Licensure, Application, Renewal and Reactivation Requirements
This domain covers how a psychologist obtains, keeps, and recovers a Colorado license: degree and supervised-experience requirements, examinations, background checks, endorsement and universal recognition, biennial renewal, inactive status, and reactivation after a lapse.
The initial application
- A doctoral degree in psychology from a regionally accredited institution in a program meeting Board requirements, plus an internship.
- Supervised postdoctoral experience accrued while holding the Psychologist Candidate credential, under a Colorado-licensed psychologist, in the hours and supervision contacts the rule requires.
- The EPPP, plus any additional examination the Board requires, at the Board's passing score.
- A fingerprint-based criminal history check, the application fee, and the required attestations.
Coming from another state
Colorado offers two routes. Licensure by endorsement evaluates whether the out-of-state credentials are substantially equivalent. Universal recognition under C.R.S. 24-34-107 is the faster route for an applicant who has held an active license elsewhere for at least a year, is in good standing, pays the fees, and clears the background check. A discipline history generally pushes the file into individual review.
Renewal, inactive status, and reactivation
- Renewal is biennial. The licensee pays the fee, attests to CPD, and keeps the address of record current, because Board notices go there.
- Inactive status lets a licensee stop practicing while keeping the license; no practice is permitted while inactive.
- Reactivation after expiration requires an application, fees, late charges, and the CPD or other conditions the Board sets for the lapsed period. Practicing on a lapsed or inactive license is unlicensed practice regardless of intent.
Worked example
A psychologist licensed six years in Arizona moves to Colorado and has a 2019 letter of admonition on record. Universal recognition is the starting point because she has more than a year of active licensure, but the discipline triggers individual review. She should file early, disclose the admonition with the underlying documents, and expect the Board to weigh it under its own standards rather than assume automatic approval.
Traps
- Assuming endorsement waives the EPPP or the supervised-hour requirement.
- Counting candidate hours accrued without the required supervision.
- Confusing inactive with expired, or assuming a pending application permits practice.
- Letting the address of record go stale and missing a renewal notice.