Hawaii Psychology Education Overview
Psychology Licensure in Hawaii
The beautiful state of Hawaii offers a great diversity of job options for those human services professionals who have earned their license in Psychology. There are a broad diversity of organizations, institutions and agencies that have need of licensed Psychologists. You have many potential employment routes such as: Starting a private practice on Oahu, seeking employment at a school on Waikiki, or being employed at a hospital on the Honolulu. Hawaii has a population of over 1.3 million people Hawaii has need for a variety of licensed Psychologists. With a fairly quick search on the BLS website you will find that Psychologists in Hawaii can anticipate mean yearly wages of $94,9601. Some people love the idea of working in a hospital, if that sounds like you then you then you might wish to seek employment in one of Hawaii’s 15+ Major hospitals2. If the idea of helping children in a school setting deal with emotional issues sounds appealing, or your degree was in child Psychology you might wish to seek employment in one of Hawaii’s 283 schools3. With such a diversity of careers to choose from, finding the perfect niche for your specific skill set and desires becomes a whole lot easier. We have created a step-by-step guide for the licensure process in Hawaii which you will find it below.
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Required educational background
To be able to apply for your license in Hawaii you will first need to earn your Ph.D. in Psychology from an APA approved school. This of course presupposes that you have already earned both your Bachelor and Master of Psychology degrees.
While you need a Bachelor of Psychology in order to eventually become a licensed Psychologist in Hawaii, the degree itself is useful outside the context of it being a stepping stone on the path to becoming a licensed Psychologist. Indeed, a Bachelor of Psychology is one of the most useful Bachelor’s degrees to have in the human services field in terms of employment opportunities.
While it is true that Hawaii does not allow licensure for those who have not earned their doctorate in Psychology, this does not make this degree merely a step on the ladder to licensure. A Master of Psychology helps you narrow your focus of study in Psychology enroute to your licensure. However, a Master of Psychology is actually a tremendous asset to have in its own right in the human services job market. You will discover that your Master’s is a highly sought after degree for many human services jobs. So, even if you decided not to continue with your education to earn a doctorate and pursue licensure, your degree will be very useful in finding employment.
Once your doctorate in psychology from an APA approved school you will need to start accumulating your required hours of field experience.
Field Experience
To verify your field experience component, you will take the following actions:
- You will need to complete an APA approved internship
- Alternately, instead of an APA approved internship, you will need to accumulate 1900 hours of supervised fieldexperience. You will need to amass 1900 hours during a 1 year period. You will need to apply for licensure, get approval and take your examinations as explained below. You will need to be supervised by a Psychologist licensed in Hawaii.
You will want to familiarize yourself with the Hawaii specific rules and regulations for licensure. These laws change so it is good to make sure you have current information, you can find that information here:
Examination
Once you have completed your field experience you can apply to take the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP).
- Pass the EPPP with a score meeting the Hawaii minimum
You can find some helpful information about your EPPP here: