GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 2
SENATE BILL 171
Health Care Committee Substitute Adopted 4/2/25
Short Title: Modernize Reg/Master's Level Psychologists. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
February 26, 2025
*S171 -v-2*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REDUCE THE UNNECESSARY REGULAT ORY BURDEN ON MASTER 'S 2
LEVEL PSYCHOLOGISTS AND TO INCREASE ACCE SS TO QUALITY MENTAL 3
HEALTH CARE SERVICES FOR NORTH CAROLINIANS. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1. G.S. 90-270.139 reads as rewritten: 6
"§ 90-270.139. Application; examination; supervision; provisional and temporary licenses. 7
… 8
(e) Except as provided in subsection (e1) of this section: 9
(1) A licensed psychological associate shall be supervised by a qualified licensed 10
psychologist, or other qualified professionals, licensed psychological 11
associate in accordance with Board rules specifying the format, setting, 12
content, time frame, amounts of supervision, qualifications of supervisors, 13
disclosure of supervisory relationships, the organization of the supervised 14
experience, and the nature of the responsibility assumed by the supervisor. 15
(2) A licensed psychological associate who provides health services shall be 16
supervised, for those activities requiring supervision, supervised by a 17
qualified licensed psychologist holding health services provider certification 18
or by other a qualified professionals licensed psychological associate under 19
the overall direction of a qualified licensed psychologist holding health 20
services provider certification, in accordance with Board rules. 21
(3) Except as provided below, supervision, Supervision, including the supervision 22
of health services, is required only when a licensed psychological associate 23
engages in: assessment of personality functioning; neuropsychological 24
evaluation; psychotherapy, counseling, and other interventions with clinical 25
populations for the purpose of preventing or eliminating symptomatic, 26
maladaptive, or undesired behavior; and, the use of intrusive, punitive, or 27
experimental procedures, techniques, or measures. The Board shall adopt 28
rules implementing and defining this provision, and as the practice of 29
psychology evolves, may identify additional activities requiring supervision 30
in order to maintain acceptable standards of practice.in the practice of 31
psychology in accordance with Board rules. 32
(e1) The Board shall approve any licensed psychological associate to engage in 33
independent practice, without supervision by a qualified licensed psychologist or qualified 34
licensed psychological associate, if the licensed psychological associate meets all of the 35
following requirements: 36 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 171-Second Edition
(1) Has 4,000 hours of post-licensure experience in the delivery of psychological 1
services under the supervision of one or more qualified licensed psychologists 2
or qualified licensed psychological associates within a time period of at least 3
24 consecutive months and less than 60 consecutive months. 4
(2) Documents that all performance ratings for the 4,000 hours of post-licensure 5
experience required by subdivision (1) of this subsection have been average 6
or above average. 7
(3) Submits an application for independent practice with proof of the 4,000 hours 8
of post-licensure experience required by subdivision (1) of this subsection. 9
…." 10
SECTION 2. G.S. 90-270.145 reads as rewritten: 11
"§ 90-270.145. Licensure; examination; foreign graduates. 12
… 13
(b) Licensed Psychological Associate. – 14
… 15
(3) No licensed psychological associate shall engage in the practice of 16
neuropsychology or forensic psychology without first demonstrating 17
specialized education and training to practice in those areas as the Board may 18
determine by rule. In considering whether the licensed psychological associate 19
has sufficient specialized education and training to engage in the practice of 20
neuropsychology or forensic psychology, the Board may consider the licensed 21
psychological associate's graduate level course work, continuing education, 22
supervised training experience, or any other factors the Board deems 23
appropriate. For purposes of this subdivision, "neuropsychology" is defined 24
as "the branch of science that studies the physiological processes of the 25
nervous system and relates them to behavior and cognition" and "forensic 26
psychology" is defined as "the application of psychological principles and 27
techniques to situations that are involved in the civil and criminal legal 28
systems, including, but not limited to, psychological assessments and expert 29
testimony." 30
…." 31
SECTION 3. G.S. 90-270.153 reads as rewritten: 32
"§ 90-270.153. Provision of health services; certification as health services provider. 33
(a) Health services, as defined in G.S. 90-270.136(4) and G.S. 90-270.136(8), may be 34
provided by qualified licensed psychological associates, qualified licensed psychologists holding 35
provisional, temporary, or permanent licenses, or qualified applicants. Qualified Except as 36
provided in subsection (h) of this section, qualified licensed psychological associates, qualified 37
licensed psychologists holding provisional or temporary licenses, or qualified applicants may 38
provide health services only under supervision as specified in the duly adopted rules of the Board. 39
… 40
(h) A licensed psychological associate who possesses a certification as a health services 41
provider psychological associate in accordance with subsection (c) of this section may provide 42
health services without supervision upon meeting the requirements in G.S. 90-270.139(e1). 43
(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (h) of this section, a licensed 44
psychological associate who was licensed before June 30, 2013, who can demonstrate, in 45
accordance with Board rules, that he or she has been engaged in the provision of health services 46
psychology under supervision for 4,000 hours within a time period of at least 24 consecutive 47
months and less than 60 consecutive months shall meet the requirements for certification as a 48
health services provider psychological associate." 49
SECTION 4. G.S. 90-270.140 reads as rewritten: 50
"§ 90-270.140. Psychology Board; appointment; term of office; composition. 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Senate Bill 171-Second Edition Page 3
For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Article, there is created a North Carolina 1
Psychology Board, which shall consist of seven members appointed by the Governor. At all times 2
three members shall be licensed psychologists, two members shall be licensed psychological 3
associates, and two members shall be members of the public who are not licensed under this 4
Article. The Governor shall give due consideration to the adequate representation of the various 5
fields and areas of practice of psychology and to adequate representation from various geographic 6
regions in the State. Terms of office shall be three years. All terms of service on the Board expire 7
June 30 in appropriate years. As the term of a psychologist member expires, or as a vacancy of a 8
psychologist member occurs for any other reason, the Board, the North Carolina Psychological 9
Association, or its successor, shall, and the North Carolina Association of Professional 10
Psychologists, or its successor, shall form a nominating committee and, having sought the advice 11
of the chairs of the graduate departments of psychology in the State, nominees from licensees for 12
each vacancy, shall submit to the Governor a list of the names of three eligible persons. From 13
this list the Governor shall make the appointment for a full term, or for the remainder of the 14
unexpired term, if any. Each Board member shall serve until his or her successor has been 15
appointed. As the term of a member expires, or if one should become vacant for any reason, the 16
Governor shall appoint a new member within 60 days of the vacancy's occurring. No member, 17
either public or licensed under this Article, shall serve more than three complete consecutive 18
terms." 19
SECTION 5. This act is effective October 1, 2025. 20