Thank you for your interest in joining SCAPTP.  In order to apply for SCAPTP membership, organizations should read the following information and then follow the steps at the bottom of this page.

SCAPTP Membership Types

Our members include those representing: 

  • Graduate programs which are regionally accredited
  • Internship and post-doctoral programs which are APPIC members in good standing 
  • Practicum programs which meet SCAPTP’s Criteria for Practicum Sites and abide by SCAPTP Policies for Uniform Practicum Notification Day
  • Directors of Clinical Training from psychology academic training programs and universities

 SCAPTP Practicum Site Membership Criteria

1. A psychology practicum program is an organized program which, in contrast to supervised experience or onthe-job training, is designed to provide the practicum student with a planned, programmed sequence of training experiences. The primary focus and purpose is assuring breadth and quality of training. 

2. The practicum agency has a clearly designated doctoral level staff psychologist who is responsible for the integrity and quality of the training program, actively licensed (certified or registered) by the Board of Psychology in the jurisdiction where the program exists, and present at the training site for a minimum of 10 hours a week. 

3. The practicum agency supervisory staff includes at least one doctoral level psychologist who serves as a primary supervisor. If approved by the student’s graduate school, other primary supervisors may include staff or non-staff pre-licensed doctoral psychologists and licensed professionals of other disciplines, as assigned by the staff psychologist in charge of the practicum program. Staff supervisors will carry clinical responsibility for the cases being supervised. Each supervisor will be on site during all of the hours that his/her practicum students are also present (or another staff supervisor qualified as in this paragraph will be assigned as liaison supervisor for all of the time that the primary supervisor is not present). 

4. At least 1 hour per week of regularly scheduled individual supervision (or one-half hour of regularly scheduled individual supervision plus one hour of group supervision) is provided by the supervisors specified in #3 for each 20 hours that the student is on site (twice the above level if 21 hours or more). Supervision is provided with the specific intent of dealing with the psychological services rendered directly by the student. 

5. The practicum program provides training in a range of intervention activities and/or psychological assessment instruments that are employed in dealing directly with recipients of psychological services. 

6. At least 25% of trainees’ time is in face-to-face psychological services to patients/clients. 

7. The practicum program must provide at least one hour per week in didactic activities such as case conferences, seminars, inservice training, or grand rounds for each 20 hours or less, and two hours if 21 hours or more). 

8. Practicum training precedes the internship and the granting of the doctoral degree. 

9. The practicum agency may have a minimum of one practicum student. 

10. The practicum student has a title such as “psychology student” or ”psychology trainee,” which clearly indicates his/her trainee status and distinguishes him/her from psychology interns and trainees of other disciplines. 

11. The practicum agency has a written statement or brochure that is made available to prospective students and their graduate programs that provides a clear description of the nature of the training program, including prerequisites for the program, the content activities of the training, and clear expectations for quantity and quality of the trainee’s work. 

12. Practicum programs have written due process procedures for students, which are given to students at the beginning of the training period and which include a description of performance evaluation, complaint, and appeal procedures. 

13. The minimum length of the practicum experience is designated by the student’s graduate program, although the practicum agency may also specify requirements for minimum hours per week and/or minimum number of weeks. 

14. Practicum programs abide by the SCAPTP Policies for Practicum Notification Day, including the observation of Uniform Practicum Notification Day on the second Monday of April, from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. 

15. These practicum program criteria may be amended by a majority vote of those attending a regularly scheduled SCAPTP meeting, after a mailing to the entire SCAPTP mailing list of the proposed changes at least one month before the scheduled meeting.

Steps to becoming a SCAPTP Member Organization:

  1. Verify that your organization meets one of the membership types and the membership criteria described above.
  2. Become familiar with the following information here on SCAPTP.org:
  3. Contact SCAPTP General Adminstration via the Contact Page on this website. Please provide:
    • The name and address of your school or training site
    • Administrator contact name, email, and phone number
    • If you are a school and would like multiple programs created, provide the name of each program
  4. SCAPTP General Admin will create your organization on scaptp.practicumfit.com and send you an email invitation to activate an administrator account.
  5. For Training Sites:
    • Log into your new administrator account.
    • Create your hiring tracks, and add all necessary information to your site’s Directory Profile. You will also provide an attestation that your organization complies with the requirements of the SCAPTP match.
    • Pay your Membership Fee:  $100. You can pay this fee electronically through the PracticumFit platform, or request to mail a check.
    • Once your Directory Profile is complete and your membership fee has been paid, contact SCAPTP Admin again to let them know these steps are complete.
    • SCAPTP Administration will add you to the SCAPTP ListServ and if you wish, can send an introductory email introducing your organization as a new member.
    • Begin to establish training relationships for each track you manage on PracticumFit’s Track Relationships page.
  6. For Schools:
    • SCAPTP Administration will add you to the SCAPTP ListServ and if you wish, can send an introductory email introducing your organization as a new member.
    • Log into your new administrator account.
    • Verify that the programs created for your school are correct.
    • Pay your Membership Fee:  $100. You can pay this fee electronically through the PracticumFit platform, or request to mail a check.
    • Begin to establish training relationships for each Program you manage on PracticumFit’s Program Relationships page.
  7. Confirm Program-Track Relationships
    • Training Sites and Schools must coordinate directly to establish training relationships.
    • These relationships must be confirmed on the PracticumFit platform in order for a site to recruit students through the SCAPTP Match process.
    • If you manage multiple tracks or multiple programs, you must use the drop-down on the Relationships page to manage relationships for each one separately.

If you have any questions, please reach out to SCAPTP Administration.