Missouri Psychology Education Overview

Psychology Licensure in Missouri

Missouri has a significant number of potential career paths available for those human services workers who have become licensed Psychologist. There are a great many corporations, institutions and agencies are in need of licensed Psychologists. Whether you want to work as a school Psychologist in Jefferson City, or a in a hospital in Kansas City, Missouri has a diversity of options for those who wish to become licensed as Psychologists. Missouri has a total population of over 6 million people a population of that size creates a need for the services of licensed Psychologists. If you examine the data at the Bureau of Labor and Statistics website you will see that Psychologists in Missouri can expect a mean yearly wage of $65,4101. For people who feel drawn to work in a fast paced medical setting, it may be worth looking for work with one of Missouri’s 170+ Major hospitals2. For those who have earned a degree in child Psychology or think that they would greatly appreciate helping children with their emotions, it might be worth considering a career in one of Missouri’s 300+ school districts3. There is a vast array of potential jobs available once you have your Psychology license. Below you will see that we have created a step-by-step guide for the licensure process in Missouri in order to stream line the process.

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Required Educational Background

You will find that taking the necessary steps to become a licensed Psychologist in Missouri is an extraordinarily lucrative and fulfilling career decision. To reach this lofty goal, you will need to earn your Bachelor, Master and eventually Ph.D. in Psychology. This takes a lot of discipline and focus, but is well worth the considerable effort.

One of the best things about pursuing a career in psychology is how useful each level of degree attainment is. Whether you decided to go on to become a licensed psychologist, or choose to find a career in one of the many human services positions that this degree makes you eligible for, your Bachelor of psychology degree is an excellent building block to a fulfilling career in human services.

Missouri requires that applicants for licensure have earned their doctorate in psychology. A Master’s degree in psychology is an important step to take on your journey to licensure. It is worth noting that even if you don’t want to continue your schooling and earn your doctorate, you will find that with a Master’s in Psychology opens the door to a wide variety of human services careers. So, remember that a Master of Psychology is an extremely valuable degree regardless of whether you decide to pursue full licensure or not.

To start on your journey to licensure you will need your doctorate in psychology from a board approved school. Once you have your doctorate you will need to earn your field experience.

Field Experience

To begin accumulating your required field experience for licensure, you will need to do the following:

• You will need two full years of supervised work in a professional setting.
• One year of your two years may be done while you are earning your doctorate.
• The second year needs to be completed after you have been awarded your Ph.D.
• You will then need to apply for licensure, get approval and take your examination as explained below.

You will want to familiarize yourself with Missouri’s specific laws and regulations regarding licensure. These laws change so it is good to make sure you have current information, which you can find 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 Missouri minimum
• Pass the Missouri Jurisprudence examination
• Pass the Missouri Oral Examination for Psychologists

You can find some helpful information about your EPPP here:

¹ https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes193031.htm
² http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hospitals_in_Missouri
³ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_districts_in_Missouri