Prescribing Psychology News
In April 2017, Idaho became the fifth state to allow psychologist prescribing. Read the details in this American Psychological Association press release.
May 27, 2016: Iowa becomes the fourth state to allow psychologist prescribing. Licensed psychologists will be allowed prescriptive authority after they have successfully completed a post-doctoral master of science degree in clinical psychopharmacology, a supervised practicum in clinical assessment and pathophysiology, and passed a national examination. Psychologists in Iowa will also need to complete a two-year conditional prescribing period under a licensed physician’s supervision to be eligible for independent prescriptive authority. Read the American Psychological Association press release.
June 25, 2014: the Governor of Illinois signed SB2187, allowing psychologists to prescribe after completing an additional 2½ years of training. Illinois becomes the third state to authorize prescriptive authority for psychologists. It has been a decade since the last RxP bill passed in Louisiana.
February 2009: Credentialing procedure in place for military psychologists to obtain prescriptive authority: “7.8.3.17. Those clinical psychologists designated by the HQ USAF/SG, who participated in the DoD Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project (PDP) and were thereby granted prescriptive authority, may continue to have prescriptive authority for the remainder of their tenure with the AFMS. Prescriptive authority may also be granted to fully qualified psychologists who have completed a Master’s Degree in clinical psychopharmacology, successfully passed the Psychopharmacology Exam for Psychologist (PEP), and who have received a minimum of one year of documented supervision. Supervision must be provided by a psychiatrist or a psychologist with prescriptive authority.”
April 25, 2008: A psychologist prescribing bill (SB1427) was introduced in California by the NAPPP, an organization created to support the interests of practicing clinical psychologists. The California Psychological Association lobbied against the bill, contributing to it quickly stalling out in committee. The politics behind this move by CPA can be found in the April 2008 NAPPP newsletter, The Clinical Practitioner. See pages 6 through 8.
May 2004: the Governor of Louisiana signed HB1426, authorizing psychologists with additional training to prescribe. This law was implemented on January 20, 2005.
On March 5, 2002, the Governor of New Mexico signed SB170, authorizing psychologists with additional training to prescribe. On January 7, 2005, these regulations went into effect, ushering in a new era in professional psychology.
On December 30, 1998, Guam authorized prescriptive privileges for psychologists, becoming the second jurisdiction after Indiana pass such legislation.
California Senate Bill 983 was passed into law on 9/25/98, directing the Board of Psychology to encourage psychologists to obtain training in psychopharmacology.
Click here for the CA Board of Psychology position on medication
A study by the United States General Accounting Office shows that military psychologists with additional training are safely and effectively prescribing psychotropic medication
APA Council approved a new division as the American Society for the Advancement of Pharmacotherapy (ASAP) on 2-27-2000. This became Division 55 in 2002 and is for APA members seeking prescriptive authority.