Prescription Privileges for Psychologists:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

by Practice Organization staff

Q: Must all psychologists prescribe?

A: No. Only those licensed, doctoral psychologists willing to seek post-doctoral training in psychopharmacology, pass a national exam, and meet other state criteria will be eligible to prescribe. Moreover, prescriptive authority would not extend to the many psychologists whose professional focus is research, teaching, consulting or other areas of psychology that do not involve seeing patients.

Q: If psychologists want to prescribe, shouldn’t they go to medical school?

A: No. Many Non-physician health care providers prescribe without going to medical school, although they are trained in other profession-appropriate institutions. Psychologists who want to prescribe must seek extensive, post-doctoral training in psychopharmacology. Recommended training is a minimum 300 hours of didactic training and a supervised 100 patient practicum, beyond the doctoral training in mental health already received.

Q: If there are so many prescribing professions why do we need another one? Isn’t there already a problem with over-medication?

A: While the numbers of prescribing heath care providers specially trained in mental health are decreasing, the number of psychotropic medications being prescribed are increasing significantly. The majority of all psychotropic medications are prescribed by health care providers with little to no training in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. The knowledge of psychotropic medications will allow psychologists not only to prescribe, but also to eliminate, reduce or correct medication because of their expertise in mental health and their ability to balance medications with psychotherapy.

Q: If a psychologist doesn’t go to medical school, how can he or she detect a physical illness that looks like mental illness?

A: Psychologists are the health care professionals with the greatest amount of training in the assessment and diagnosis of mental illness. Psychologists are already trained, as part of the practice of psychology, to identify which health care issues are outside the individual psychologist’s scope of competence and refer those patients to a more appropriate health care provider. Although prescribing psychologists will have an expanded area of expertise, they will continue to refer patients who should be seen by another health care provider.

Q: If psychologists and physicians are already working together, why do psychologists want to be able to write prescriptions themselves?

A: Studies show that a combination of talk therapy and pharmacotherapy is the most effective treatment for some mental illnesses. Many consumers seeking a combination of talk therapy and pharmacotherapy must see multiple healthcare providers for the same condition, resulting in added costs to the consumer. Prescribing psychologists will be able to provide this integrated therapy resulting in more efficient and more effective care.

Q: Are there psychologists already prescribing?

A: Yes. Psychologists trained by the Department of Defense to prescribe have been prescribing safely and effectively for several years. These prescribing psychologists are among the most highly scrutinized health care professionals – independent studies have shown that these psychologists are safe prescribers.

Q: If there were a need for prescribing psychologists wouldn’t consumers be requesting this service?

A: Not necessarily. There is still a stigma attached to mental illness, or the perception of mental illness, which discourages patients and consumers from advocating for themselves. Accordingly, psychologists must often advocate on behalf of their patients and mental health care consumers as a whole. In addition, many consumers may not even realize that such a service could be an option.