Supervision, Delegation, and Unlicensed Practice
Supervision requirements
Clinical supervision must be provided by an actively licensed Kentucky psychologist who is competent in the area supervised. Under 201 KAR 26:070, supervised experience is planned and sequential, with regular individual supervision, written evaluations, and documentation of hours. The supervisor retains professional responsibility for the supervisee's work and must be available for consultation.
Delegation limits
A psychologist may delegate administrative, clerical, or structured testing tasks to trained assistants, but may not delegate diagnosis, treatment planning, test interpretation, or other functions requiring doctoral judgment. The supervisee must disclose trainee status to clients and may not use the title "psychologist" or imply independent licensure.
Unlicensed practice
Aiding or abetting unlicensed practice is a separate violation. Examples include letting an unlicensed employee conduct intake and assign diagnoses, signing reports prepared entirely by an unlicensed person, or using a "consultant" label to evade licensure. Telehealth with clients located in Kentucky generally requires Kentucky licensure unless an exception applies.
Worked example
A licensed psychological practitioner asks a psychologist to supervise an unlicensed intake worker who will administer and interpret the MMPI. The psychologist should refuse the interpretation delegation: administration may be delegated with training, but interpretation and diagnosis remain the psychologist's responsibility. The psychologist must directly review and sign the interpretation.
Traps
Believing infrequent phone contact counts as supervision; allowing a trainee to sign as "psychologist"; failing to document supervision hours; supervising outside one's competence.