Kentucky Psychology Licensure Statute (KRS 319) and Administrative Regulations (201 KAR 26), Scope of Practice, Titles, and Licensure Requirements
The statute and the regulations
KRS Chapter 319 is the licensure statute; 201 KAR Chapter 26 supplies the Board's operating rules. KRS 319.020 makes it unlawful to practice psychology or hold oneself out as a psychologist without a Kentucky license. The statutory definition of practice is broad: diagnosis, psychological assessment, psychotherapy, consultation, research, teaching, and supervision all fall within it.
Scope and protected titles
Only a licensed psychologist may use the title "psychologist" or "licensed psychologist," and business names may not imply licensure. Kentucky also licenses master's-level psychological practitioners under Board rules; their scope is narrower than a doctoral psychologist's and they must not present themselves as psychologists. Exemptions for school, government, or nonprofit employees are setting-specific and do not permit public practice or use of a protected title.
Licensure requirements
Applicants need a doctoral degree in psychology from a regionally accredited program (or Board-approved equivalent), documented supervised experience under 201 KAR 26, a passing EPPP score, the Kentucky jurisprudence examination, fees, and a background check. Endorsement is available for licensees from other jurisdictions whose standards are equivalent.
Worked example
An out-of-state psychologist moves to Kentucky and opens a private practice before applying. Even with 20 years' experience, practice and the title are unauthorized until licensure; the Board may treat each client contact as unlicensed practice. The correct path is application by endorsement or examination before seeing clients.
Traps
Assuming a national certification substitutes for licensure; using "psychologist" in an LLC name while unlicensed; treating a school exemption as permission for private practice.