Case 47
Licensing and Credentialing
A. Statement of the Problem
An I/O psychologist started a consulting practice in a state requiring all psychologists, regardless of area of specialty, to be licensed prior to pro¬viding any psychological services to the public for a fee. The psychologist had been licensed in another state. The psychologist’s practice involved the administration of standardized group tests and interviewing for the purpose of personnel screening. The practice excluded personality testing and health service activities.
Upon learning about her new state’s licensure requirements, she con¬tacted the licensing board. She was told that to be eligible to take the licensure examination, it was necessary to have worked under the super¬vision of a licensed psychologist for a period of 2 years after receipt of the doctoral degree. There was no reciprocity agreement between her present state and the one in which she had been licensed. The former state had a different licensing law, more compatible with the typical preparation of I/O psychologists. Since the psychologist previously had been employed by a state agency as a personnel psychologist reporting to the agency’s per¬sonnel director (who was not a psychologist), it was not possible to meet her new state’s requirements without additional preparation. The psy¬chologist was therefore not permitted to take the licensing examination.
The psychologist decided to ignore the state requirement for licensure and to continue practicing, using the label of “Industrial/Organizational Psychologist,” and to perform the tasks and duties which were psycholog¬ical and which were controlled by law in the state. Her business cards and stationery identified her practice as being in “Industrial/Organizational Psychology.” Her promotional materials described her as being a psychol¬ogist and listed several areas of practice with the word “psychology” in them.
The psychologist was contacted by a company exploring the possibility of her conducting some executive assessments. During one of the explor¬atory discussions, the organizational representative asked her if she was licensed as a psychologist. She stated that she was, without mentioning that her license was in another state. The company hired the psychologist for the work. Subsequently, in a forensic matter which arose concerning one of the assessments she performed for the company, the psychologist