/Non-Application%20Documents/PsychM%20-%20Board%20Approved%20CE%20Providers.pdf
Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology. (2022). Continuing education information. https://www.dos.pa.gov/ProfessionalLicensing/BoardsCommissions/Psychology/Documents/Applications%20and%20Forms/Non-Application%20Documents/PsychM%20-%20Continuing%20Education%20Information.pdf